Article: Audiophile Style Launches Polestar Beta

[The Computer Audiophile]

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[The Computer Audiophile]

I've created a forum topic for discussing how to use Polestar and for feedback.

 

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Just now, ShawnC said:

Interesting concept, it definitely has potential. 

Thanks Shawn. I see a real need for this. Some people want the quick hit of a review and rating, while others want the in-depth article, and others want both. I also love the fact that it's ONLY reviews/ratings without comments. This will help people who dislike the haters that "have" to reply negatively to everything because this isn't allowed.

[The Computer Audiophile]

2 minutes ago, FredM said:

It seems mostly AS affiliated brands / sponsors are listed (ie no AudioLunix or Euphony in the Software category). How can other brands/models be added?

Hi Fed - Great questions. We started this with some brands before launching because we needed "something" to get going. We thought we might as well run down the list of site supporters and add products. No favoritism or anything, just a little "kindling" to get the thing going. 

 

We want all HiFI products by all brands to be listed. This is most beneficial to everyone. 

 

Here is my thread on how to add products that aren't listed.

 

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

3 minutes ago, ShawnC said:

I'm liking, seeing the cost of the product at first glance.  To often reviews leave this bit information until the very end or they forget to mention it at all.   

 

This is a big undertaking, you hiring😉

It’s a community effort for the greater community benefit. We have enough Ministers of Information talking from very high horses. We need more reviews and ratings from people using the products. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

12 minutes ago, PeterG said:

Hi Chris--

 

Cool idea, and I'm sure this will get to someplace good.  But I'm a bit confused.  When I click on the Niagara 7000 power conditioner, just for example, I get a blurb from the manufacturer (they appear to give themselves a great review, haha), but no real reviews.

 

On a related(?) issue--I'm on the edge of my seat for the new CASH List--will it be a spin off of Polestar, or maybe Polestar's greatest hits?

 

Thanks

Hi Peter, there are no reviews or ratings of the Niagara 7000 because nobody has left a review or rating. Given that we launched the feature a few hours ago, this isn't surprising. I highly recommend everyone who has used a product, click over to Polestar and leave a quick review and star rating. 

 

CASH will not be a Polestar greatest hits, but it will use Polestar to provide a more balanced set of recommendations. If we only recommend products we've reviewed on the front page, this leaves many good products off the CASH List. Using some Polestar data we can easily include more products that the community has rated very high.

[The Computer Audiophile]

1 minute ago, One and a half said:

This is a top idea, thanks for starting @The Computer Audiophile. In a year's time, can see quite a contribution.

Big thanks also for the analog section.

 

Thanks for the kind words 1.5. I'm happy to see the response so positive. My inbox is full of similar statements. It's really nice to see others believe in the idea as well, and I'm not a fool for thinking about something like this. 

 

I know it's a big ask for people to spend their precious time on any site, but I think the ease and speed of both leaving reviews and checking reviews in Polestar is key. 

 

P.S. I'm not totally against and analog forum section.

[The Computer Audiophile]

3 minutes ago, mlknez said:

Is there any way to go back and edit my own review?  That might be a good thing as opinions may change as one uses a product.

Not currently. For now one will have to post a follow-up review. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

2 minutes ago, mlknez said:

Should I post reviews for products that are no longer for sale by the manufacturer?  In other words it may be available on the used market but cannot be purchased new.

 

Absolutely 100%. These are very valuable to everyone.

 

 

 

2 minutes ago, mlknez said:

Also, what about subwoofers?

What category would a product like the sweetvinyl sugarcube products go into? https://sweetvinyl.com/

They digitize records in real time to remove surface noise as well as allow recording of the records along with retrieval of metadata.

 

Subwoofers will go in Speakers for now. If there are enough to break out into a separate category that will be great and I'll get it done.

 

The Sugarcube is a unique one. It's an A to D with special features. Cool product as well. For now it can go in Accessories. Similar to subwoofers, if we have enough A to D converters, I'll create a separate category. It's easy for me to mass-move stuff behind the scenes. 

 

 

 

 

3 minutes ago, mlknez said:

Is there a method that people could use to ask followup questions to the contributors of these reviews?

 

No. This is a purposeful decision to help people feel free to publish reviews without judgement, snark, or abuse. The downside is that there's no questions for the reviewer, but this can be accomplished by posting in the forum and linking to the review and using @ the person's username if desired. I think the pros of doing it this way outweigh the cons. 

 

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

2 minutes ago, jtnt said:

Having a cross-reference to products that have existing full-length reviews on AS would be a nice touch. In fact, before reading about the new section in depth, I had assumed this is what Polestar was. A categorized listing of reviews on the site. Now I realize its scope is intended to be much bigger than this, which is great, but I would have thought this would have been a part of it.

 

An idea for future enhancement perhaps.

Great idea. One step at a time and we'll get there. Won't be too much "trouble."