Rank Stereophile, & why no Von Schweikert reviews

It's the times, methinks. Everything in our culture has been subordinated to and measured by money. You can still find movie reviews if you want to but the grosses are listed on the front page. It's a sad fact that even my audio choices are dictated to some extent by resale considerations and depreciation rates. So the rags have sold out and the pool is full of sharks. Nonetheless, most of my audio exchanges range from polite and pleasant to downright reassuring. This here Audiogon thing is somewhat of an oasis.

VS and lots of others are doing just fine without a plug from stereophile. anyone who has read the last two issues has to realize that the magazine doesnt have the 'juice' to be critical of anything. times are tuff in the publishing world and the world of hi-end. the very fact that its still on the shelves anywhere is more a testimate to the loyalty of its readers (me included), than the usefulness of its editorial. all products are great....nothing is overpriced....maybe its time for a class AA and AAA. a year end list of-who received accomodation from whom-would also be useful.

Since I never read Stereophile in the "good old days" when presumably they were better than they are today, I take their reviews for what they are - a chance to list the positives of the gear they review and way to spin the negatives. And of course, measure the equipment. I love the measurements, not as a way to review the equipment, but sometimes as a way to know what to look for when I get a chance to audition or listen to the equipment listed in the magazine, or even when I'm reading reviews of the same equipment elsewhere, without the accompanying measurements.
I still think Stereophile does mention things about equipment that I immediately take to be negative, except they probably don't sound totally negative when they're said, more like they're just characterizing the equipment. But if you read carefully they are listing negatives about the equipment, usually immediately followed by platitudes or "lets put this in perspective, I'm only saying this is a shortcoming when compared to equipment 5x more expensive...." That and you will see a tell tale lack of enthusiasm about some equipment they review, which to me is a kiss of death.
The negative comments in the measurements are almost always straightforward, sometimes including remarks like "I'm surprised that the reviewer found this equipment so transparent in the high end, when I see these problems in the measurement."
I do agree however that readers almost need a guide to interpreting Stereophile reviews. In the last 5 years I have read several reviews in stereophile that made me decide against buying equipment, and a few reviews that sparked my interest enough to make me research equipment further.
I think the real fallacy is to think you can make up your mind about any equipment purely by reading reviews about equipment, whether that review is in Stereophile or a forum.

Sonance,

That's how I feel. My dealer gets these people in there that buy all the recommded components for the year and think they have a great system because Stereophile says so.

Sonance, Those graphs and measurments are absolutely worthless. The finest measuring gear ever made is on the sides of your head. This is what "The Absolute Sound" used to be about (say in the 1980's). They would plug a piece of gear into their reference system and LISTEN to it for a month. Then they would tell you what they heard. That's all that matters - does it sound like music? They were credible because thay had a reference and replaced one component at a time for extended listening and didn't get bogged down in the specs. The specs don't really matter.
If you try, to the extent you are able, to emulate that methodology, you don't need no stinking graphs and you'll develope a great ear also.