[Digi-G]

Just thought I'd share some of my 'audio' pet peeves.  I'm not really a negative person, so this is somewhat tongue-in cheek.  I saw a similar list possibly somewhere else on this site, but this would be my version of things in this hobby that 'get to me'.

1.  The following 'audio' statements:
a.  Sentences that start with 'That said, ...'.  There are enough contradictions in audio without people contradicting themselves.
b.  'It sounded more like analog'.  Uh, newsflash - Music IS analog. (At least 98% of it is.  Even the stuff that's produced digitally is analog as it leaves the speaker, travels thru the air, and reaches your ears).
c.  'Even my wife could hear a difference...'  Then maybe she should be writing the review.      In a court of law that would be considered 'hearsay' and it wouldn't be admissible.  It shouldn't be in audio, either.

2.  Plasma tv's hung above a fireplace.  Sure they're cool, but not if they're 6 feet above your seated position.  Unless you like the 1st row at the theater.

3.  Hearing someone spew the virtues of a mega-$$$ cable.  I'm sorry, but the day I spend $4k for a single cable or power cord will be the same day I check myself in to Bellevue.  (I'm not a 'cable' guy, can you tell?).  If you're a cable person and the difference you hear = the $$$ money you spent, then more power to you.  Has anyone ever thought about the wire that goes from the fusebox to your outlet - you know, the one that's usually solid copper with a single insulator on it?  The same one that has no concern about skin effects, directionality, and is probably 14 (?) gauge.  Just a thought.

4.  Oh, one more.  'Bass' is spelled B-A-S-S, not b-a-s-e.  At least if we're talking about the lower frequencies of music that's how it's spelled.

Seriously, I mean no offense to anyone.  These are just my opinions and my thoughts when I read some of these things.  Actually I get a kick out of seeing them all of the time.   Anyone else?

p.s.  That said, even my wife could hear the difference of my power cord - she said it sounded more like analog.  

[jackman]

He he he, great post.

[John Ashman]

How about reviewers who spend the whole review talking about how the power cable is the best thing about the amplifier

Or reviewers who go to great lengths to explain how the engineer's recommended set up isn't correct, but if flip the speaker upside down, hang it from chains, put glue on the tweeter, blah, blah, blah, THEN they sound great.

And then there's the old "sounds as good as speakers costing 2-3 times the price" - like what are all these overpriced speakers?  I never hear about them?  Shouldn't someone say "this $3000 speaker sounds as good as a good $1000-$2000 speaker"?  I think this should be a requirement everytime some uses the former, that they must also find a place to use the latter.  

Or when they *only* compare the product to one that costs more than twice as much and one that costs less than half as much and then tell us that the product is a little better than the more affordable product but not *quite* as good as the more expensive one.  

Or when they say that a speaker is *so* revealing that it shows off all of the flaws in electronics that have 1/500th the level of distortion.

Or when they say "wasn't to my taste" - just say it, you hate this product.  

My *favorite* one is when someone says "these are the best speakers ever, but *only* when matched with the finest electronics" which, to me says "this speaker blows, but it *is* expensive."

 

[Ethan Winer]

Digi-G,

Fabulous post. My sentiments exactly. Especially:

'Even my wife could hear a difference...' Then maybe she should be writing the review.

My favorite is the people who review loudspeakers and comment on their imaging, while listening in a room that has no acoustic treatment.

--Ethan

[JoshK]

"sounds as good as speakers costing 2-3 times the price"

That one bothers me too.  I think they should be required to list which specific speakers 2-3 times as much that they are referring to.  Likely, they aren't the leaders in that price range. What REALLY gets me is when later they review another speaker in the 2-3 times as much range and say that that speaker is better than many 2-3 times its cost.  So they can I extrapolate the the first speaker costs as much as speakers 9 times its cost?

[jackman]

You guys are awesome!  It's funny because only audiogeeks would pick up on this stuff.  They are review cliches at their finest.  Great topic, one of my favorite in a long time.

J

[John Ashman]

There's one guy in $ensible Sound, I forget his name off hand, that basically says that every speaker he reviews sounds about the same as every speaker he has on hand.  So, he equated $300 Ascends to $1200 NHTs, then equated the $1200 NHTs to $3000 Triads and $5500 Dunlaveys.  They were all about the same.  Dude, exactly *what* qualifications do you have to *review* anything?

"Duhhhhhh, all sounds the same to me boss, hyuch, hyuch"

[gonefishin]

4. Oh, one more. 'Bass' is spelled B-A-S-S, not b-a-s-e. At least if we're talking about the lower frequencies of music that's how it's spelled.

  At least if your talking about the lower what of what?  it's a fish!  get it  


          oh wait...ok

[John Ashman]

I've actually had people pronounce it like the fish in my store.  I don't laugh, but I do crack a smile.  

Of course, what's really funny is the pronunciation of Bose -

Boiss, Bozé, Bos, Boss, Bozie, Boisee, etc, etc.  Why wouldn't the obvious pronunciation be how it's spelled?  Kills me that the product is *that* well known, but people can't pronounce it.

[R_burke]

Of course, what's really funny is the pronunciation of Bose -

Boiss, Bozé, Bos, Boss, Bozie, Boisee, etc, etc.  Why wouldn't the obvious pronunciation be how it's spelled?  Kills me that the product is *that* well known, but people can't pronounce it.

Probably just trying to add class to a rather pedestrian audio line  

Kinda like Bouquet for Bucket on BBC

[miklorsmith]

I'm never reading another cable review.  OK, that's probably not true, but:

Everyone says X is great and will transform my system.  If I followed the reviews, I'd have 941 pairs of interconnects, 615 power cables, and 9000 pairs of speaker cables.  I'd be in the poorhouse with a really nice "jewelry" case.

I'm a believer in cables, but even the reviewers say cable reviews are a pain in the a$$.  Why?  They are probably the subtlest of all the changes we can make (generally).  Yet, the industry is bent on the "cable of the month" you can barely afford.  "Good value" $500 interconnects?

Yet, last month's "cable of the month" holds less value on Agon than anything else.  They never wear out and probably innovate less than any other part of a stereo, yet marketing and Nervosa convince us the next one will bring Nirvana and the last must be garbage.  I'm OUT.

[John Ashman]

Probably just trying to add class to a rather pedestrian audio line  

Kinda like Bouquet for Bucket on BBC

Or "Tar-je"  

[R_burke]

Probably just trying to add class to a rather pedestrian audio line  

Kinda like Bouquet for Bucket on BBC

Or "Tar-je"  

Touche  

[ctviggen]

I personally think cables provide in the 0-5% improvement range.  However, I have replaced a lot (basically all) of my cables/ics with Bolder Cables, as I think they provide a pretty smooth presentation.  In terms of cost for performance increase, I don't think cables offer the value that other things do, such as DACs, speakers, etc.  But they do offer some value.  One of the most underrated things, in my mind, is acoustic treatments.  I personally think if you had to choose between new interconnects and acoustic treatments, you'd be better off spending money on the latter.

[John Ashman]

95% of sound is speakers, room acoustics, setup.

All the rest is the other 5% (assuming you don't hook up total crap)

We did a test for a customer where $11,000 speakers on his decent amp and *crap* ancillaries (zip cord, Fisher CD player, old Carver preamp, el cheapo interconnects) beat the tar out of famous $5500 speakers playing on $20K in famous high-end electronics and cabling in his room.  He was so impressed, he quadrupled his speaker budget and made a few minor changes to the rest of the system.  

Funny thing though is that Stereophile et al make it out that the speakers are 5% to 25% of the sound.  

Gordon Holt did an article in which he named his "ultimate $5000 system" and it was a $2500 amp with an $1500 CD player, $500 of accessories, $300 stands and $300 speakers.  And I'm thinking "I could *kill* that system for $1000" but it wouldn't have been "audiophile" enough.

[ZooDog]

I agree, John.  What combo will most likely provide better sound, a $10,000 amp and a $1,000 pair of speakers, or a $10,000 pair of speakers and a $1000 amp?

As others have stated in this thread, speakers and room acoustics determine 90% of the sound.

[fabaudio]

A well known speaker manufacturer ( Wilson?) held a demonstration of expensive speakers fed by an Ipod and he had the audience fooled into believing they were run by a megabuck tube amp.

[JoshK]

95% of sound is speakers, room acoustics, setup.

All the rest is the other 5% (assuming you don't hook up total crap)

We did a test for a customer where $11,000 speakers on his decent amp and *crap* ancillaries (zip cord, Fisher CD player, old Carver preamp, el cheapo interconnects) beat the tar out of famous $5500 speakers playing on $20K in famous high-end electronics and cabling in his room.  He was so impressed, he quadrupled his speaker budget and made a few minor changes to the rest of the syste ...

not to get too far off topic, but I absolutely agree! I have done this experiment too on more than one occassion.  

Using a $100 HK amp, my panasonic DVD player and my IRD Purist (don't have a 'cheap' pre) = total ~1G on my VMPS RM40s vs my modified $100 monitors (quite good for the $) on my best multi kilobuck gear the RM40s with cheap electronics win hands down.  You do get gains with the expensive gear but not propotional to the gains with the same $ difference in speakers.

[Carlman]

My counterpoints about reviewees...

I agree, John.  What combo will most likely provide better sound, a $10,000 amp and a $1,000 pair of speakers, or a $10,000 pair of speakers and a $1000 amp?

As others have stated in this thread, speakers and room acoustics determine 90% of the sound.

I'll disagree about electronics vs. speakers.  It's not that black and white.  Speakers and amps depend on each other in ways that are very difficult to predict, especially with the specs provided provided by the manufacturer.  I think a 10,k amp on a 1,k speaker could easily sound better than a 1,k amp on 10,k speakers.  I have to say 'think' because I haven't done this particular comparison.

People seek only positive reviews to support what they're already going to buy....  Magazines know this and exploit it.

I agree there's a lot of 'hedging' when it comes to writing a review.  This is mainly because the reviewer sometimes is learning as he goes.  Also, he's disecting good vs. very good in 1 area, etc.  It's tough to say 'this one sucks' or 'I hated it' when that's not true either.  Writing what you hear is really difficult.  Anything subjective requires a flowery language wrought with vague analogies that require you to gel with the reviewer.

At least audiophiles aren't like wine connoisseurs.... "I thought this wine had sort of a bobbly pounce on the tip....  The finish had a buttery oakiness was balanced nicely with the essence of jasmine."  What?   I rarely drink oak, butter, or jasmine.  Also, other than oak, why are these things even IN the wine in the first place?  Why doesn't it taste like grapes?    Or better yet, rat feces or stems that are also in there? ha.

Lastly... Why do people harp on measurability?  If it's not measurable, it didn't happen... it's all in your head...  It's a subjective review and the naysayer wasn't there.  Besides... If you believe pure engineering calculations are the only way to accurately produce music, you should simply buy the cheapest audio reproduction machine available and be satisfied that it performs as engineered.  There shouldn't be any difference, I mean they all do the same thing, play music.  

[John Ashman]

At least audiophiles aren't like wine connoisseurs.... "I thought this wine had sort of a bobbly pounce on the tip.... The finish had a buttery oakiness was balanced nicely with the essence of jasmine."

They're not?!?  "I thought this speaker had sort of a sparkly presence on the top......The midrange had a liquidy bloom that was balanced by just a touch of midbass lift that gave the music a wonderful groove"