Hi if magazines
Posted by: m.paul taylor on 14 January 2018
can anyone recommend any UK hifi magazines?
I used to read them a lot but gave up after reading a reviewer claiming he could hear a 6% improvement in sound quality with a piece of equipment when the sun came about from behind a cloud!
Plus it's difficult not to be cynical about the objectivity of reviews of equipment by manufacturers advertising in the same magazine.
Not one reviewer has mentioned any of the problems with the Naim Core. I find it hard to believe they would not have commented on the lack of ripping errors, classical music handling of metadata, composer, artist etc. Perhaps they get theirs set up for them do they can find hard drives, usb drives. I know that some of this has been addressed, but the reviews were before many of these fixes. So I may read a hifi mag, but it does not steer me in any particular direction.
Gazza posted:Not one reviewer has mentioned any of the problems with the Naim Core. I find it hard to believe they would not have commented on the lack of ripping errors, classical music handling of metadata, composer, artist etc. Perhaps they get theirs set up for them do they can find hard drives, usb drives. I know that some of this has been addressed, but the reviews were before many of these fixes. So I may read a hifi mag, but it does not steer me in any particular direction.
in hificritic an ex member of naim forum, i didn’t remember the name, addressed critics about the core. And Martin Colloms said that he preferred a little bit his unitserve/ custom ps to the core. So not so advertising review i found...
Haim Ronen posted:I miss the times when Hi Fi magazines carried audiophile cartoons. I guess that with the on going spiraling cost of audio gear there is no more room left for humor. I read Stereophile and The Absolute Sound, mainly for the music reviews.
From about 1978 to the very early 80s I used to read at least two HiFi magazines: an Italian one, Stereoplay, but mostly Stereo Review. What I loved in Stereo Review were two things: the audio cartoons by Rodriguez and the reviews by Julian Hirsch, who was the type of guy who measured, kept a low-profile towards all types of hypes and allowed himself some level-headed opinions on music, such as why modern composers refused to still use normal titles for their music, or words like Sonata or Concerto.
Reading such magazines I was informed, in what at the time they believed was the only honest and objective way. Then came the British school of thought – no offense intended, it's just that it's just so – of single speaker room demos, if it makes you tap your feet it's good (and all the rest is bulls*it) and so on. I remember my friends who ran an audio store telling me not to keep the stereo and the TV in the same room because the TV set's small speaker – the word of Ivor Tiefenbrun – would interfere, resonating, with the music. Then, one day, Mr Tiefenbrun was invited to a demo in which he was replayed the same music on analogue tape and on the latest, state-of-the-art Sony digital recording machine and, rumor has it, he was not able to tell which. Every time I read of blind tests of some kind, an atom of faith in human justice returns to me.
Perhaps that journalism style was too level-headed perhaps, but at least I didn't feel like being subliminally, incessantly advertised and, all in all, made a fool of (to use a moderate expression). And yes, where has humor gone in this world?
French Rooster posted:Martin Colloms said that he preferred a little bit his unitserve/ custom ps to the core.
This tells more on MC's ear for sound than on advertising reviews in my opinion. And what about the 'custom psu'? Did Naim reply to the review kindly reminding MC that is was against Naim's warranty policy to use 3rd party PSUs and, on writing so on a public magazine they somehow were encouraging an improper use of Naim gear?
An online site I have a free subscription with and think is worth a look is The Audiophile Man - Paul Rigby. You can sign up for regular emails with hi-fi related news and reviews.
I used to read several HiFi mags - but got fed up when the reviews so frequently were largely just re-hashings (or even direct quotes) from the manufacturers blurb. Some I still find useful on occasion.
james n posted
Ah yes - great mag. Hi-Fi was so simple in those days (although a bit militant). One reviewer i do miss is Malcolm Steward. He's still on a very long road back to recovery after a stroke and car accident. His reviews had a great blend of technical insight and musical knowledge and were always a pleasure to read. I have to thank him for one of his reviews in Critic getting me interested in my present speakers.
My latest HFN has arrived today, complete with a review of Superlumina speakers cables. Looking forward to reading that.
This thread is a good read in itself!
Mention of Malcolm Steward brings back memories. Along with Paul Messenger he was Salisbury’s greatest ally in the press. An antidote to the Naim-hating Roy Gregory and other Absolute Sounds devotees. I particularly recall a picture of MS’s system where every Naim box was on or in a 5ft high tower of Mana platforms! Now that’s devotion/lunacy..
James, I didn’t realise MS also liked Shahinian speakers. I recall Jason Hector in the same mag being a real disciple of all things Pear Audio - he even traded some of his Naim Amps for Dynavectors. Heresy! For me, it was the 2 positive reviews of the original Arcs by Alvin Gold and Jimmy Hughes in HFA and the fact that Grahams HiFi started carrying them that got me into owning Shahinians- an unbroken habit for me since 1993. Arcs, then Hawks and now Obelisk2’s.
The Shahinians are really beautiful speakers (a not unimportant fact in the matrix of matrimonial happiness). Until this forum I had never heard of them! My listening room needs speakers to be located very close to the back and side walls. Are they suitable? The same question applies to Kudos Titan 606. Your advice, as ever, would be welcome
My favourite magazine read of all time was unreservedly 'The Flat Earth'. In many ways it was humorously styled a little bit like the American 'Mad' magazine. The great thing was they took no prisoners when it came to reviews - mainly because they had no advertising revenue to satisfy!
That much honesty is sadly missed!
Haim Ronen posted:I miss the times when Hi Fi magazines carried audiophile cartoons. I guess that with the on going spiraling cost of audio gear there is no more room left for humor. I read Stereophile and The Absolute Sound, mainly for the music reviews.
Max_B posted:Haim Ronen posted:I miss the times when Hi Fi magazines carried audiophile cartoons. I guess that with the on going spiraling cost of audio gear there is no more room left for humor. I read Stereophile and The Absolute Sound, mainly for the music reviews.
From about 1978 to the very early 80s I used to read at least two HiFi magazines: an Italian one, Stereoplay, but mostly Stereo Review. What I loved in Stereo Review were two things: the audio cartoons by Rodriguez and the reviews by Julian Hirsch, who was the type of guy who measured, kept a low-profile towards all types of hypes and allowed himself some level-headed opinions on music, such as why modern composers refused to still use normal titles for their music, or words like Sonata or Concerto.
Reading such magazines I was informed, in what at the time they believed was the only honest and objective way. Then came the British school of thought – no offense intended, it's just that it's just so – of single speaker room demos, if it makes you tap your feet it's good (and all the rest is bulls*it) and so on. I remember my friends who ran an audio store telling me not to keep the stereo and the TV in the same room because the TV set's small speaker – the word of Ivor Tiefenbrun – would interfere, resonating, with the music. Then, one day, Mr Tiefenbrun was invited to a demo in which he was replayed the same music on analogue tape and on the latest, state-of-the-art Sony digital recording machine and, rumor has it, he was not able to tell which. Every time I read of blind tests of some kind, an atom of faith in human justice returns to me.
Perhaps that journalism style was too level-headed perhaps, but at least I didn't feel like being subliminally, incessantly advertised and, all in all, made a fool of (to use a moderate expression). And yes, where has humor gone in this world?
Cartoons were from Charles Rodrigues, this name has a Portuguese origin. I did read Stereo Review at the time and that push me to buy a beautiful pair of Kef 105.4's assuming that if that was good enough to be Julian Hirsch reference speaker (105.2) it would be good for me too!
Quad 33 posted:Haim Ronen posted:I miss the times when Hi Fi magazines carried audiophile cartoons. I guess that with the on going spiraling cost of audio gear there is no more room left for humor. I read Stereophile and The Absolute Sound, mainly for the music reviews.
We had it going for a very short while:
Max_B posted:French Rooster posted:Martin Colloms said that he preferred a little bit his unitserve/ custom ps to the core.This tells more on MC's ear for sound than on advertising reviews in my opinion. And what about the 'custom psu'? Did Naim reply to the review kindly reminding MC that is was against Naim's warranty policy to use 3rd party PSUs and, on writing so on a public magazine they somehow were encouraging an improper use of Naim gear?
Yes you are right, this tells you more on MC ear than.....But you don’t have to trust 100% the review. As for custom ps for the serve, a lot of unitserve owners use linear ps and are happy with it for upgrade sound quality. I don’t care if Naim don’t encourage it. It just works. I have one too.
I love the typo Hi "If". It puts 40 years of audio magazines into context: If you can find this obscure product, and if you have a chance to hear it, and if you can afford it, and if you can use it in your system, and if your wife approves, and if it works well in your room, and if your music sounds good on it.....if, if, if. Then, buy this magazine.
My favorites are HiFi Critic, Stereophile, the defunct Listener, the late Bound For Sound, and the late Primyl Vinyl. I still get Absolute Sound and read Positive-Feedback online.
I like reading Polish and German HiFi reviews (in English) online because they are quite comprehensive, factual and quite often impart useful information. For example in UK lets say HIFI Plus review quite often the reviewer will get carried away in his adjectives and wax lyrical about the sound for example of an amplifier with DAC, but often the reader is left wondering through what exactly associated equipment was used to reach that particular review? What is the internal DAC any good, average, or very good, can the sound be described? In the Polish and German HiFi reviews the reviewer will go often a little deeper in descriptions and of'backgrounten will compare the component with their other systems at hand. Often I would read exactly details of the music played and the exact details of the associated equipment used for the review; this alone is sadly missing in majority of UK HiFI magazines (What HiFi, HiFi World, HiFi Choice and HiFi Plus). Another frustration is sometimes implied presumptions, without explanation eg Hi Fi Choice reviewed the Simaudio Moon 240i amplifier which has an out put of 50watts into 8ohms yet it confirmed the review was done via the ATC SCM40 speakers (which need power); there was no mention of the maybe discrepancy between the amp output and the demands of the speaker, no explanation that maybe Simaudio Moon amps can handle difficult speakers. This obvious differences between amp and speaker would of been tackled head on with detailed explanation in eg Hi Fi Nights or Stereo and Colorful - Underground so that the reader is not left wondering at the discrepancy. The ironic part is via my enquiries directly to Simaudio Moon as the particular amp can handle SCM40 speakers their reply was only for 'background music' and they advised that their Moon Neo 340i amp would be better suited for 'normal listening levels. Confusing?
I read hifi rags regularly from the late 1960s, every month scannin the latest issues of all of them in a newsagent and usually buying one. I gave up on them in disgust it the mid 80s with the rubbish they were promulgating, names like Peter Belt and Jimmy Hughes coming to mind. Since then I hav only bought and when circumstances have forced a consideration of a new piece of kit and I needed to know what was out there, and of course more recently the internet provides a huge resource for that (and I do note that there are a few online hifi mags).
my recommendation if you want to read them is to do what I did years ago, simply scan the contents pages and read whichever one(s) have topics that are of possible interest, which may be three one month and none the next. An advantage of spreading your reading you may be more likely to get a balanced picture - just like reading newspapers (which I haven’t done for even longer than hifi rags), or TV news.
Perhaps they are not all bad!
February edition of HFNRR reviews Superlumina, not with Naim equipment and notably "bought about a marked change in tonal balance". Next month a review of the Nait is promised in the vintage section.
In a copy of Hifi World I found a mention of a CD I had not heard of, a check on YouTube and it appears interesting, so I ordered. Then on a whim, I searched this forum and found no mention, so when it arrives, I'll listen and post in the music section.
m.paul taylor posted:can anyone recommend any UK hifi magazines?
My current favourite online publication is Michael Lavorgna's Audiostream, for its eclectic mix of reviews and music recommendations. How can you not like someone who says about his candidates for product of the year, "yea, it's my system". It's a sister site to Stereophile, so not sure how much interest this would be to a UK audience, but Michael Lavorgna does like Tellurium Q Black cables, which I believe some here like also :-)