Stereophile is awesome. Not perfect, but a very good mag.
As for their "best of" issues, of which there are more than one per year, I am indifferent. The reason they do so many of them is because it sells magazines. There are many budding audiophiles who need resources for buying and upgrading gear. Stereophile and other magazines provide this resource. And, yes, publishing IS a business. And it's a very difficult business to make money at, especially in the internet age.
I hate to think of Stereophile and TAS going out of business. The quality of the writing and the personalities of both magazines are very interesting for me. Compare these two to some of the British mags sometime. The integrity of the U.S. mags is much higher IMO.
As for their "best of" issues, of which there are more than one per year, I am indifferent. The reason they do so many of them is because it sells magazines. There are many budding audiophiles who need resources for buying and upgrading gear. Stereophile and other magazines provide this resource. And, yes, publishing IS a business. And it's a very difficult business to make money at, especially in the internet age.
I hate to think of Stereophile and TAS going out of business. The quality of the writing and the personalities of both magazines are very interesting for me. Compare these two to some of the British mags sometime. The integrity of the U.S. mags is much higher IMO.