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In Reply to: RE: Is it right for the April cover of Stereophile to say... posted by Steve Parry on March 28, 2014 at 09:19:50
..it's marketing 101.
It's certainly not wrong.
It is only their opinion - yours may differ.
Have you looked at magazine covers lately?
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For newbie audiophiles, they tend to look upon Stereophile as the "Consumer Reports" of the Audiophile world.
(Their use of meausurements tends to reinforce this view by the newbies.)
You and I, and the rest of the veteran audiophiles, know that the Stereophile reviewers are just expressing their opinion, which is no better, or worse, than our own.
(And, they are paid to provide that opinion via the advertising in their magazine, and so are actually being paid by the manufacturers of the very equipment they are reviewing.)
Whether or not they should use the term "Guide to Today's Best Audio Products" is debatable, but it certainly makes for a dramatic cover!
;-)
...hyperbole on the cover sells magazines.
I think the professional reviewers opinions in the Stereophile and TAS (for the most part) are much better than the vast majority of audiophiles.
Reviewers learn to develop their critical listening skills, optimize their rooms, try different equipment with each product they are reviewing and hear much more equipment than a regular audiophile has an opportunity to.
Anyone can drive a Nascar, too.
Reviewers, in general, live with gear for a few months. Audiophiles, or more aptly, hobbyists, usually live with it much longer. Arguably, things are idenified in longer listening, both of a sonic, and of a reliablility nature in this longer relationship. Reviews occasionaly reference construction quality but reliability is out of their scope.
Additionally, reviewers have their opinions colored by industry relationships, both to the benefit and the detriment of the review.
And finally, a personal issue that may be controversial. I think that being exposed to a greater range of gear is a detriment as IMHO most gear does not play music very well, though it may reproduce sound nicely and this leads to the reviewer adjusting their inner paradigm of what music should sound like to the general sound of the available gear. The hobbyist has the benefit of having the inner paradigm of what music sounds like less colored by the extensive experience with reproduced sound. I know, this one sound wacky.
Personally, I know of several audiophiles whose opinion I value MUCH MORE than any of the paid reviewers.
(And some of the paid reviewers opinions are crap, IMHO.)
(However, I do see your point that a newbie might not know the difference between a seasoned veteran audiophile whose opinions are based upon their experience, versus a blow-hard audiophile who is just professing his love of his own equipment!)
As you can tell, I am pretty jaded by the state of the professional magazines. TAS, and especially Stereophile, are, IMHO, a mere shell of what they used to be. I have found that I can get as much, or more, information online, from fellow audiophiles, (as well as some of the online audio websites, although I do take their advice with a large grain of salt).
My two cents worth.
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