6 Moon Audio reviews: Good/not good?

[Icenine2]

What does everyone think of the 6 Moon Audio reviews for headphone's and amps? Good/not good?

K

 

[Vandal]

I have read quite a few reviews there and while I'm no expert, not having heard any of the stuff, I work as a reviewer myself (PC hardware) and I feel their reviews are a bit too heavy on the purple prose and that's understating it...

 

[MomijiTMO]

Some are good, some are not. It's the same with every site.

 

[Covenant]

I find srajan ebaen's reviews to be quite good, but some of their other reviewers get a bit too bogged down in details.

 

[leeperry]

I think they mostly test high end gear...ppl wanna know whether these high priced items will give them "magic" for the hefty price tag they carry, hence the romanesque vocabulary in most of their reviews...ppl wanna buy a dream, this site tries to put it in words, to make the reader happy that he's found what he's been looking for all along..."this is it, I want it so bad now!"

perfect reviews don't exist, or actually they do...buy the damn thing and try it for yourself.

but at least 6moons talk about pros and cons...when a site never gives any cons, it's a good guess that the reviewer is either incompetent or a shill.

 

[morphon]

Their reviews are not particularly well written. Too often the prose is over-complicated and seems, at times, thesaurus driven.

That said, they do a good job at reviewing from a purely subjective standpoint. While that isn't everyone's preferred style, 6moons does it as well as anyone else. The reviewer who compared the Senn HD800 and Grado PS-1000 did not spare either headphone when he found shortcomings. The review certainly was not advertisement copy. As long as I get honest observations from the reviewer, that's really all I can ask for.

 

[monsieurguzel]

That's funny because I find srajan ebaen's reviews to be quite badly written, especially the ones for headphones and headphone amps. They seem to go too much into the history of the amp and the parts used, but when it actually comes to reviewing the equipment they miserably fail. You usually get 1/2 the article on background history, 1/4 is him showing off his really expensive home setup, 1/4 of actual review. The reviews sort of tease you his evaluation of the actual equipment but always falls short of saying anything really worthwhile. The writing isn't very clear and understandable to the point where you finish the review and are questioning whether Srajan actually rated the equipment well or not. Despite my negative criticism, I still read the reviews and they are pretty entertaining to see all the photos, etc. but I usually take the ratings with a grain of salt.

 

[minimus]

6moons' reviews are extremely verbose and often seem to sing the praises of extremely expensive components or cheaper, arcane components that they have discovered and deemed to be "giant killers". I also find Srajan Ebaen rubs me the wrong way. Does he constantly need to remind the reader that his reference digital source cost $15,000?

I personally lost money buying an amp that was highly lauded by 6moons. I thought it sounded lousy in my system after I bought it and it turned out that the amp was considered to be an overrated dud on audiophile forums among actual owners and those who had demo'd the amp. Not surprisingly, I lost money when I sold it on the used market.

As far as headphone gear is concerned, I would take 6moons reviews with a large grain of salt. For one, 6moons is trying to sell advertisement space. And audio manufacturers who are lauded by 6moons often seem to then buy ad space. So even if 6moons does occassionally pan a product it reviews, it does have an ulterior motive to typically pour on the praise.

This forum contains reviews in many cases written by people who have listened to a vast number of headphone amps over the years. I trust what they have to say more than I trust Srajan Ebaen. This forum also contains great comparative information in the "meet impressions" section. I find that people who go to a lot of meets, hear a lot of headphone gear, and talk to other people who own a lot of headphone gear often have very insightful comparative opinions. I certainly would prefer to buy an amp that people on this forum seem to universally love (for example, the Zana Deux) than one that 6moons gushes over (the Trafomatic). At a minimum, I know that I will be able to sell the former should I want to try something different. But I also am more confident that I am buying an amp that I will like.

 

[Double F]

The late John Potis use to write for them. I found his review's to be fairly informative and honest. Unfortunately he did not see eye to eye with Srajan Ebaen and ceased writing for them. Probably because he did not sugar coat shortcomings.

 

[Currawong]

Srajan Ebaen's review of the Kingrex amp was worse, there was only 1 sentence out of pages and pages of company history/tour crap that mentioned the sound! I'd say, very strongly that it exists purely to glorify products belonging to its advertisers, with the rest filler to make it look less obvious. I was very tempted to post something rude when a Head-fi sponsor commented how they had landed a review in 6moons. I'm sure if you pay them enough they'll give your product a glowing review. The only useful thing for getting a review there is getting your product mentioned somewhere prominent.

 

[Slash47]

When a reviewer loves a product he reviews, he usually wants to keep it. (It's usually their hobby, after all.) Quite often they make a deal where they trade ad space for the product. Also, it's quite logical you buy banner space at a website that has nice things to say about your product.

I think many people are slightly too distrustful when it comes to reviewers' ulterior motives. If some sort of scandal brakes out they're DONE, forever. And I think most keep this in mind. Scratch that; most are decent people, period.

That said, I've never found 6moons that useful for some reason. Most of the time it's a whole load of blabla while not presenting enough truly insightful observations to make it stick.

And I do not understand their webdesign at all.

 

[anetode]

6moons is the Kenny G. of audiophile publications. You can read it out loud and the nearest middle-aged anesthesiologist with a killer vinyl rig will slowly drift off to nap about tube warmth and real wood veneers.

As for their journalistic integrity, it is bested only by SkyMall.

 

[tosehee]

I personally take any review with grain of salt.. They are good as a reference to compare to though.

 

[fishski13]

Quote:

Originally Posted by anetode /img/forum/go_quote.gif 6moons is the Kenny G. of audiophile publications. You can read it out loud and the nearest middle-aged anesthesiologist with a killer vinyl rig will slowly drift off to nap about tube warmth and real wood veneers. As for their journalistic integrity, it is bested only by SkyMall.

i really enjoy the reviews and prose. reading between the lines isn't difficult either. i don't put reviewers on pedestals, but i think Srajan should be given props for the "32 Ohm Series". i also appreciate the fact that 6moons reviews products from the smaller/lesser known companies as well.

 

[Robin W.]

While I can't comment on the reviews being sugar coated or not that probably comes down to the reviewer, I personally think you have to read a few of a certain persons reviews to see how they write and get an idea if they love everything, or if some of their reviews show both pros and cons, or if they down right don't like something. I will say 6moons reviewers are very professional and follow some very strict rules while in possession of products they don't own. It may be hard to believe but I don't believe that add space has anything to do with how the review turns out. I wouldn't be surprised if companies take out add space around the time of a favorable review to try and get the most out of the review and make more sales though.

There are quite a few reviewers though, and as someone stated before some are probably more accurate or consistent than others.