New Stereophile recommended list

No Tireguy, reveiwers aren't sell outs, they are just businessmen. Why give a lousy reveiw if you recieved the product for free from the manufacturer, and plan on selling it within a few months? A bad reveiw makes your boss, (senior editor) mad and cuts the profit from your sale.

P.S. There are reveiwers out there that have their "friends" sell their equipment for them, so as to save face. Watch the ads.

Listener is kind of fun to read in an "amusing" way. I think that it would be way better if they lost the self proclaimed "Gizmo" for both "political" and "personal" reasons.

As to Stereophile, as much as we knock them, they still have the most in-depth technical reports out of ALL of the audio based mags. As much as you "musical" folks piss and moan about "specs mean nothing", i KNOW that you still read them and take note of them. I just wish TAS did testing like Stereophile so that we could get twice the coverage and even sometimes be able to do a direct comparison between two different test labs.

As such, i find that ALL of the major "glossies" kind of take for granted that we read every audio based rag out there. I find that Stereophile, TAS, etc.. and even sometimes Listener and the "internet mag's" refer to reviews of the same product in their competitors pages. The funny part is that they assume that we know exactly what was said in those reviews and work off of them. Many times we just don't have them at our disposal as points of reference, so the meaning of what they are trying to say is completely lost.

Since they do refer to each other and appear to be "buddy-buddy" with the competition, it is more like a "brotherhood" with nobody worried about upsetting anybody else's apple cart. It's kind of like "Fred said it was good in Audioschlep, Barney from Audiosnooze liked it too and i'm telling you the same thing here. Buy this product." As such, WHERE are the guys and gals that "tell it like it is" anymore ??? While i understand that the overall level of electronics is much higher (as a general rule) than what it was 20+ years ago, come on folks. I have run across WAY too much "crapola" that has been "highly touted" to know that something funny is going on in some of these reviews.

This is not to mention that some manufacturers and audio supply houses get mentioned in every other issue or article by some of these writers. I especially like it when a writer says "Curley from Audio Absolute insisted that i check out the latest from Crapco". Nothing like a blatant plug, huh ??? And then there's that "I liked it so much i bought it and will be using it for my reference" line. You BOUGHT it ??? With what, the 25 plugs that you've given them in the last year ??? And using it as a "reference" ??? For how long ??? Probably until the next time ( 2 months or so ) Audio Absolute sends something else over for you to rave about ???

Don't you find it "interesting" that some brands get reviewed and "place" in the rankings on an extremely regular basis ? Just count how many Adcom, Musical Fidelity, Madrigal, etc... products are listed in the last several years worth of Stereophile's recommended components lists and you'll see EXACTLY what i'm talking about. Out of the HUNDREDS of audio companies out there, do you think that there are only a dozen or so companies out that would like to get their products reviewed or are good value / excellent performers ???

There is NO conspiracy or "secret agenda" here. It is out in the open and they are rubbing our noses in it. The only problem is that ALL of the mags are in on it. The only difference is how they display the pictures and what words they use to rave about this months "doo-doo". After all, it isn't "crap", it's "art" if you look at it in the "right context".... Sean
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From the standpoint of a manufacturer with his product undergoing its first major magazine review, I see an entirely different picture of the process and relationships between manufacturer and magazine than the negative one that seems to be favored by most of the responders to this thread.
I do not know nor can I comment on how the other audio publications do their selection and determine their policies but my experience has been one of an immense admiration for ethical behavior on the part of Listener magazine.
It has also come at great uncertainty for myself, my product and my small company.
Last July, I received an e mail from one of the Listener review staff who was preparing a review of a competitors product.He had heard some scuttlebutt about my own product and asked if I would like to participate in an expanded comparison review.
I agreed and forwarded several samples to this reviewer and an associate of his.He arranged a single 20 minute telephone "interview" and we exchanged a single e mail correspondence over set up details for my product in his personal system in early August.At this point, all communications were halted in a total blackout and my only contact since then between either of the reviewers or the magazine was not made until several weeks ago( nearly 7 months total time).
What I was told was that the review process had been completed, the samples returned and an approx. date for publishing of the article(a late spring or early summer 2001 issue is all the more I know).
I do not have advertising with the magazine, nor have I ever been approached to do so.
I have no ties with the reviewers nor have I ever met them.
Nothing was ever asked of me nor inferred.
I will not be aware of the contents of the review until it arrives at my doorstep and is simultaneously being read by Listeners readership.
Now could someone please tell me the whereabouts of that smoking gun and evidence of conspiracy and collusion?

Best,
Ken Lyon
GreaterRanges/Neuance

If there is good writing, I'll read it. If the article is something I want to read I'll buy it. We may be putting too much importance in a list of components. Buying blindly from said list will not bring you instant nirvana. I may not always agree with it but so what? A lot of good posts here.

Magazines make a certain high percentage of their money selling advertisements. Many audio magazines charge $5K per page for those wonderful ads if bought just once. They, like all businesses, like to set up contracts for the entire year, this gives the magazines their security of continued revenue. Usually a break is given for a year long contract, let's say that they reduce the price to $3.5K per issue. Twelve times $3.5K equals $40K for a years worth of advertising, and that's just ONE magazine. No conspiracy theory Ken, just simple common sense. Hmm, how do we insure that Company A can afford to pay their contract obligation? Maybe this is why there is the "Component of the month", like so many of us consumers seem to notice in the magazines?

And speaking of Listener magazine, Ken, did you see where Artie himself mentioned that some reveiwers have recieved illegal drugs and other forms of compensation from certain manufacturers? He had mentioned it in the Intro section about a year ago. It's a must read. I'll agree that Listener has scruples, how about the big guys?

I could be completely wrong here, however it does make you think.