Mainstream reviews-why so few?

11-25-06: Bartokfan
The mags are fed by ceratin brands ad $'s and are rewarded with
glowing reviews and hype. Most of that stuff highly praised in the mags
have never held up to any such claims in my experiences.
If its advertized I'm not interested.

Do you drive? What brand? If one follows your logic, you will not drive
any auto brand that advertises in auto mags because surely the mags
give rave reviews to the manufacturers that advertise. So, let's count out
Acura, BMW, Cadillac, Chevy, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, Honda, Hundai,
Infinity, Jaguar, Lexus, Kia, Mercedes, Saturn, Toyota, Nissan, Saab,
Volvo.

What a nonsensical and unfounded argument.

Beyond that, to refuse all components by manufacturers who advertise is
to eliminate from consideration much of the finest audio equipment
available, thereby restricting the potential of your audio
experience.

BTW, on page 166 of the current issue of Stereophile is an ad from VAS
Audio, the exclusive distributor of Cayin Electronics. The ad features a
photo of the Model A-88T integrated amplifier and it mentions the Cayin A-88T's selection as a 2006 Stereophile Editor's Pick.

Does this mean Cayin is off your list?

there is no logical relationship between advertising and personal preference. one can have a bias against advertised products abd therefore dislike them when experiencing them.

a review or an ad should neither increase nor decrease the probability that a consumer will favor the product.

instead of being prejudiced against reviews or advertising why not just experience the product if the description meets your criteria, regardless of the opinions of a reviewer or the marketing efforts of a manufacturer.

get the facts and then decide for yourself.

Grant - your car metaphor ain't working for me. There are really precious few 'underground' car manufacturers. There are, however, a great abundance of audio maufacturers who produce great stuff who operate without benefit of much advertisting - some with none at all. Much of the reason is that it is much cheaper to manufacture audio gear than it is an automobile (re: "Who Killed the Electric Car", and "Tucker"). I do agree, that a premise for buying like that is a bit silly, but then again, why not...it does not surprise me at all. To each their own. There's plenty of good manufacturers out there who don't advertise and many products that never get reviewed. I agree, eliminating one simply because they do, or they don't seems a bit silly...BUT, in defense of that, I do believe that manufacturers who do advertise absolutely need to charge more for similar products in order to pay for an advertising budget. I'd never heard of the manufacturer of your DAC till you told me about it (thanks again, BTW). If all of a sudden that manufacturer started running regular ads in Stereophile you can bet he'd have to raise his prices to pay for the ads. I like the internet review sites because they seem to seek out some of the more unsung heroes of our hobby, and surely many of those make it more affordable than the utterly ridiculous levels it's reached. I think they are able to do this largely because running an eZine is cheaper than running a magazine with national distribution that depends entirely upon advertising to exist.

Mr. Tennis - some interesting thoughts, as usual. I don't think it will ever come to be that advertising will have no effect on buying whatsoever (that people will be able to ignore that input entirely). I think that's impossible. We're always bound to make meaning out of every little input and detail about a product, whether conscious or subliminal. That may or may not include actual functional and or logical features. Sometimes insignificant features like color, size, materials, typography, design, weight, among many others details, may come into play, whether we know it or not. Advertising is just taking advantage of all that. I'd venture that we'd be doing it anyway, even without advertising. We don't live in a vacuum. Though we might be more prone towards the logical facts of function, I still think we'd be making judgments on all kinds of other silly details. That said, I agree with your underlying premise: "get the facts and then decide for yourself"

Marco

$10K/pair speakers still “compete with models twice their price

So if a $1,000 speaker competes with a model twice it's price ($2,000) but that $2,000 speaker competes with speakers twice IT'S price ($4,000) which compared to a speaker twice IT'S price ($8,000) ....... Well, then I guess that $1,000 speaker compares to just about anything.

Hey if sales are rolling along, why mess it up with potentially bad review or spec's which reveal poor design?

Marco, Bartokfan wrote that he will not consider any audio product that is advertised in an audio magazine that reviews equipment. Period. His blanket statement stands on its own and is fundamentally different from your example of boutique audio companies who cannot afford to advertise. I will admit my auto example was extreme, but it was made to emphasize the point.

Other than the cost to place an ad, what's the difference between advertising on the pages of a review magazine or advertising on the webpage of an eZine that reviews gear? The premise of Bartokfan's resistance is the same in either scenario.

Has anyone considered the possibility that some manufacturers advertise AFTER one of their products has been positively reviewed? This makes common business sense to me, and one manufacturer that comes to mind is Channel Islands Audio. I don't recall if Dusty Vawter ever placed an ad after the positive reviews he has received, but this would be an illustrative example.