Stereophile and the love of hotel decor
I often appreciate the Stereophile review of industry shows but one thing that always bothers me is the choice of images. They often lead with a full-system image which is usually 80% hotel curtains and rugs. That is, there's a speaker in the left, the system in the middle and another speaker on the right. That's fine but if you look at the image as a whole, the area of the image that is covered by gear is about 20% or less. The rest is invariably 1980's hotel curtains and rugs.
Once you see it that way there’s no going back, your eyes see the curtains and rugs forever.
I really wish they’d focus on more interesting close-ups or even montages.
PS - Also, I am not trying to complain about how audiogoners decide to decorate their homes. If 1970's faux wall paneling goes well with your 1990's black oak speakers and your Technics stack, more power to you. I'm just saying I wish Stereophile pictures would focus on the gear and less on the hotel room. |
Here is a perfect recent example. Two speakers, gear in the middle. If we cover up the gear, 80% of this image is the hotel room. Even if you wanted to have speaker to speaker coverage, what point is there in including so much carpet and window in this shot?
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