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In Reply to: Hi)FI+ being brought by Absolute Media posted by greginsydneyau on March 5, 2006 at 17:46:02:
Right now, I feel it's an overpriced mag. It might be interesting to see what happens, but Absolute Sound has certainly gone down the tubes.
Follow Ups:
in what way. tas is still THE authoritative publication of its kind out there. it amuses and amazes me where these opinions come from!they cover the waterfront from affordable to the celestial and with accuracy. they have reg and rh, not to mention hp. the rest aint bad either.
Yes, down the tubes; I agree with Tom.The reviews of equipment just are not what they used to be when HP was totally in charge. A reviewer used to describe his (normally close to SOTA) set-up, substitute the component in question, put on several very familiar disks (vinyl, acoustic instruments in real space) and evaluate the component by telling you what differences he heard as a result of the switch. The sound descriptions took up more space than the physical descriptions.
Read the drivel that is called a review of the Van Schweikert VR-4jr speakers to see what I mean. It is on line. I could point you to better reviews on the free web sites.
Could be that most people on this list don't remember TAS in its prime.
Well, the opinion comes from me dude. I believe that 50-60% of the content of the current version of TAS is stuff that HP would never have even thought of publishing back when he ran the show. The 'broadening' of 'appeal' is strictly a commercial attempt to make the mag viable. That might be great from a business point of view (I believe hp was going under prior to the buy out), but it does nothing for the reader. I didn't agree with a lot of what was written in the 'old' tas, and I pretty much couldn't afford any of the equipment that they reviewed, but at least the stuff they reviewed was different from what you would see in Stereophile and it was interesting to read about. Now, tas seems to be trying to find a way to copy the best features of Stereophile (ie recommended components) and 'find' a 'wider' audience. If it were the only mag out there, then, hey, maybe this would be a good thing. But it's not. We don't (I don't) need two stereophiles (which is what it's coming down to). One is enough. It's like they give HP an allotment of pages in the back of the mag to continue his pursuit, and I agree there are several other good reviewers writing for it, but there is no cohesion, no point of view, etc. In the past somewhere hp made it known in print that he didn't have a very high opinion of r harley. Maybe his opinion has changed, who knows. In the same way that JGH used to BE Stereophile, HP was TAS. Now it's a mish-mash. So if you're still amazed and amused, so be it. It must be nice up there on your high horse.
point #1: the magazine isnt only about hp. remember 'further thoughts' and jwc comments etc? harry was challenged, as anyone should and might be by his peers. and times change.tas and other mags have been roundly criticized for droning on in abstruse verbiage, the reviews are now more concise. and nobody in these cyber pages has championed hp more than myself.
i know harry isnt all happy with the current state of affairs but neither is any other monarch when FULL control is lost to others. those of us who have been around for the longest still revere his opinions.
still today, much of what is reviewed in tas is off the stereophile beaten track, some crosses over (wilson maxx2s). affordable (as my sony ns500v is in spades) and not so affordable.
copying. tas had the ORIGINAL recommended components list. then stereophile made recs in EVERY possible category and tas responded by doing something similar. bizness is bizness. i for one am glad hp didn't let the doors slam shut and have NO tas!
high horse----NOT! be thankful for tas and stereophile for when EITHER are gone, you will be poorer for it.
...regards...tr
Stereophile did recommended components BEFORE tas was even in existence. So getting the history right would be appreciated. 'High horse' refers to your dismissive attitude towards anyone with an 'opinion'. I will miss tas when it's gone. But I also do miss Audio, High Fidelity and even the old HiFi/Stereo Review. I miss Stereophile as edited by JGH. I miss the print edition of Positive Feedback. I would miss Bound for Sound. And I would really miss Stereophile as produced now. But buying mediocre mags (tas) just because they are there and might go out of business is not something I want to do. I actually buy it (still) to read hp and pick and choose the rest. The stuff that is most stereophile-like, Ive already read....in stereophile.
with lettered keys about sound and there was a legend to the keys so it was clear what gordy meant. the tas list was shorter and reflected recent changes of favorites.regardless of your distaste for the current tas, it remains at the top. just not the same as it was just as stereophile has changed over the years.
...regards...tr
Yep, that was the stereophile list...long before hp got the idea to do his own mag. And without 'gordy' as you call him 'harry p' wouldn't have had a clue.
well until he became so enamored of fulton speakers that everyone was laughing at him. thats when the mag almost went away.hp credits jgh with creating the language and then hp refined it and continues to do so. he also credits jgh with inspiration to start his own mag.
...regards...tr
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