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Mark4583
11-26-2004, 05:25 PM
If you could only subscribe to one Audio magizine what would it be and why?

matt39
11-29-2004, 03:34 PM
Hi Mark,

While I don't actually subscribe to any magazines right now, the choice would be between Sensible Sound and What Hi Fi. In the end I think the choice would go to What Hi Fi because they review equipment at all cost levels and they have the integrity to say that they don't like every component they review. It's kind of refreshing. I don't agree with them all the time but I like the enthusiasm and the articles on buying and setting up equipment.
Good question!

Sir Terrence the Terrible
11-29-2004, 04:14 PM
I would choose the Audio Perfectionist. I would because they don't have any advertising, which means they can write honest reviews of equipment without retribution from the manufacturers. Richard Hardesty is a genious IMO, as he would rather quit a pretty sucessful audio rag, rather than compromise his reviews to keep from offending manufacturers.

I think the editor, and all of the contributing reports are very well done, theoritically sound, VERY fair and balanced, and you lean alot from the magazine upon every read.

dean_martin
11-29-2004, 04:18 PM
Hi Mark,

While I don't actually subscribe to any magazines right now, the choice would be between Sensible Sound and What Hi Fi. In the end I think the choice would go to What Hi Fi because they review equipment at all cost levels and they have the integrity to say that they don't like every component they review. It's kind of refreshing. I don't agree with them all the time but I like the enthusiasm and the articles on buying and setting up equipment.
Good question!

My son's school has a magazine sale every year as its main fundraiser. I used to get Stereo Review which became Sound & Vision. I picked up a copy of Stereophile one day and liked the writing style and some of the more "serious" reviews of more serious equipment as compared to Sound & Vision. So, I switched my subsription. Occasionally, I pick up copies of The Absolute Sound and What Hi Fi, but always seem to prefer Stereophile even though it's a love/hate thing. I guess I've gotten used to and prefer the style of writing in Stereophile, but I find myself going to www.ecoustics.com to find reviews of products I'm interested in. The knock on Stereophile is generally two-fold: 1) every component they review ends up in the recommended components issue, and 2) they review stuff that's generally not affordable. The first knock is true, but it doesn't bother me. I think I've read enough from the individual contributors to know when they think a product doesn't perform as well as it should. The second knock is not quite true because over several issues you begin to notice that they do review or comment on affordable gear from NAD, Rotel, Polk, Paradigm and many others. They've reviewed tons of phono preamps ranging from $100 to many thousands. It just takes several issues to accumulate a number of reviews of affordable gear.

Woochifer
11-29-2004, 04:46 PM
The audio magazine that I read most often right now is probably The Absolute Sound. It probably has the best coverage of multichannel music going right now, and they do more writing about room acoustics (which IMO is more important than amps, cables, and sources, yet gets far less ink) than most of the other magazines. Plus, they have a really good group of contributors that write their music reviews.

I used to read Stereophile, but I think the critical eye in their equipment reviews is lacking, though their specs are very useful to go through. The British mags like What Hi-Fi are good for comparisons, but very often I question the depth of their reporting. They do a lot of quickie rank orders and 1-5 ratings, but don't always say a lot about how they arrived at their evaluations. A typical issue of What Hi-Fi might review and compare over 70 different items, whereas Stereophile or The Absolute Sound might look at 10-15 items per issue.

I also subscribe to The Audio Perfectionist. It's more of a journal than a magazine because it has no advertising and has a lot of technical articles, but it also has a lot of useful information in it, including some articles and negative reviews that were rejected by Richard Hardesty's former employers (Widescreen Review and The Absolute Sound). It's not cheap, it's not published very frequently, and I disagree with a lot of what gets written, but it is an honest appraisal of the audio industry from one insider's perspective.

Sir Terrence the Terrible
11-29-2004, 05:02 PM
The audio magazine that I read most often right now is probably The Absolute Sound. It probably has the best coverage of multichannel music going right now, and they do more writing about room acoustics (which IMO is more important than amps, cables, and sources, yet gets far less ink) than most of the other magazines. Plus, they have a really good group of contributors that write their music reviews.

I used to read Stereophile, but I think the critical eye in their equipment reviews is lacking, though their specs are very useful to go through. The British mags like What Hi-Fi are good for comparisons, but very often I question the depth of their reporting. They do a lot of quickie rank orders and 1-5 ratings, but don't always say a lot about how they arrived at their evaluations. A typical issue of What Hi-Fi might review and compare over 70 different items, whereas Stereophile or The Absolute Sound might look at 10-15 items per issue.

I also subscribe to The Audio Perfectionist. It's more of a journal than a magazine because it has no advertising and has a lot of technical articles, but it also has a lot of useful information in it, including some articles and negative reviews that were rejected by Richard Hardesty's former employers (Widescreen Review and The Absolute Sound). It's not cheap, it's not published very frequently, and I disagree with a lot of what gets written, but it is an honest appraisal of the audio industry from one insider's perspective.



When we get together, you know I am going to get you woozy, and beg for copies of the Journal that I don't have! LOL

hifitommy
12-05-2004, 02:57 PM
between tas and stereophile, it would stereophile. tas has the most consistently authoritative reviews and certainly the best writers and always has.

stereophile is the cheapest and a very good value, good writers, and good test data so i am not giving up either. also, limiting yourself to one narrows your point of reference.

i truly miss AUDIO magazine and FI. i suggest supporting more than one so they dont all dry up and blow away. one that wouldnt be missed by me is the audio critic but even that one would be missed in the overall picture.

RGA
12-06-2004, 12:08 AM
For print reviews I'd probably go with Hi-fi choice - Similar to Wha Hi-fi but more in depth and they measure componants (though they don't them) They also listen in a blind level matched listening panel and even have company designers sit in on the listening panels(and they don't always choose their own gear as best) There is a sighted part for the ergonomics aspects.

I also tend to like the online reviews from Positive Feedback and www.enjoythemusic.com.

Frankly I don;t need them and would not spend money on them - browse them at Chapters perhaps if I'm bored.

BillB
12-06-2004, 05:11 AM
HiFi Choice

I used to pick up both What HiFi? and HiFi Choice quite regularly but now it's the latter more often than the former. I find the UK approach to hifi writing to be much fresher than anything available in the US, though I still subscribe to Stereophile and Home Theater.

HiFi Choice offers better photography, more concise reviews (all meat, no fat), and just a better overall layout IMO.

Bill

nightflier
12-06-2004, 03:40 PM
...I find the UK approach to hifi writing to be much fresher than anything available in the US...

It is sad but true. I have tried many of the mags listed above (except for the +$50 ones), and I have to say that the Brits know a thing or two about HiFi (I'm sure the French & Germans do too, but I don't remember enough from my College years to understand the articles).

In the US everything is starting to stink of capitalist survivalism; if a mag isn't profitable enough for the investors, then it just gets dropped. The "catchy headline - short review - quick-ranking" model of Sound & Vision is becoming all too common.

Interestingly, this attention-span-limitted mindset is also becoming more apparent in the stores (GG, CC, BB, and even Magnolia and Tweeter come to mind); they have more TV's than anything else. The flashy video screen is the real draw and the speakers are just secondary, sometimes just relegated to background sound - "just make it loud" or "just give me Bose," the typical buyer will say. And the sales rep can recite all the catch-phrases for video products, but doesn't know an Ohm from a Watt. Personally, one of the first things I ask a sales rep is what tech magazines s/he reads. If they start off with Consumer Reports or Sound & Vision, I can be pretty sure they're going to try and sell me a TV and gloss over the sound altogether.

I often like to listen in to the sales pitch that other buyers are spoon-fed, but if it wasn't for online reviews and forums, the rest of us would only have the British audio mags to find usuful info. For me, Stereophile is still the best read, but I will probably not be able to afford anything on their recommended list.