The "You suck AVSA, thread" ;-)

[Andrew]

With reviews, one could also have a manufacturer's "right to reply" section, where criticisms might be addressed?

We dropped this because too many used it as an 'advert' for their product. The reply was sometimes longer than the review!

[Rodney_gold]

Whats out there locally doesnt *really* interest me these days - if its uber high end / specialist/esoteric   I want , would rather go for 2nd hand, e-bay or direct import. Not prepared to pay the gouging prices some boutiques ask , neither am I prepared to take a huge bath after buying full retail.. only advantage , if they let you , to buying locally is the fact you can try before you buy.
You can easily find distributors of stuff via the net or the avsa website.
The run of the mill type stuff is also problematic , I wanted a CA dacmagic - no one in CT had one , no one was prepared to let my listen to one without buying it. I ditched the thought...

As to negative reviews , well thats an issue , if I was a mag or a reviewer and got a bad product , I just wouldnt run the review .... we really want to know whats good out there. Whats the point of publishing the bad stuff? There are always pros and cons of any piece of gear - often the cos can be a dealbreaker - more comprehansive reviews would be the answer. what's it sound like is probably the most important , yet it takes up the least space in the review?

At any rate , reviews are somewhat useless as you need to know the taste of the reviewer and their setup to really get to grips with their opinions.Iv'e heard and bought so called class A or 5 star stuff and it hasn't been either class A or 5 star for ME.

What would really sell AVSA , IMHO, is freebies and giveaways - for eg a cd with test tones , some good music , software. Perhaps a equipment cleaning cloth , a really goos special offer etc - ask your advertisers to come up with some creative stuff....

Does Deon still drag race - I remember him down here with either a black vette or Camaro..

[Andrew]

Now, before I am shouted down, I realise full well that you don't have the readership/circulation to have a buyers guide in every issue, or have 16 pages of detailed sound advice, etc, but I do feel there should be SOME help articles, SOME educational features, SOME critical comparative tests, and any fresh ideas to make the mag more exciting and interesting for it's readers. I only really buy it to see what's new on the market, and am able to read through it in maybe 10 minutes.

Hi Doogle,

Thanks for comments - we are currently looking into doing more educational/self help features in 2011.

[Andrew]

As to negative reviews , well thats an issue , if I was a mag or a reviewer and got a bad product , I just wouldnt run the review .... we really want to know whats good out there. Whats the point of publishing the bad stuff? There are always pros and cons of any piece of gear - often the cos can be a dealbreaker - more comprehansive reviews would be the answer. what's it sound like is probably the most important , yet it takes up the least space in the review?

*If* I have it right, it's not necessarily that readers want us to publish a review that slates a particular piece of equipment, they just don't want to read something that sounds like a Praise Singer in full cry. Am I right, guys? Have I interpreted things correctly?

[Rodney_gold]

Yeh - Almost every product you review is better than sliced bread - makes it difficult to "rank" a product when they are all marvellous...

[frikkie]

*If* I have it right, it's not necessarily that readers want us to publish a review that slates a particular piece of equipment, they just don't want to read something that sounds like a Praise Singer in full cry. Am I right, guys? Have I interpreted things correctly?

Exactly. There are very few, if any, really bad products out there, but no one product can be excellent at everything. So, name those areas where the unit does not shine, and where compromises might have been taken. No need to slate the unit.

[Andrew]

Something I've also picked up is that quite a lot of feedback has been that there hasn't been enough technical info included. Could some of you elaborate? Reason I ask is that when we switched to the new format, with the Vital Stats panels, we did so as we felt we were wasting too much space in the copy mentioning technical aspects that could best be summarised in a panel. So....what are the technical issues you feel we're not tackling adequately, or at all? Would you be in favour of longer reviews in the magazine, even if it meant we could feature fewer of them?

[GearSlave]

I don't think people are referring to a technical review of a product, but rather technical articles proper.

[Andrew]

I don't think people are referring to a technical review of a product, but rather technical articles proper.

Johan Potgieter-type articles (I am nagging him - I have witnesses from our Christmas lunch!)?

[GearSlave]

Maybe not that in-depth (although always welcome!) but general setup guidelines. Maybe a 5 part series on setting up a stereo system, going from component selection, through interconnect selection, placing it in a room, moving bits around, tuning, whatever. You can maybe do the same for an AV system? This must be absolutely unbiased of course, so no advertiser sponsored kit to be used. This is what I'm reading from the suggestions here.

[Viagara]

Johan Potgieter-type articles (I am nagging him - I have witnesses from our Christmas lunch!)?

That is not going to help you

He will just break either his PC or his comms link again

[Andrew]

That is not going to help you

He will just break either his PC or his comms link again

*face-palm* I know. Can't you go fix it? 

[joel]

Nice comments, keep them coming.

I'm perfectly happy to include a "reviewed with" section that relates to software and hardware to my reviews. Please remember that there is a word count to work to (even if I do break this quite often) and I have to decide what content would be more useful.

I'm aware that ease of set up be boring to most on the forum, but please remember that there are newbies out there who do like to know how easy something is to set up.

How to articles, great, I love doing those.
My versions though aren't always 100% technically correct, this because they usually look at the real world practicality of doing things too. Not too many people for example can put surround speakers in the perfect position, or have their main speakers a third of the way into their room.

More criticism in reviews, no problem, but once again be aware that my view has to be as unbiased as possible and I cant call a brand rubbish just because I once owned a unit that blew up. or because i may like/dislike the distributors. I also have to look at a product and comment on its merits.

EG I certainly wouldn't buy an all in one and cheap theatre system. But if the one I review performs adequately, has good features, and is reasonably cheap, I have to deliver an opinion based on price/performance and not just the fact that I don't like all in one systems.

Sorry sound like an excuse but it's not.

I'm in trouble with people all the time because I didn't say that their ABC was the best I've used, even if another publication gave it five or fifty stars.

TV reviews, at least all the money I spent on my test equipment isn't going to waste.

Keep those comments coming.

Joel

[frikkie]

I'm in trouble with people all the time because I didn't say that their ABC was the best I've used, even if another publication gave it five or fifty stars.

That's the big problem, and you have my sympathies. It's not an easy act to balance.

[williamkelly]

Interesting discussion. I liked the bit about being called quirky, but basically a nice guy. Cor!

Re everything is positive. No, no it isn't. You just need to read between the lines. The problem with a magazine like this in the South African market it simple. Every Tom, **** or Harry imports any number of brands of hi-fi themselves. The market simply cannot sustain the variety of the number of brands brought in locally - and hence one of two things happens to the smaller brands. Either 1. The thing gets sold at a hell of a price for the importer to stay in business based on sales of 1/100th of what they could get in the UK, or 2. The thing doesn't get sold at all and the importer goes belly up. Pricing locally I have found to pretty much be spot on for the vast majority of the larger importers.

One of the results of the above is that we humble reviewers very rarely get anything that is crap to review. The things that are crap never make it to print - why bother? All you'll do is piss off the importer and because he has very little competition for his own product from other importers he can afford to fob the magazine off for a few months. We are NOT in the enviable position of being able to adopt a Clarkson devil may care take your rubbish car and shove it attitude - but believe me it would be very easy to do. That is, if we didn't want any advertisers at all in which case you could enjoy the magazine for 2 months before it came crashing down into the very real earth. It also cuts both ways, for instance, all you sad misguided retro oooh it's so romantic vinyl pushers would get a much more serious clubbing from me than you already do!  

I say that in jest. Just in case you all get furious(er) and cancel your subscriptions.

The point is this. I am trained to see the good in things. Where there is something good about a product to say, I say it. When there is something obviously bad about it, I will also say so but not in an offhand, dismissive way that deliberately provokes offence ala Clarkson who needs to spice up his ratings - something he ie very good at (try a Top Gear locally and see how long it'd last - I'd give it 6 months).

It has been also been quite some time since I had a crummy product on review. The kit that gets into my paws is genuinely top quality stuff most of the time - it wouldn't pass muster if it wasn't.

I must say that I totally disagree that we only review high end equipment. Utter nonsense. I personally have had any number of more than affordable kit through my hands. And yes, it is nice to play with high end stuff from time to time. If we can't all dream, and strive for better, why do we bother listening to hi-fi at all?

Reminds me of something Roy Witelson related once. Comparing hi-fi music with the real thing is like watching real life through binoculars, backwards. I took this to mean that one should always keep perspective.