Pitfall Four: Market Hype
Lush. Open. Full. Dense. Textured. Grainy. Airy. Recessed. Slow. Mid-hall.
Congested. Forward. Detailed. Uninvolving. Natural. Crisp. Relaxed.
Porn uses fewer adjectives!
What does it all mean? It often means that the reviewer is paid by the
word, or at least paid to sound like he knows what he's talking about.
No one has better ears than you do.
In reality, no one has better ears than you do when it comes to your
stereo. What sounds natural varies among people. As for crisp and relaxed,
this is music, not a suit.
While reviews can offer insights, don't take them too seriously.
Reviewers generally write for magazines that depend on advertising
dollars from high end manufacturers. You can bet that creates a few
biases.
So you have to listen. Which leads to pitfall #5, stores.
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