"Industry Updates" is also another personal favorite of mine from this publication, and one that I feel is still its most underrated gem. It's consistently well researched. Seeing the direction manufacturers will or may take in the immediate and not-so-distant future really interests me for the simple reason that this is my hobby, my enjoyment, and the way I choose to spend my spare time when I get some. Which, by the way, is rare.

"The Letters" section was probably the least interesting part of the magazine for me. I rarely saw technical questions being asked about a component in exchange for advice. Instead, it always seemed to be a venting point for one-too-many-crack pots with a grudge, and that ruined the good vibe which was the magazine's best quality. Therefore, I didn't like to spend too much time there.

These days, it's all different. There seems to be a mean-spirited attitude from certain staff writers, and that's gone a long way toward ruining what was once a great mood. I also frankly don't care for the political and theological conversations that pop up from column to column. Admittedly, I vote and I believe in God, but I don't want to read about this stuff in a hobbyist publication. If I want jaded political views and partisan posturing, I'll watch "60 Minutes" or "Scarborough Country". I don't want it in an Audio Magazine. Especially when there's so much ground to cover. There's simply too much to learn about Audio (And that's a good thing, I think) to waste time on these other things and be pompous to boot.

I've recently looked over the Stereophile March 1998 issue. For me, that was a really enjoyable read. The Gershman Acoustics GA-P 520-X got a great review. When I saw them, I thought their design was brilliant. I really wanted to hear them, and eventually I did at the Chicago HIFI SHOW in 1999. They did not disappoint. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little pleased with myself for hearing all of the qualities expressed by the reviewer in Stereophile. The rest of the issue was informative, interesting and without malice.

Reading it in comparison to the latest issue reminded me of a recent walk through my old neighborhood where I grew up. I was able to easily navigate my way throughout my old stomping grounds, but I didn't see anyone I used to know. That was a little sad. The houses were familiar, but there were lots of strange faces, and no one said hello.

For me, that's what it's like reading Stereophile these days.

 Re: My take on Stereophile - Jimmy 05:39:49 06/03/04 (0)
 Stereophile measurements amongst the best in industry - Halcy 11:15:14 05/30/04 (4)
 The problem is... - Alex Yakovlev 11:01:59 06/11/04 (0)

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Show full thread outline!

 Re: My take on Stereophile - Jimmy 05:39:49 06/03/04 (0)
 Stereophile measurements amongst the best in industry - Halcy 11:15:14 05/30/04 (4)
 The problem is... - Alex Yakovlev 11:01:59 06/11/04 (0)
 Re: Stereophile measurements amongst the best in industry - Dan Banquer 05:30:10 05/31/04 (2)
 Thanks - will look them up - Halcy 10:59:06 05/31/04 (0)
 Post some links? - Jim Austin 07:48:21 05/31/04 (0)
 Rough medicine, - Kristian85 09:42:50 05/27/04 (0)
 Stereophile and TAS are both weak - Obsessed1 21:19:23 05/26/04 (0)
 Re: My take on Stereophile - hexenboden 16:06:23 05/26/04 (0)
 Re: My take on Stereophile - Tom 08:17:58 05/26/04 (5)
 From what I see here, it's the readers, rather than reviewers, that take themselves too seriously!! - agattu 23:33:50 05/26/04 (4)
 Re: From what I see here, it's the readers, rather than reviewers, that take themselves too seriously!! - J-PMatt@Comcast.Net 14:09:25 05/27/04 (0)
 Too true--guilty - Kristian85 09:53:21 05/27/04 (0)
 I disagree,the readers need more info, - nigelbetts 06:50:40 05/27/04 (1)
 Why fool around with mags at all? - Marbles 08:28:21 05/27/04 (0)
 Geeze, I must be missing all of the fun. - bwkendall 18:32:23 05/25/04 (4)
 Re: Geeze, I must be missing all of the fun. - Sue Kraft 03:55:44 05/26/04 (3)
 Excuse me. Sorry about that. - bwkendall 09:56:48 05/26/04 (2)
 That's okay.... - Sue Kraft 13:54:06 05/26/04 (1)
 It was plain stupid on my part. - bwkendall 13:56:11 05/26/04 (0)
 Re: My take on Stereophile - abajaj11 18:27:00 05/25/04 (0)

I certainly do not take ANYTHING stereophile reviews say at ALL seriously. It is entertaining, and i agree.. the industry updates (probbaly gleaned from some internet sources) is about the only real informative information in the magazine.

On the credit side, we should grant Stereophile its due: its readership is almost exclusively well heeled doctor/lawyer 6 figur eincome types, who want a great system. I think much of the writing caters to this audience, and this is THE target audience of the vendors. I have spoken to some dealers who deal in these "sterophile class A" products, and their lack of knowledge is only equalled by their staggering braggadoccio in what their products can do.
Anyways, this is theworld of "haute audio". Fun to watch!
-akhilesh

If I were to subscribe to Stereophile, I can tell you now it would be because of JA. He takes the time and interest to respond to issues brought up in here (even when I think he shouldn't). That gives him a great deal of credibility in my eyes. I can say the same for certain other on-line audio e-zines.

I have never seen anyone from TAS grace A2, except for one time when I got into a pissing contest with a member of the staff over "ownership" of the contents of a review.

Really?! I guess those TAS guys 'n gals (I hear there is actually a woman writing for them now) must be too good for this place ;-)

I presume you refer to Art Dudley and to a lesser extent Sam Tellig. I just skip their columns.

Other than that I think Stereophile is about the same as it was five or six years ago. Maybe what's happening is that there haven't been too many design breakthroughs recently, so there's less exciting stuff to report.

The bottom line is that other mags do a better job. UHF Magazine, out of Canada, is quite candid with its reviews. (While its reviews are rarely scathing, weaknesses are clearly pointed out, apt comparisons are made, and it is easy to "read between the lines" and determine when a product does not really impress). Hi-Fi Choice (British) is commendable for blind group tests which provide considerable context for the noted sound characteristics, and some limited measurement information. Hi-Fi+ (British) is another good read with plenty of context, strengths and weaknesses and multiple reviews of selected notable products. And it provides a wealth of fantastic music reviews: rock, pop, blues, jazz and classical in multiple formats. These reviews have turned me on to some exceptional music - even though it may be lacking in ultimate recording quality. (Where do Stereophile and TAS come up with such mind-numbingly boring discs to review?).

None of these mags are perfect, of course. And let us not forget that AA is a very useful tool as well. While there are a lot of cranks, and blatant attempts to stoke interest in products in which the poster has a commercial interest, there are a lot of posters with helpful observations. All IMO, of course.

I agree completely with your sentiments. I used to read Stereophile until '98-99 or so, and haven't since. I page through it now and then when visiting a friend who only gets it due to still quite good mainstream music reviews. The funniest thing is that I primarily read the measurements sections--I use it for the same purpose for which I used Stereo Review in the Hirsch days!

But, I find it devoid of credibility largely due to Tellig's and Fremer's writings, and can't stop rolling my eyes at the growing cult of personality surrounding these gents. Letting those two go would be a considerable step toward self-healing. There are a few writers who definitely cut the mustard--John Marks, Art Dudley, and Kalman Rubinson, and yes, John Atkinson. Tellig actually used to be cool many, many years ago before he gained so much weight from dining with industry folks carrying gear/flying it across the Atlantic to his house--back when he was the cheap-skate. It's stupifying that these guys cannot understand the inappropriateness of being so incredibly close to the manufacturers. If they justify the closeness by saying they do it so they can reap advertising dollars in order to keep the mag afloat, I say let it die. That state of affairs would make it so corrupted it wouldn't be worth the paper it's printed on.

TAS is headed the same way--sadly--but is still better, but they went seriously sideways when they started doing recommended components lists.

These days, the best audio rags IMO are online--Stereotimes.com, Enjoythemusic.com, and Sixmoons.com, and the US print rags aren't really competing at all. Brit rags such as HiFi Plus, HiFI News, and Gramophone, are still good, as they are less afraid of actually criticizing (gasp!) equipment.

In this respect, Stereophile apparently likes to say that it doesn't do negative reviews because it only reviews good stuff. What? Huh?

Anyway, I hate spending so much time on something so unimportant--a mere audiomagazine, for Pete's sake--we generally spend far too much time discussing matters Stereophile here. It just isn't important.

I don't subscribe to Stereophile (anymore), but I think their measurements are the benchmark in this industry.

Granted, listening is beyond measurements, but often in toilet paper publications like What Hifi a totally apallingly measuring piece of equipment can get excellent reviews. Why? I don't think they even listen to those equipment and I know they don't measure them. So, they can just feed the readers pretty much any baloney the marketing department of the manufacturer wants. No wonder it's the world's biggest selling fifi publication.

But I digress, back to S'phile.

With Stereophile's measurements I can always look at the off-axis measurements of a loudspeaker and have an educated guess how it's going to behave in smaller, less damped rooms.

Also, when a reviewer constantly raves how "revealing" some speakers are and I can read about their horrible treble peaks (in the measurements), I know what I might hear when I listened to them myself.

This saves me a lot of trouble as I can use the measurements and my own experience to calibrate between many reviewers opinions.

Also, products that are just badly designed, stand out in the measurements section. As do products with superior designs.

I think we should be proud that there is still a magazine like Stereophile that spends so much time doing thorough and time consuming measurements IN ADDITION to listening tests.

If you compare Stereophile to almost ANY competition (worldwide), it pretty much stomps the competition in this regard.

So, kudos to John Atkinson and the rest of the S'phile crew in this regard.

Thanks,
Jim

It's not to say Stereophile are faultless.

For example, their loudspeaker measurements don't use anechoic chambers, they don't do power response estimates (which can really tell you how bad the cross-over design and room interactions are).

These measurements are standard in the Finnish Hifi-magazine and I can tell you that they are _very_ revealing on cross-over, directivivity and room interaction issues in many cases.

But measurements like that are expensive, time consuming and not easy to get done.

regards,
halcy

Interesting point, I could not cancel my subscription to Stereophile until I cancelled that credit card they had on file. Anyone want a years worth of unopened Stereophile mags? (they arrive in a plastic bag).