"Speakers have the most impact on sound quality" - sez Which?

I have always believed Which? pull their articles from What... magazines.

I remember when they did one on home PCs. Macs were not recommended because they did not have software that home users would want to use.

jesus.

The people who tested the different items not only test Hi-Fi, but also potato peelers, travel agencies, watches and insurances. So they're not freaks and therefore they might have kept their 'common sense' - something us naimees have lost long ago. Personally I wouldn't be happy with any japanese over-the-counter boombox, but most people would. So nothing bad here.

There is something to say about the 'small difference' between a boombox and a £5k system, OTOH their judgement of the cable problem is far more sensible than the one of the guys whose cables are more expensive than the speakers

Cheese

That reminds me, I must take out a subscription to Which? - I need a new potato peeler.

Steve B

This mob are great for the simple stuff - " is this a good washing machine?" etc.

Anything that involves joined up writing leaves them baffled. And the response of the baffled is to slag off that which they do not understand.

I have experiance in the pensions and insurance world ( I'm too thick for IT )and have long been aghast at the number of commentators saying that endowment mortgages are shite. They are not. If you have cancelled an endowment because of a press article, KEEP THE BLOODY ARTICLE. When you move house and you find that your mortgage term goes back to 25 years, SUE THE BASTARDS that did not mention what happens with repayment mortgages when you move house.

ooooh this makes my blood boil. Rather than going apopleptic, let me know if anyone wants further comment.....

They may have been guilty of talking from a bodily orifice not normally associated with conversation..

I think they got it only half-right, from my recent experience, the speaker/cable pairing has a major influence on the overall sound and it's (usually) a lot cheaper to buy a new set of speaker cables than a new pair of speakers.

As for endowment mortgages, I'd be interested to see a reasoned defence of the products. It seems to me they claim to offer much, but deliver little, particularly in the current financial environment. But then maybe someone can persuade me otherwise.

Not in this forum though - the padded cell would be the place to continue this discussion if anywhere.

David

I find its a matter of personal choice, for one person an expensive pair of speakers on a poor system will sound great but to someone else it going to sound poor.

The which magazine is a general advice magazine written by general writers who are not experts on anything.

If they believe that the speakers are the most important part of a hi-fi system then thats there parogative.

I like to believe that the best system is a balanced system and the cost of all components is in proportion to the rest of the system but I am sure that many people will disagree with me.

Regards

NB

As someone who has subscribed to Which (including Health and Holiday) since the early days of the publications (I missed the first two of the original smaller sized publication I think) I have become increasingly worried about the advice offered in a few different areas. Recent reports in two areas already mentioned - computers and hifi - are perhaps excellent examples of where this has happened to a worrying degree. I agree that little credibility can be attached to the recent report on hifi.

Terry

I think that Which magazine is getting confused between a change in sound and an improvement in sound. Certainly the speakers can make very big differences in sound quality, whether diferent speakers or just moving them around the room, but it's the source and amplification that can make the biggest improvements in the system given a decent pair of speakers on the end.

Yours in Music
Syd

james - wonderful news!

what Hifi have awarded some ATC speakers FIVE stars. They must be really good

just thought you'd like to know.

friendly dev.

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What a surprise. Mind you, they've got to get some things right, every now and again

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a surprise and a delight indeed! well if it's good enough for what hifi? that's good enough for me.

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what on Earth are you doing reading "What Hi-Fi"?

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james, imagine my surprise and delight when in my dentist waiting room, not only had a copy of 'what hifi?' but also 'bmw driver'. so after being told that five stars atc's are the best for 'dynamic headroom and freedom form digital glare' i read that the bmw three series is the 'best handling car in it's class due to it's multi-link rear suspension'.

thankfully, at least one of these statements is true.

dev (who's got a 325ci convertible)

If the test systems came "boxed" the chances are, the included speaker would be pretty dire in the original package.

I'm not surprised that Which? found a bit improvement by changing them

They may also have confused the Samsung system with a Samsung washing machine of course.......

Computers are supposed to work on 1's and 0's - in other words "Yes" or "No" - why does mine frequently say "Maybe"?......

Mike
I'm with you on this about endowment policies. Yes, returns are down on previous years. Yes, this is a continuing trend. Yes, People are getting pissed off that their mortgages may not be paid because of the down turn in the economy generally and may have a case for mis-selling if they can show they received promises of returns. BUT I'm still happy with the projected return on my endowment, it shows a reasonable return when aggregated over the period of the investment.

...and if you are paying into an endowment now you are likely to see some pretty impressive returns once the markets turn the tide, commodity markets always change direction it's just knowing when...

Matthew