Hifi Mags

Fascinating to hear everyone's views on the mags, if a little depressing really. I must admit to thinking that somehow the mags were all a bit more interesting in the late eighties and early 1990's and I have [particularly fond memories of Audiophile and Hi-Fi Review - indeed I still have a very extensive collection of them and do occasionally re-read them). With hindsight the mags of that period seem representative of a golden age, but maybe that's just nostalgia talking! Still I would rather read about the SME V or the Rock/Excalibur than yet another obscure high end CD player

I think the better mags such as Hi-Fi+ and HFN can offer a good read and good value entertainment. One key difference between the advice provided by reviewers and that available on forums such as this is that reviewers are subjected to a much greater range of kit than the average consumer and this can provide an arguably more balanced viewpoint. In addition you can't read the internet so easily on the lav!!

Jonathan

quote:

Originally posted by abbydog:
I also have a problem with paying for a product in which I have to 'read between the lines'.

I understand there are some "economic motives" to these reviews. But when I say "read between the lines", I wasn't referring to that

Yes, we can disagree what the reviewer say. But that's just part of this hobby, isn't it? It's subjective. Certainly I don't always agree on what's "good" with my audio buddies.

On top of that, we don't hear those products being reviewed in the reviewer's system and in his room. So it is kinda difficult to say "that reviewer is absolutely crap" eventhough it's possible.

The "between the lines" part is meant as a reference to that particular reviewer's preference.

For example, I like to read PM's speaker reviews. Eventhough I don't always agree with his conclusion, I can see that he has some consistency on his preferred "sound". Response smoothness ranks high there (it probably has something to do with his preference for classical music). But he still can overlook this if the speaker offers very good dynamic performance. And so on.

Funny you should mention PM. He is, of course, part of the team behind Hi-Fi Critic and it was incredibly refreshing to read their conclusions on digital amps in the latest issue. Refreshing because they actually stood up said they didn't like any of them. That is journalism, agree with the conclusion or not. I'm sick of reading epic reviews with conclusions so hedged about and qualified as to be all but useless. By the way, get the most recent issue if Hi-Fi Plus and count the number of reviews by its editor. Then figure out how long he spent listening to each piece of equipment. This from someone who preaches about thorough evaluation and giving each piece of kit reveiwed the best chance of performing etc etc,. The only way we'll get better magazines is by voting with our wallets.

In the recent years of easy money, HiFi companies and magazines have become complacent. Many thinking that brand, brand-association and gloss would be enough.

Meanwhile, the gulf between high-end and low-end seems to have narrowed - probably partly due to improvements in recording technology.

Maybe when easy money and complacency come to an end we will start to see the industry re-evalute itself and start to read some real critical opinion again.

Andrew

quote:

Originally posted by abbydog:
I see I've made a couple three - sorry!

May be there is some Celtic blood in you. In Irish (Gaelic) the word for few is "cupla" consequently we often use the word couple to denote more than 2.



On the mag front - the mags are getting crap because HiFi is becoming a dying hobby, certainly it has been leaving the main stream since the mid 90's. Of my friends and acquaintances I know 3 people with what one could remotely call Hifi (Pioneer, Arcam and Bang and Olufsen)

My brother in law listening to some Rory Gallagher on my system asked me how many speakers I had. At first I thought he was drunk or taking the piss but he just couldn't believe there wasn't a central speaker, but he still thinks his collection on his USB stick is the bees knees.


going all over the place with this reply - rather delicious Chateau Neuf de Pape ..................... time for bed says Zebedee.



SJB

Agree thsy are getting worse. Especially HiFi+ and Mr Gregory, who seems to have a major consistency problem, bless him.
He is turning into an Audiofreak.

David

I haven't read a Hi Fi mag in what seems like 10 years.

I would like someone to stand up and be counted when doing reviews. Tell them it is crap but they do the usual play with words.

Years ago whilst working in a Hi Fi shop Rogers were trialing a new floorstanding loudspeaker and everyone was saying how good it was. The Rep told us the usual story that everyone said it was wonderful.

I was called in to have a listen and told the Rogers guy it was abysmal. Splashy Top end and mid range and bass was wooden. I thought he was going to have a heart attack.

Couple of days later he phoned to apologise and said I was right as the drive units had worked themselves loose. Apparently when he took them back to the factory and reset them up for listening tests they told him the same thing as I had.

Next time I heard them they were much better but still not my cup of tea.

I can't believe some of the stuff on this thread.

The mags are brochures to promote interest in this hobby and report on new developments and products. They combine this with advertising, comment and opinion. So what's wrong with that?

Anyone whose interest has been stirred by a feature or review gets a chance to evaluate for themselves.

Given that there is huge disagreement about what makes a good sound among buyers - why should reviewers be any different?

If you introduce plain speaking reviews to "dis" products if they don't measure up to one person's experience - all you will get is kit submitted from large manufacturers who can sustain the odd bad review. What use would that be?

Steve

HiFi mags rule, i love them and hope they keep going like they have always done. Most of them if not all of them highly respect naim kit or any other kit that we know is good, sometimes they get it wrong (probably the editing) but most of the time i can read where they are coming from and have the greatest respect for them!

A big up to all the HiFi mags!

PS: I completely agree with Steve S1 comments above, well put.

regards, Steve

Internet forums are slowly killing off magazines.

years ago girlfriend no. 43-b/2 was helping me clean out the garage, we were converting it to a studio. i had all my stereophiles, back to those in small format. she "made" me recycle all of them. probably a good thing - now a little more room for my crates and crates of lp's. but i have a friend who gets it for me every year as a gift. now i recycle them at the end of each month ...

it's just a way of keeping up on the industry news. i have so much used equipment, i could open a shop, so i have to remain informed! i have to agree the reviews there are mostly a joke (what does it all mean, professor??), unless you own krell and need reassurance. i actually prefer the english mags, and read them, like eric, at the coffee places. i don't think i've actually bought one in 10 years. once in awhile i'll check out some of the recordings mentioned.

but are you guys aware stereopile currently rates both the 555 and cd5x as "class a" (the best, baby) cdps, in their "recommended components" issues??

Hmmm.. why do they have to have class a,b,c etc.? In my book there are only two classes, "good" and "cr@p".

Andrew

i'm not sure -- assume steropile charges successively higher bribes for the better ratings: "a" is a good continental restaurant including drinks, dessert, and wine, "b" is w/o drinks and dessert, "c" is appleby's or olive garden, etc. perhaps that's why there are so few "c", "d," and "e" ratings - what reviewer wants to write a decent review for a latte and muffin??

(to stereophile lawyers: just kidding, it's a joke, haha.)

all seriousness aside, this mag never publishes a bad review. i guess that's one way of doing things - "help ever, hurt never." the audiophile industry is limping badly enough without buyers being driven away by bad press.

the one syndrome that kinda gets to me is how many not so great reviews are later upgraded when the manufacturer learns that the review sample was "defective," and the replacement unit sounds astoundingly good. what's up w/ that???

One of the most-maybe the ONLY- scathing review I read in S'phile was of the Shahinian Diapsons, which were described (if memory serves) 'as pleasant as an infected hang nail'. Hardly a review that holds punches. Admittedly this was well over ten years ago, and I cannot remember ever encountering such torrid invectives since.

I still read TAS and Sterophile, largely for the music reviews. In the 70's and 80's I bought every single Haymarket Publication audiorag (Popular HiFi, HiFi for Pleasure, HiFi Answers etc) as well as HFN&RR. The first TAS I bought back in the 80's was an eye opener for the extraordinary standard of subjective descript including a multi tonearm review by Tom Miiler (the Alphason and the Sumiko arms were the champs) that has not been matched for many years since TAS boosted the publishing frequency, started doing encapsulated mini-reviews and lost about everything that made it stand above the rest. Come to think about it, the S'phile is a duller read since the departures of Corey Greenberg and Sam Tellig.

quote:

all seriousness aside, this mag never publishes a bad review. i guess that's one way of doing things - "help ever, hurt never." the audiophile industry is limping badly enough without buyers being driven away by bad press.

Pheweeeeeeee!

I have consulted one or two many years ago when trying to sort out which speakers to dem and so forth. I cannot remember the titles...

Things must have gone downhill a lot since then.

ATB from George

JJeeezzzuus


That was quick. I make a comment and ten seconds later it's zapped.


Mr. Moderator must keep weird hours these days...

quote:

In the 70's and 80's I bought every single Haymarket Publication audiorag (Popular HiFi, HiFi for Pleasure, HiFi Answers etc) as well as HFN&RR.

Ron, you don't happen to have a 1975 HiFi News review of JBL L300?

JohanR

quote:

Posted Fri 05 October 2007 09:41 Hide Post
I stopped buying them after I had a personal spat with Ken Kessler, who I believe to be a hypocritical tosser of the first order.

...

I agree....Mr KK is a prat of unsurpassed arrogance and ignorance (imo) and ....

on a par with David - cliches -r- us- Vivian

Unfortunately thes idiots do weild some influence amongst the less experienced Hi-Fi enthusiat....oh well I guess that at least we should be grateful for small mercies

laurie