AVSA reviews

[Sabby]

I am beginning to tire of William Kelly's reviews. His attempts at humour and flippant attitude don't help at all.  It is becoming very difficult to take his reviews seriously especially when he ends a a review with statements like - " Get over it. Plonk your cash down... Do it today. Finance it if you must. Borrow money. Sell your car..." Really, can you take anything this man says seriously? Hi-fi is a serious business and I expect a reviewer to be a bit more serious when reviewing a piece of equipment. William might be better off trying stand-up comedy instead of being a reviewer. AVSA if you want to be taken seriously as South Africa's premier audio mag, please improve the quality of your journalism.

[dotVIBE]

.......... Hi-fi is a serious business and I expect a reviewer to be a bit more serious when reviewing a piece of equipment.........

yes ok. can we agree to disagree? for me Hi-Fi is fun, otherwise i wouldn't spend so much time on it.

[...]

Interesting one Sabby, William has always been rather controversial, he started quite an outburst a few years back when he claimed that A Denon SACD player was such a good thing to happen in his life that all those involved with vinyl were in actual fact wasting their time.
From that day onwards I have chosen never to read another review from his side as I simply can't take him serious either.
Gladly he does not "make" the magazine tick.
Yes dotVibe , HI-FI is fun, but when you are going to spend a small fortune on a piece of audio equipment, then ultimately the reviewer should make a strong enough point without any added cheesiness.

[dotVIBE]

Yes dotVibe , HI-FI is fun, but when you are going to spend a small fortune on a piece of audio equipment, then ultimately the reviewer should make a strong enough point without any added cheesiness.

Hey, I don't disagree. But that's up to the reader, right?

[Sabby]

dotVIBE i agree about the fun part, but when somebody tries to be humourous and it comes across as flipant and silly, then that's not funny.

[Viagara]

I understand that different people have different opinions, but in my case I quite like William's reviews. Off course it helps that we seem to have the same kind of sense of humor

[Eclaire]

I don't take any review seriously and just use it as a point of reference.  The worst is the 'What Hi-Fi' reviews and how everything British sounds good and most Japanese brands don't.  I found the best AV receivers from the east much better after owning a Rotel that cost three times more, but that is my "review"  Use it or don't.  The first comment actually got me thinking - do the reviewers have an olbigation to there sponsors (advertisers), quid pro quo?

[Byrd]

Haven't read em for age's but What Hi-Fi and other over seas based publications used to rate eastern products quite favourably.

[WaterDog]

There is a tradition in the music press for outrageous hyperbole and even some AV mags are emulating this I think. See this:

XPA-2 Reviewed in the August 2008 issue of AffordableAudio.org
Mini-review: Emotiva XPA-2: Meaner Than a Junkyard Dog!
The bass, slam, and dynamics are the best I’ve heard in my system. And you’ll never hear a single note of sloppy bass with the XPA-2. In fact, the bass is tighter than a g-string on a fat girl.

How tight is that bass!

[Viagara]

the bass is tighter than a g-string on a fat girl.

How tight is that bass!

It is probably stuck somewhere

[joel]

Reviewers certainly have no obligation to the advertisers, and I've P'd quite a few of them off over the years. This is one of the reasons i never get involved with the advertising side of the magazine.

Over the past decade I've also only once been offered a veiled offer of a bribe.

The supplier said something like " I know how things work an I'll look after you". I sent the product to Deon to review so that it would get a fair review. Surprisingly (not) the product is no longer available.

As for William, I quite like his reviews. They may not be to everyones liking, but at least they bring something a little different to the magazine.

[Stereophreak]

If one is to use 'laying down a small fortune' as the major qualification to the 'serious business' club, I think buying and driving a super-car would certainly qualify as serious business, but one of the most quoted, aired and respected super-car reviewers is Jeremy Clarkson! The guy who calls a car 'too perfect' and 'duller than watching a clothes drier', and then proceeds to purchase this same car (Lamborghini Guillardo) a few months later. Yes, he's full of crap, but he makes jokes and explodes caravans!

I feel your pain, but I don't think it is unique or even new. There will always be a dumbing-down and a funning-up of anything deemed too serious and fuddy duddy in someone's eyes.

[PearlJam]

The guy who calls a car 'too perfect' and 'duller than watching a clothes drier', and then proceeds to purchase this same car (Lamborghini Guillardo) a few months later.

Is this a new model?  The last entry level model was the Gallardo that I know of. 

[Stereophreak]

Sorry, 'Gallardo'.

But while we are correcting: "Is this a new model? The latest entry level model, that I am aware of, is the Gallardo".

[PearlJam]

Sorry, 'Gallardo'.

But while we are correcting: "Is this a new model? The latest entry level model, that I am aware of, is the Gallardo".

OK, your grammar are/is better than mine!   At least I know cars

PS for the mods, it is friendly banter, we know each other

/end of hijack

My opinion is that there are various flavours to reviews and don't mind strange views as I know it is all subjective and it is a hobby for me and not-so-serious business as I would certainly not go on a subjective review if I was to lay out huge amounts of money on gear, but rather decide for myself.