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Most Honest Audio Magazine?

I subscribe to Stereophile and I really enjoy reading it but something happened last year that made me raise an eyebrow as to the authenticity of their intentions. Remember the review of the B&W Nautilus 805's? The original reviewer raved about them and rated them "Class A Restricted Low Frequency". Shortly thereafter they demoted the same speaker down to "Class B Restricted Low Frequency". This really hurt the magazine's credibility in my eyes. My first conclusion was that they didn't want to upset the other manufacturers who produced "Class A" products at far higher prices. Shouldn't a trade journal give credit to the truly remarkable products especially when they are produced for relatively decent prices? It's unfortunate that the advertising dollars of the megabuck manufacturers bullied a stellar product into receiving a less than stellar final rating. I'm wondering if this hasn't happened before. I've since heard from some of my audio buddies that corruption does indeed exist in the audio press; everything from reviewers being related to manufacturers to reviewers being offered products for a song (pun intended). Please share your thoughts and experiences when it comes to audio magazines and let me know which ones you'd rate best and worst. Putting together a great system is hard enough without having to sift through the sometimes suspicious advice of those publications who purport to advance the hobby.
canadianguy
outlier's avatar
outlier
381 posts
 
Hi-Fi Choice is, in my opinion, a brutally honest mag!! Even their latest front cover delivers healthy doses of criticism for on Musical Fidelity and Arcam gear - this from a British mag! On the other hand, they have been comfortable issuing recommendations on even Sony and Kenwood gear (I know - kind of scary!), but they simply print what they hear. However, some caveats - they only seem to review mid to low end stuff, and they do serve the british market, so one has to interpret their reviews carefully (british gear generally costs a lot more here in the US and vice versa). They had a lot of reviews published on the web recently (the website seems to have disappeared now - can't find it anymore). I was shopping for a CD player and read every review - guess what - they practically slammed every CD player in one way or another - so refreshing. http://www.hifichoice.co.uk/
robert_sj
6 posts
 
Hey Canadianguy, you started this thread because you were skeptical of Stereophile's downgrade of B&W 805's. I also hate it when they do that (but not quite as much as when some Wall Street guy with too much influence downgrades a favorite stock and it tanks!). Stereophile awarded their "Product of the Year" to Dunlavy SC/IV speakers in 1994, but their latest issue downgraded them from class A to B because John Atkinson says they are a little too bright for his taste. I don't think this makes them dishonest, just very arbitrary and fickle.
dekay's avatar
dekay
5,366 posts
 
Outlier: I also enjoy Hi-Fi Choice and generally agree with their points on the gear that I am familiar with and own. The "old reviews" are now back on their web site, just scroll down a ways on the home page. The owner of Musical Fidelity is a pill from what I gather having read a few interviews. The magazine shows great/proffessional restraint.
joe_coherent
130 posts
 
I absolutely enjoy reading TAS while Stereophile gives me the creeps. The only thing I wish is that TAS shared more information about the products they review, such as the measurements they obviously take, rather than trying to preserve the legend of their "golden ears".
dudleydog63's avatar
dudleydog63
105 posts
 
Gee, nobody mentioned The Audio Critic!
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