Stereophile and TAS are both weak

Posted by Obsessed1 (A) on May 26, 2004 at 21:19:23

In Reply to: My take on Stereophile posted by J-PMatt@Comcast.Net on May 25, 2004 at 15:40:44:

... because of their non-stop effusive praise of everything they review. Perhaps Stereophile is modestly better because of the inclusion (frustratingly only sometimes) of comprehensive measurements. Neither provides a lot of context in terms of comparisons to similar products. There are some exceptions here, though.

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.

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - My take on Stereophile - J-PMatt@Comcast.Net 15:40:44 05/25/04 (21)

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 (1)

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)

Follow Ups

Stereophile and TAS are both weak - Obsessed1 21:19:23 05/26/04 (0)

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