question about a what hifi review

[Cypher]

The Denon Ceol Piccolo did get a fantastic review. No complaints about the soundquality. The Denon Ceol RCD-N8 got a review recently. Four stars and it said 'not the last word in refinement and detail' and 'can lack organisation with busier recordings'.

How is this possible ? To my knowledge these machines are identical (same amp and everything)...........the only difference is the CD drive.

Any ideas on this ?

 

[Tarxman]

Perhaps it's more due to its Pricepoint comparatively. Is there much of a reduction in price for sacrificing the CD drive?

 

[Al ears]

Read into these reviews whatever you like. Quotes like 'not the last word in refinement and detail' are pretty useless unless you give a reference to what is actually the last word in detail.

Unless they tell you it's a complete dog and give reasons why,then just go and audition it yourself. It's the only way.

 

[Vladimir]

4 stars? I wuoldn't touch that with a stick.

 

[Thropplenoggin]

There's an interesting thread on the usefulness of Hi-Fi magazines over at HiFi Wigwam at present...

 

[AlbaBrown]

Happens more often than you think. (even sister publications like What Car reviewed the Kia Picanto and Hyundi i10, claiming one is a great city and the other was very average - under the cosmetics they are the same car).

Just another example that an audition of products before purchase (maybe even a home demo) is the only way to gauge a product.

Or find a dealer who stocks a 5 star product, and ask them if they have anything else that they would be happy to demonstrate it's superiority.

 

[dansettemajor]

Back in the 90's I owned a Philips CD 930 CDPlayer which had been awarded 5 stars in a WHF review, with the summary saying ' Brings out all the underlying passion in the music'. 3 months later, it was down to 3 stars and was described as 'Dull and boring'. Needless to say I took all their reviews with a pinch of salt after that.

 

[tino]

The rule of thumb is to take magazine reviews with a pinch of salt ... especially those that can't back up any of their review comments with at least some basic measurements. Reviews are OK where they might explain some functional limitations of a piece of kit e.g. how good the remote is or whether there are any major sonic flaws which these days is less and less likely. Best go and sample for yourself and take a broad section of professional and user reviews / forum comments as basic information to help you in your final decision.

On the subject of magazine reviews, I recently compared reviews of the Cyrus Lyric in WHF and HiFi Choice ... same outcome but the approach was quite different ... one was more in depth than the other and offered more factual + background information about the product which was really useful.

 

[ISAC69]

That's a proof not to base your decision on magazines reviews ...Go and listen by yourself , let your ears to decide for you !

In the past I bought the Mission MX5 speakers without a demo based on the 5 stars review of WHF and found out that it was a big mistake ,

In the contrary I bought the Rotel RCD 1520 in spite of the bad review in WHF becasue after a demo I found out that it is an excellent CDP .

 

[Vladimir]

You take scientific knowledge with a pinch of salt. Marketing you flush down the toilet since it's pure kaka with ocassional mint of truth.

I work in marketing for over 7 years now and I lie in every sentance I write and every image I photoshop, all with one purpose > to make things look better than they are so they sell. Clients don't have to ask for that, it is preconceived and expected. I strive to be a better lier at my job.

 

[spiny norman]

I lie in every sentance I write

I find that very hard to believe ;-)

 

[Vladimir]

I lie in every sentance I write

I find that very hard to believe ;-)

Thank you Norman. I find you to be one of the most easy going people here on WHF forums.

 

[Alec]

I lie in every sentance I write

I find that very hard to believe ;-)

Thank you Norman. I find you to be one of the most easy going people here on WHF forums.

http://youtu.be/bcYppAs6ZdI

 

[Alec]

Duplicate, sorry.

 

[Snooker]

I raised this point like yourself, in the Denon Ceol N8 review where people leave comments

I like yourself would think the audio circuits are probably the same, and even in the Denon Ceol N7 which also got 5 stars, and this unit the Denon Ceol N8 got 4 stars and at the time of the review was around £100 cheaper than the new Marantz, but they just compared it with the new Marantz MCR610, and not the previous Denon Ceol N7 / Denon Ceol Piccolo or Marantz MCR603 as well, which would have made a more accurate review which meant something useful to people interested in the new Denon Ceol N8