Internet reviews are a really good way to identify some of the best, most consistently good-value products in almost any hobby or field. If you look at this sub, you would think there are only a dozen brands in the entire hardware industry (I even made a meme about it).
There is so much great gear out there that you will never find reading reviews and forums. Not that there’s anything wrong with LS50’s and Schiit and Topping and SVS and Monoprice. But I think we would all do ourselves a favor to try to listen to a wide array of equipment, especially used equipment, which is often fantastic and worth 10x its cost in sound quality.
I miss audio showrooms and even Best Buy Circuit City type stores that had lots of speakers you could listen to. You could instantly weed out so much crap that you hated. Everyone’s ears are different and I’m afraid so many people have gear now due to internet audio review/social media manipulation etc. Gear they probably would not have picked if they had a good in-person comparison.
Any gear is a good place to start, but I fear people are saving up and buying their “dream system” as also their first system, not as a starting point to grow from.
Agree with that.
There’s still so many product segments I’d never buy without real life interaction, and the sad thing is those products are fading into online only.