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
Mr. Cyrus is quite right. Only problem, his approach would undermine most high-end manufacturers and all of the cable mongers. I have now come to understand (Hallelujah!) that objectivity is only a ham-fisted sort of subjectivity: it is the subjectivity that logical people wish to impose on an illogical pursuit in an illogical world. I was told in this forum that science is a religion, go figure. With that kind of thinking creationism becomes a valid scientific pursuit. Post-modern thinking (or is it the lack of thinking?) seems to hold that science is a bad thing. No, science is a good thing. Only better science can cure the problems of poorer science; magic thinking sure is not going to do it. Relegate the whole field of hi-fi to aesthetics and the problem is solved: so-called writers, in so-called magazines can opine to their hearth's content without anyone being able to prove them wrong. A pure subjective approach enables the high-end market to bear extravagant pricing which even a semi-objective approach in which a very liberal cost/performance analysis would be used would put most of them out of business. Just look at an other thread were a number of participants believe that up to approximately $80,000.00 for a system to reproduce music the law of diminishing returns does not kick in to convince yourself that the manufacturers have managed to push the limits of price acceptability so high, that the death of the more objective press at the hands of the more subjective press (the spectrum being from totally devoid of any scientific approach to those paying lip service to measurements) has only had beneficial results to all financially involved in high-end audio. As another participant said, who wants tests of receivers, run of the mill c.d. players and Bose-like speakers where the conclusion is always that they measure great, sound great and offer great value. Not much of a hobby in that if you ask me. All the best of the season to one and all, whatever your approach and audio beliefs are. And by the way, may I wish everyone the joy of spending more money in the coming year on the music software, rather than the hardware, so that the real source of this hobby be better celebrated.
Pbb: If all receivers and CD players measure and sound great (Bose? Bose??!!), there's still a great hobby to be had working on speakers, speaker-room interactions, finding great software, even DSP, if that's your cup of tea. And that's not to mention the appreciation of the non-sonic attributes of great engineering. And the only mag that speaks to that kind of a hobby is the much-reviled Audio Critic.
WOW Pbb? You hate GOD, ridicule creation, place science as god, and you love Bose speakers. Gee? Is there a pattern here? Dale
Mcne, I have not mentioned GOD, I am opposed to people who relegate science to some form of belief when, in fact, science seeks the best use of our cognitive abilities as humans to try to understand the universe (which abilities could very well be intertrepeted as a gift from a higher power) , I don't think you quite got my reference to "Bose-like" speakers, the pattern appears to be your personal observation. I think you have some form of problem in properly interpreting the written word. If I offended your beliefs, religious or otherwise, please be advised it was not my intent. Science is not a religion. That is simple fact. Science is not absolute. That is another fact. To misinterpret my words as stating anything otherwise is ludicrous.
No problem!
Just vigorous discussion. No offence received or intended.
I like discussing these areas. Many do treat science like religion and it turns into good debate. But that is okay for the individual. We all have the right to live as we choose. I did figure that you were speaking in human spiritual terms. If not then I just read wrong. From my window things are different but I am left handed and have odd focus and reasoning. I read what I like and think alike. Dale
Sorry if it sounded defensive.