'Review speak' bullsh*t

[Ninanina]

I am always comforted by good engineering, and I think you have that situation also

How do you mean "good engineering" Dennis?

[Martyn Miles]

[QUOTE=Pharos;1147197]We are in sad times regarding the English language.

Whilst speech is IMO at an all time low, and the written word rarely seems to express beauty in fine poetic usage, the popular written word is mainly related to artefacts, and we know in these cases, there may well be an agenda which undermines ay aesthetic.QUOTE]

I agree.
Correct teaching of English, both written and spoken, is appalling.
I was reading an old review ( 1970s ) in Hi-Fi Sound and Gordon King really had a grasp of the English language.
It made the review really interesting to read, with the correct terms applied where required.

As for spoken English, even on Radio 4 you get awful examples such a ‘drawring’ for ‘drawing.’
My real hate is ‘bin’ for ‘been.’
Surely R4 newsreaders know the difference.
I wonder how they would cope with, ‘ A dead cat has been found in a bin.’
My English Master had you out the front of the class to explain your mistake and then correct it.
Not a pleasant experience, but we ( eventually...) got things correct.

[Gazjam]

For anyone curious:
https://www.stereonet.co.uk/reviews/...plifier-review

As the saying goes...
"Writing about music is like dancing about architecture."

Kinda sums it up really?

[Eagle123]

I been reading hifi magazine for over 30 years.. namely hifi choice what hifi, hifi plus.

But listening to music played on different brands of hifi equipment is subjective.
One mans music is another mans poison.
When i came to making a decision on buying hifi equipment take for example i was looking at getting stand mount speakers and was interested in the kef r series.
I read reviews of the kef r series and went to the dealer to audition.
Ended up purchasing the kef r700 after listening to the kef r300, 500.
I heard other speakers but kept going back to the kefs, as the kef sounded more wholesome.
Hifi mags are a guide only but in the end trust your ears.





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[oceanobsession]

i do think record surface noise can be influenced by the turntable isolation wooden floorboards etc , phil.

[Eagle123]

Noise isolation is apparent when one has invested in hifi support.
My current system is supported on atacama evoque se bamboo rack.
Previously had a glass rack from argos.
The difference is night and day having heard little details in music that wasnt apparent with my older set up

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[Pharos]

By good engineering I refer to; a good solid mechanical construction, (preferably MoD standards), circuits which achieve a very good technical spec., circuits which are reliable and not susceptible to any external interference, in it broadest sense, and circuits which are also are very capable and with a good margin for hard work without failure.

My guess is that ML does just such, and also my ATC amps, and also Krell seems to be like this.

[VanDerGraaf]

What annoys me about "review speak"is that so many modern reviews just seem to be full of subjective description - fluff, essentially. With every pair of ears having, essentially, a different eq curve, you need measurements juxtaposed with subjective impressions for those impressions to have any substantive weight.

Look back at the magazine reviews of the '70s and they are very involved- often, extensive measurements are provided; they are technically-minded documents for a more "serious" readership.

[Pharos]

Yes, and they are often written by people seriously involved in audio, their statements expressed humbly ad in a way open to refute or criticism.

This is one of the symptoms that dumbing down a society has resulted in. (init?)

[nonuffin]

One of the biggest issues that I face as a reviewer is that there isn't a huge chasm of differences between the bottom end and the high end of components these days because the quality of the bottom end is constantly improving upwards in my opinion, so finding products to be critical of is becoming less common. Those that do fall under the radar are never reviewed but sent back to the manufacturer.

I for one am saddened that there isn't a huge amount of good performing products at affordable prices for those wanting to jump into our hobby and the manufacturers will argue that they need to jack up their prices to chase an ever shrinking market to stay in business. True, but I also blame them for not using the power of marketing to engage their audience and am furious that the trade associations cannot muster the collective strength of their members to take up the baton on their behalf and they will rue the day they haven't.

The second part is formulating into words what I am actually hearing and that is where the english language lets me down badly, because words like "insightful" have been worn out long ago and sadly means very little to so many people. This I think is the main reason why reviewers fly off into these dreamland phrases that they concoct because they too have over-used the best words available to them, which over time have lost their impact.

Finally, the bare stark reality is that manufacturers will tend to go for the publication that gives positive reviews to their products and of course advertising spend plays an important part. A magazine that ignores this fact will soon go out of business.