Reviews have become a critical marketing tool for manufacturers, dealers, and distributors. Positives reviews can only help sell the product versus negative reviews that pile up will likely turn the consumer away. For the manufacturers receiving too many negative reviews, they have a long road to recovery from the negative perception. Once you understand the impact of reviews on the brand and how it can lift or destroy a new product launch, one can understand why a company will dedicate resources to protect themselves.
We used to only have professional magazine reviews, word-of-mouth, or store demonstrations as tools to make our final choice. Today is much different as the internet created a new way to purchase gear making the review magazines and store demonstrations almost obsolete. I still love when there are copies of either The Absolute Sound or Stereophile in my mailbox and will always be a subscriber.
That leaves the internet reviews as our main tool before we invest in new equipment. For us enthusiasts, we’ll read just about everything written about the hobby. Sometimes just to learn about a product or gather information about it. For non-enthusiasts about to make a purchase they know little about, the online review becomes the main factor in choosing a TV or speakers.
Leveraging the Reviews
I love reading reviews and have been for 40 years. Over the years I gained a better perspective when I’m reading reviews. In the case of review magazines, I pay attention to the author. I get a sense of the sound they prefer and the types of products they review. The magazines have reviewers that review mostly very expensive gear, have large rooms, and music taste unlike mine. As such it’s harder to relate to their perspective. My room is smaller and I listen to classic rock mostly. So, when I see reviews from reviewers writing about a product I can afford and uses my type of music to evaluate the gear, I’m in.
My experience has taught me to think deeper into the review and ask myself a few key questions. My first question is who is reviewing and why are they reviewing it. The internet provides opportunities for anyone to write an article. People will see the opportunity to make a living on being a reviewer despite not having the credentials. It can be lucrative because there is advertising revenue, subscription fees, and unfortunately sellers may pay reviewers for positive reviews.
It’s not that easy to determine if a reviewer is being bribed but if you watch enough reviews, it becomes more apparent. Sometimes reviewers are transparent about it and credit to them. In many cases, reviewers get to keep the products they review. They can hold onto them or sell for income. Since there are many trustworthy reviewers, I skip the paid reviewers. A safe method for finding a reviewer to trust is one that has a lot to lose, either reputation or subscriber loss.
Next, I look for trends or consistencies about important aspects of the product across several reviews. For those with bright rooms, a bright TV has the technology to overcome a bright room. In that case, I want to see consistent opinions on a TV’s brightness across the reviews. I’d discount the reviews that didn’t let me know why they came up with that opinion.
Since we have many review sites at our fingertips, take advantage of them by leveraging the key aspects of what is important to you and apply some common sense to validate the reviewer.
Two Examples of Reviewer’s Ethics Being Challenged
The following two instances are to make you aware only. By informing you I am not inferring that there is any wrongdoing. Each case originated from someone else’s opinion.
Recently there were two instances where reviewers were accused of taking payments for positive reviews. The first happened a few months back when an Audiophile Youtuber made an accusation that The Absolute Sound were keeping very expensive gear for reviews published in their magazine or online. Their senior editors have six-figure systems built from the components they reviewed positively. The reply from the magazine emphasized the need for reference level gear to measure against subsequent reviews. That spin makes sense to me but it’s different now.
More recently a lawsuit was filed by a distributor claiming Youtuber The Greek Audio Geek is taking payments for returning favorable reviews. The internet has created several honest reviewers as well as questionable influencers. I don’t know if The Greek Audio Geek received any payments but am interested to learn more. Hopefully he is clean because the trust is rarely gained back.
These two instances support my point about applying your intuition to the reviews.
Forums: Valuable but Full of Noise
Forums can be a good source for gathering user experiences and additional facts. Like reading reviews, I’ll use forums to look for consistencies on certain aspects as well as problems with the product. If I see many members complain about an issue, I’ll take it seriously. For instance, my NAD C 658 Streaming Preamplifier is a superb sounding machine, the optical inputs never work. That’s a significant problem for a $2,500 component. I scanned the forums looking for if others had the same issue and they were. Something else I learned about the NAD from the forums is the problem with the subwoofer outputs.
Using forums can be useful if you understand the members may not have a clue or hate everything they don’t own, and even worse, there are paid influencers. Like reviews, forums can persuade or dissuade potential buyers. Sellers know that and can easily penetrate the forums with paid members spreading the wrong information. From my perspective forums are negative because there are too many haters that will try to undermine you. Stay away until you gain enough experience to read around the bad actors.
My Most Trusted Sources
I thought I would share my favorite review sources I’ve come across in my years or following this hobby. If a reviewer is not on my list it either means little trust, they’re annoying, or I haven’t had enough experience with them to have an opinion.
- Stereophile | Stereophile.com
- One of the oldest publications out there
- They publish a monthly magazine and run a website
- Their reputation is strong and they have much to lose if proven unethical
- Experienced reviewers focusing on very expensive and affordable gear
- They write about the industry and music
- Overall positive experience with various writing styles appealing to a wider audience
- The Absolute Sound | Theabsolutesound.com
- Another historic publication
- Monthly magazine and strong online presence
- Recent accusation of keeping review gear bugs me
- More focus on very expensive gear
- Duller writing style
- Usually a positive experience with occasional frustration
- The Audiophiliac
- Legendary audio reviewer Steve Guttenberger provides Youtube reviews
- Unique perspective and communication style very relatable
- Mostly affordable gear and good music
- Doesn’t appear to keep most gear
- Appears honest and trustworthy
- Uses subscription fees to fund the videos avoiding perception of taking bribes
- Always a fun experience
- Darko Audio | Darko.audio
- Website and Youtube
- Very interesting personality
- Great articles and reviews
- Covers a wide range of topics relating to audio
- His music is strange to me
- Appears honest and trustworthy
- Soundstage! | Soundstagehifi.com
- Website and Youtube
- Network of sites segmented on price point or subject
- Well written and very informative reviews
- Website structure is excellent
- Easy to understand articles
- Covers all price points
- No obvious ethical concerns
- Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity | Hometheaterhifi.com
- Another well-organized website
- Well written informative reviews
- Easy to understand writing style
- Reviews of interesting gear
- No obvious ethical concerns
- Twittering Machines | Twitteringmachines.com
- Website only
- Engaging writing style
- Interesting personality
- Listening rooms in a barn
- Music choice too eccentric for me
- Appears honest and trustworthy
- Erin’s Audio Corner | Erinsaudiocorner.com
- Website and Youtube
- Highly engaged with other reviewers
- Scientific approach to his reviews
- Strong ethics and easy to trust
- Less frequent than I wish for
Honorable Mentions:
- Zreviews: Youtube
- Nemo Audio Project: Youtube
- Tone Audio: Tonepublications.com
- Ear: the-ear.net
Final Thoughts
Reviews are invaluable – but they should never be treated as absolute truth.
Every reviewer brings personal preferences, listening environments, financial incentives, and biases to the table. The best approach is to compare multiple trusted sources, identify consistent conclusions, and always apply your own common sense.
Ultimately, no review can tell you what your ears will enjoy. The goal isn’t to find someone who always agrees with you – it’s to find reviewers who are knowledgeable, transparent, and consistent enough that you understand how to interpret their opinions.
Our recommendations reflect our personal experience with the equipment reviewed and should be considered alongside your own listening preferences and room acoustics. We encourage readers to audition audio equipment whenever possible. Great sound is personal, and the best component is the one that brings you closer to your music.
