Help HTF, write a review! (long) (1 Viewer)

[Jon_R]

I was reading about the SVS giveaway and it was mentioned that the winner is asked to write a review. Has anyone looked at the HTF review section?
ITS PATHETIC...
(click on reviews, many of you probably never have )
My proposal, why don't we all write some reviews about all of our equipment. Now, before this can happen I think that there needs to be some other type of review system. As it is now I believe it sends an email to someone and they post it manually.
There needs to be more than just a lot of reviews, we need good reviews as well. I think some sort of template, a suggestive review format, should be drafted to help give shape to every review. Reviews would not have to strictly adhere to it, but it would give the review section a healthy base. This would keep up the integrity of our reviews, and avoid the situations like audioreview.com.
At least on a couple of occasions in my experience I have found audioreview to be filled with moronic posts. We at the HTF are members of a well structured, well ran and moderated forum. We have at our fingertips a wealth of knowledge about damn near every product, but everytime we want to know about something, we have to ask.
I'm playing around with the idea of designing a ratings site, an alternative to audioreview. Maybe one day I'll even have a link from HTF!
Thanks for reading..
Tell me what you think,
Jon

 

[NathanP]

I feel the exact same way John.

I think I'll do a weekle or monthly section caled

"Processors, Processors, Processors"

Where I review various processors of sorts.

 

[McPaul]

Good idea, but it would take some major system resources to keep the site running, especially if we reach the quantity that audioreview has gotten. Plus it will take up a lot of the Moderators' time. Perhaps they'd have to recruit a new moderator (or several) to man the reviews boards. Perhaps that is why this has not been done in the first place.

But I agree. It would be nice.

 

[Thomas_Berg]

i'd be very interested in both contributing to and learning from such a site. although i dont (yet) have the vast amount of knowledge that most people here seem to possess, i'd be interested in tapping into it.

i think it's a great idea! we could then only have people ask questions about comarisons and problems here while forwarding those looking for reviews to your site. great idea-- i hope it gets off the ground!

 

[BryanZ]

How do you translate into words what can only be heard by you? Hearing is also subjective so what I may like you may find sounds like fingernails scratching against a chalkboard. Now there are some very talented reviewers out there. What I would suggest is writing a review and then letting those who have written excellent reviews review your review and help you with it. Everything would be your own words but using their help with editing, proof reading, content, etc. Perhaps they can help you make it much better than you can on your own. They may ask questions of you and you could revise the review to include those answers. To me that would be an excellent idea.

 

[Philip Hamm]

Every review doesn't need to be "professional" quality. Just review some of your gear that you like/hate and submit them in the existing review section here at the HTF.

 

[Brett DiMichele]

I would be more than willing to write some indepth reviews

on the equipment I currently use and/or any that I demo in

the field. My reviews won't be biased towards "sound" as

this is a very personal subject matter, but rather I would

go into great detail over lists of features,specs,build

quality and general "feel".

The problem is that the current reviews section as has been

previously stated, requires a moderator to finalize and

submit the review. I for one do not want to have to ask a

moderator, but rather be able to just click it and submit it.

If the reviews section changes in the near future you can

rest assured I will post some reviews.

 

[Jon_B]

I've been meaning to. I'll put it back on my to do list.

Jon

 

[Philip Hamm]

The problem is that the current reviews section as has been previously stated, requires a moderator to finalize and submit the review. I for one do not want to have to ask a moderator, but rather be able to just click it and submit it.
If the reviews section changes in the near future you can rest assured I will post some reviews.

Pray tell, why is the submission process a problem?

 

[Bruce N]

I submitted my Fluance review but never heard anything about it. That was just before the change to vBulletin so it may have been lost in the shuffle. Who takes care of that area Phil?

Bruce

 

[Adil M]

I'm sure this will be addressed, but let's try to make the reviews more then just gushing and bashing and repeat reviewing like some of those in Audioreview. Otherwise a great idea. I could easily write up concise and helpful reviews of *all* my products in about 2 hours. And they are not all 5's.

 

[Martice]

I think that if you can hook up your HT than you should be able to express whatever feelings you may have on your purchase. Some reviews may not have the technical info that some may crave but there are other sources for technical reviews.

I've seen many reviews that are really just emotional outbursts from having a new piece of gear that makes you happy. If you look at some of the reviews on this site especially SVS threads, I have to admit that it was the discriptive expressions like "Low, tight, just right, perfect, awesome, scary, deep, gut turning, neighbor scaring and wall shaking etc. that got my curiosity going more than the actual technical information that SVS so kindly made available to the masses. Now after hearing a fellow members dual SVS 2531cs, I was able to relate to what people were talking about and although I am a little more technical in terms of understanding speaker performance, I was able to gather my emotions and level my expectations and get similar performance else where without regret. Hell if it wasn't for the people who just wrote gushing statements about SVS the word would be spreading a lot slower than it is right now although I think from what I heard from my listening session the praise is rightly deserved.

There's room for all input on this forum IMO not just technical ones and by no means not just emotional ones either. I welcome technical reviews because they educate the person who is willing to learn more about this hobby than the cost and the warranty.

If you would like to have more technical feedback regarding gear than it's obvious that you would have to look a little further than an open forum like this to get the goods that you seek.

Then again, there's always Audio Asylum, Audiogon and the like where you can get all the technical information and a good debate to go with it.

 

[Parker Clack]

I moderate the current Reviews section. I get an email each time a review is written. I go and read the review and then submit it to the page. The only reason I moderate is because I don't want it to just become a bitch session like a lot of what is done on Audio Review and other such sites. Some people cannot refrain from posting something in a review like "It sucks" and that is all that they will say. That is not a review. It is an opinion.

So, I do not mind what so ever taking the time to moderate this area and if you guys will utilize it to write up reviews I will make sure they get posted.

Parker

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Parker,
Ohhhh I see your reasoning.. Good point.
I just didn't want to seem like I was
bothering an Admin who probably had
better things to do then read my reviews.
Since I now know your position on this I
guess I better get busy writing

 

[BryanZ]

Excellent! Thanks Parker!

 

[John Morris]

Parker: Will you post links to reviews that I put up on my web site? If not, will you allow posted reviews to begin with: Posted with Permission from Link Removed?

 

[Max Knight]

This is a great idea! I've submitted the basic information for the B&W 603s2 speakers that always come up in discussion. Hopefully my review will soon follow!

-Max

 

[MickeS]

I've been here for over a year, and I didn't even know there WAS a review section! :b

If I ever get something review-worthy I'll be sure to write something.

/Mike

 

[Parker Clack]

John:

I would prefer that you just post your review here on the forum without any links back anywhere. You can put a disclaimer at the end though like "Posted from Merc Says" with a link to Merc Says.

Parker