Critic's Corner

RE: Why are English Hi-Fi magazines so expensive.

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This Post Has Been Edited by the Author

In Reply to: RE: Why are English Hi-Fi magazines so expensive. posted by Self-Inflicted on March 03, 2017 at 09:21:38

Or alternatively, why are the American magazines so cheap? TAS has a lot of sponsored content. Stereophile has a larger circulation than TAS, most likely more ad revenue, don't know how that compares to the British magazines. My understanding is that the British magazines do not have large ciculations.

Hi-Fi Plus is an anomaly in the British group, it's owned by TAS, and more like the American than the British magazines. It seems to be run on a shoe string. I recall browsing through one issue where all of the content appeared to be written by editor Alan Sircom, although now there is content sharing with TAS. It also regularly publishes Nordost cable reviews, which promptly end up on the Nordost Product Reviews site http://www.nordost.com/reviews.php (the Nordost page seems to be diversifying, at one time it was mostly Hi-Fi Plus reviews.)

Hi-Fi World, Hi-Fi Choice, and What Hi-Fi would appeal to a rather different audience than TAS, Stereophile or Hi-Fi Plus. They have a hobbyist and "how to" appeal that is reminiscent of Popular Mechanics or Popular Science in the 1960's-70's. They have columns where readers can write in for advice about their systems, they have comparative reviews, and they score equipment. They tend to focus on less expensive equipment. They can be fun to pick up and browse through, in a way that Stereophile and TAS are not.

HiFiNews earns a premium for its equipment tests and music reviews, which are first rate.

Daniel

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