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24.11.15.218
In Reply to: RE: The last 3 companies skewered by Stereophile..not advertisers? posted by Sprezza Tura on April 24, 2015 at 22:00:12
I recall less than flattering reviews of Wilson and Totem speakers. Both were long-term advertisers that stopped advertising afterwards. Wilson has resumed advertising in the wake a several glowing reviews (IMO, Wilson's are very good but you can do better for the $$$). I think that Totem is still boycotting Stereophile. Ayre is another long-term advertiser; the original review of the AX-7 was tepid (altho' AD quite liked it in balanced configuration and follow-up reviews were raves).Let's face it. Poor or tepid reviews are not common in Stereophile. I think that JA has made the not unreasonable claim that they only seek promising products. Without trying to tabulate the unflattering reviews and determine whether the manufacturer was an advertiser, I think your insinuation is unfounded. Stereophile *has* to maintain some level of credibility, right? They lose readers if they call good products crap and vice-a-verse. Without readers, there are no advertisers regardless of the shenanigans you're implying.
Sterophile may not be perfect, but it is the best (by far, IMO) US audio magazine: most credibility, best writers, and (perhaps most importantly) the only print magazine with measurements.
Edits: 04/25/15Follow Ups:
Only if that fact is proven AND realized by those readers. Not going to happen. People will read about many many products and often hear none, a couple or some but almost never near half or near all much less all of those products.My point being they can/could get away with inaccuracy. I am not saying they are or do get away with it because I'm like about everyone and hear very little of what they review.
E
T
Edits: 04/26/15
Wilson took a beating? In what decade? Ayre? I doubt it. Wilson and Ayre are FOS..Friends Of Stereophile.
To maintain the credibility you say Stereophile has, they have to feed the sharks...there has to be blood at some point, and they are going to gut the ones that can't retaliate.
The three companies I mentioned just had to take it with no lube even.
And I would point out that Fremer had many positive things to say about the Bricasti.
I can't find the tepid Wilson review. It might have been Wes Phillips review of the W/P 8? Regardless, Wilson's ads were conspiculously absent from Stereophile for a couple of years.
Erick Lichte wrote about the Totem Forest:
"One aspect of the Forests that LG commented on in his original review was their ability to throw a large soundstage. But while the Forests' imaging greatly improved with the addition of ballast, I never got them to create the truly holographic soundstages LG wrote of. Sound tended to lump up around each speaker instead of being spread evenly between them. When I touched the cabinet of a Forest while playing them at even moderate volumes, I felt a whole lotta shakin' goin' on; those cabinets "sang along" with the music more than I'm used to. I can't help but think that the Forests' lively cabinets impede their ability to image as well as they otherwise might. "
http://www.stereophile.com/content/totem-acoustic-forest-loudspeaker-erick-lichte-january-2010
I don't know that Totem has advertised ever since.
The original review of the Ayre AX-7 included this passage:
"But the Ayre made the song sound like more of an exercise than a hot-blooded performance: By comparison, the Naim-Spendor combination restored the nuance and...well, I hate to say it, but the verve of the performance. The same was true on vocal numbers such as "Won't You Come and Sing for Me": Both amps kicked it off well, but by the time the massed harmonies enter for the first chorus, the Ayre started to lose me: It was pretty and it was clear, but it was not compelling. "
http://www.stereophile.com/content/ayre-ax-7-integrated-amplifier-page-3
Sure, these are just anecdotal evidence - as are your examples. But I suggest you at least consider evidence that is contrary to your opinion.
I would agree that Fremer had many great things to say about the Bricasti amps. After re-reading the review I would doubt that anyone would be disappointed in owning them.
It raises a point for me that folks who can afford this expensive gear may be looking and listening for things that many reviewers don't touch on or find very important. I can't imagine that Mr. Fremer would live very long with Art Dudley's systems, or visa-versa, but who knows, but they would or could enjoy them when they have to an extended listen. They each have their priorities in presentations. I keep that in mind when I read their reviews.
I would hope that most don't buy gear based on a review and I would think that no one spending this kind of money would do something like that. I would think that at this price-point an in-home trial would be in order and possibly, necessary.
Jim Tavegia
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