Stereophile recommended components

MF. Yea... take with a large grain of salt.

 

Nevertheless, I would rather read one of Fremer's reviews than most audio writers. Even though I do not play records, I read his analogue reviews and enjoy them a great deal. I think he is a fine writer with a great track record.

 

A little salt with the meal is fine, just don't skip the meal and only have the salt. Since the beginnings of Tracking Angle, Analog Planet, his column, and on, Michael Fremer has had a lot of good to say and been most helpful. He often treads on ground that would be unobtainium for me, but it is interesting at times.

 

Am I alone in missing Listener?

 

Mu sense is that they only publish positive reviews. So if they really don't like something, it generally does not show up in the magazine. I have at times followed their advice and have yet to be disappointed. That said, there is a lot of great sounding gear out there that Stereophile and TAS have not reviewed.

 

We have seen a number of cases where the reviewer liked the item very much, but John Atkinson (doing the measurements) did not.

Obviously they have to select equipment for review, and since there is a huge range out there, there must be some preliminary interest in the piece they review - typically coming from a listen at a show, although sometimes coming from the very different technological approach that the designer has taken. There is clearly some vetting occurring early.

 

Perhaps, but when is the last time you saw Stereophile hammer a product?

 

Nope. I would say I miss it yet I'm still reading them on occasion. I do miss the somewhat humbler times and humbler approach of covering our fair hobby and pass-time though. Do you read Listening? It is very good stuff.

Happy Listener, Happy Listening!

 

Actually I do read a few. But I think it is the duty of the reader also, to read between the lines. I do not blame Stereophile or any magazine or writer for generally cherry picking winners to review. You may see it differently but I don't care to see them crushing peoples livelihoods with bad reviews. How does that help the industry or the hobby? And if I was a writer, why would I find pleasure in that exercise? I wouldn't. So than why spend my time doing it? Again, I don't see these choices as heresy.

 

Here's the issue I have with these kinds of 'Recommended Components' things, without attributing any willfulness to the writers, owners, or publisher:
the capsules reflect reviews done over time by different people- i know at some point, (i think it used to be "K")- they would delete a listing if the review was too out of date, but, the reviews make little sense in a vacuum (i.e., sans context of system, etc) and then compiling them all is a bit of a hodge-podge. No one could realistically expect controlled, i.e., in the same system at the same time, comparisons of say, top line stages, let alone, less than top, then budget- a huge undertaking that would be impossible, but choosing a smaller universe would be more meaningful to me. (HiFi+ once did just that for a bunch of high end line stages- and obviously it still was incomplete but it was more meaningful). Second, there is stuff missing. I took a quick look through my e-version- the Audio Desk RCM is mentioned but the KL is not. (or maybe I missed it, the print is a bit small which is another reason I don't really grapple with reading those things in any detail). (I've owned both, so it isn't a pride of ownership thing).

So, I'm still reading that damn magazine since Box 49 Elwyn, Pa (if you know what I mean), but those lists just don't mean a whole lot to me. And again, I'm not trying to be snarky. Just my take.
And for what it's worth, doing my own little corner of writing- about records, not gear, I appreciate even more what it takes for writers to write, for editors to edit and to get stuff published. Whether it's audio or anything else.

 

Agreed do Bill, and context is everything.

 

Yep, Fremer, I used to love reading Roy Gregory at HiFi+ and a few others- HP back in the day, and JGH, maybe a few others whose names escape me. I think very few are doing it as a fulltime gig- Fremer is, as I understand it, but how many others? Probably not many.
Jules Coleman was always an interesting read, but he really went off the grid, entirely. Brilliant guy- wrote about jurisprudence but from the perspective of a philosopher, not a lawyer.

 

I truly miss Harvey "Gizmo" Rosenberg, his zany POV, and unquenchable enthusiasm that was of rare thermionic value in this search for musical ecstasy.

 

One of the best writers that Stereophile had IMO was Tom Gillett AKA Sam Tellig.
I didn't always agree with his audio views, but as a writer, he was the one that I enjoyed the most.

 

I sort of like these kinds of lists/reviews. Having lived in a rural area for 15 years, with no local access to quality audio components (without driving at least 100 miles one way), I found myself searching for decent budget components when it came time to replace my 1970s-vintage system (Kenwood KA-9100 integrated amp, Klipsch Heresy I speakers) in 2010.
By reading reviews on various websites I settled on a Marantz PM5003 integrated amp, Focal Chorus 807V speakers and stands, Furutech GT40 DAC/ADC (for needledrops), MusicStreamer DACs, Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge (for a 1978 SL-1400MK2 TT), and Oppo BDP-83 universal disc player.
I'm happy with the results.

 

Interesting, i guess that's what makes horse racing. Sam/Tom had this wandering, story telling style, I remember the stuff about Lars (who I met a few times back in the day with the NY Audio Mafia (tm)), but it always made me restless to get to the punchline. I have the same reaction to some of the 6Moons reviews- you have to wade through a lot of stuff to get there. Being a little prolix myself, I understand it. I wish I could write like Dash Hammett. Telegraphic, terse, dames and tough guys. Or James Carlos Blake. But that was fiction. (Sorry)

 

I would not say I really liked him, but I would read his column to catch up on what his wife and cat were up to, and to pick up some Russian slang.

I don't think I ever really agreed with his audio views.

 

You have a short memory. JA said that the Allnic D-50000 DHT

"has the dubious honor of being the worst measuring digital component I have ever encountered".

 

Or the Woody Tonearm which Art wanted to like but, had serious misgivings...

 

Lol, Maksim surely is a fascinating cat

 

I don't disagree with your sentiment, however, being an educational mag would be difficult in this day and age given instant access to forums like this where people could get educated with questions specific to their exact situation in near real-time.

 

An audio review by JC Blake would make for some interesting reading. His descriptions alone would make it worthwhile.

 

Salvatore does bring up some valid points. I for one noted several times over the years that a weakness in a product was not mentioned UNTIL the replacement model came out. So you would have a product that was the greatest thing in the world which I thought was rather bright and fatiguing. No mention in the review - THEN when the new model version 2 or SST whatever then all of a sudden the reviewer noted how it fixes the brightness of the previous version.

Naturally he is correct with regards to advertising - if you give negative reviews you won't get advertising and the magazine and online magazines will close down. So reviewers typically pre-screen products to mostly ensure the product will be reviewed favourably. Arthur is also correct that if reviewers speak their mind too much they wont get products. There is a dealer/importer in Canada who refused to reply to my e-mails because I called them out on their behavior as a dealer.

I can't speak to individual reviewers - in any realm there will be corrupt people and magazines like Stereophile have fired reviewers for it. At the same time it's not all on the reviewer - manufacturers have apparently given reviewers a much better version of the product (fixed up with better parts) while the consumer gets a lesser component. Not to mention some makers that hand out decade long loans - how long a long does it have to be to be considered a bribe? Still, I think Arthur lumps everyone in when it's not everyone.

The magazine and the reviewer is a separate animal. I don't know or care who advertises with Dagogo. It has zero influence with what I choose to review and for the most part very little of what I write gets edited. And Stereophile reviewers like Art Dudley were reviewing and buying gear not advertised in the magazine. Something like half the stuff reviewed in the magazine is not advertised.

The problem with the rating systems being used is that the scale slides. Martin Colloms tried this and ranked things out of 10. But then something was a lot better than what he scored a 10 so he had a 15/10 then a 35/10 then a 56/10 etc. He was up to something like 400 on some products. Stereophile had very few class A products now a lot of class A and now A+ and often the reviewer thinks a class B product is better.


Note: Sam Tellig has left Stereophile because he does not like the leadership of the magazine.

 

It tends to be simpler in my case. I know myself. If I'm not going to like a product, I don't have a snowball's chance in hell of leaving it plugged in long enough to do a fair review. Then I'll have to send it back, and I live in a place with just about the highest shipping cost in the lower 48. I don't want someone footing a grand or more in shipping (this has happened already) if I already know that I'm going to damn something with faint praise. For that matter, I live with another reviewer. She'd better like it, too. Wife Acceptance Factor means something entirely different in my house.

Part Time Audiophile operates under very similar principles. Scot does try to make sure that I don't deploy too much profanity in reviews. He's even tried more than once to convince me to lead with at least some positive aspects instead of getting the litany of complaints out of the way first. He may even have asked me to remove the phrase "stone deaf asshats" from a show report. That said, there's a real sense that the review is the review. Any editing so far has been done to make the review better. I can't imagine being asked to tone anything down because an advertiser's feelings might be hurt.

For what it's worth: I run a good ad blocker. I don't even really know who the advertisers are.

 

Amazingly there is virtually no McIntosh listed.....or Bose.....(or maybe there is none)