Rank Stereophile, & why no Von Schweikert reviews

I'm sure if VSA was throwing the advertising dollars stereophile's way like B&W, they would have reviews and front covers all the time. It's akin to having to sponsor a professional conference to getting a speaking slot.

Stereophile only reviews the products that are offered to them by the manufacturer or authorized agent for that purpose. Their website explains their review guidelines for gear, and it's about the same as that of the other audio magazines.

I do know that there are some manufacturers that will not send review samples to a particular magazine or magazines, and I have a friend that builds highly regarded tube amps and preamps who will not sent samples for review to anyone period. He's not the only one in the industry with that attitude in regard to reviews.

Let's face it: any review that you see is subjective and based on the tastes of the reviewer, no matter whose product it is. The reviews are a good way to find out about something new that is available and where to find it. But I have never been silly enough to make a purchase based on what anyone else had to say about it. I try to satisfy my own ears and pocketbook.

Advertising and reviews go hand in hand in some industries.
I have a tour company, thailandsegwaytours.com
When I advertise, the magazine will do an "editorial" too.

The only part of Stereophile I read is the measurement section.This is the best part of their reviews. This tells me more about a speaker than the magical wizardry spun by a reviewer. I'm sure there are some manufactures who do not wish to be reviewed by Stereophile simply because the measurements will tell on them. 6moons is one of favorites for written reviews as they go outside of mainstream and find the real hidden gems out there.If they only had a way to measure the speakers under review . This would complete the web site, then it could be called 7moons ;-).HiFi out of Britian is another one I like as they don't bite their tongues.The same goes for Positive feedback.

I read Stereophile, but I consider it to be entertainment. Most entertaining to me is the "letters to the editor" section. Seems to me TAS is becoming a Stereophile. Everfything that both rags reviews is "great!". Guess there's no mediocre equipment out there.