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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
jafant's avatar
jafant
19,982 posts
 
None- really. They all are paid to review gear, IMO.
I believe, in the beginning, the magazines started out from an honest point of view. Now, not so much. I subscribe to TAS, Stereophile, HiFi+ and HiFi News & Record Review.
Additionally, read all webzines via thedailyaudiophile.com
Happy Listening!
podeschi's avatar
podeschi
303 posts
 
Used to be especially absolute sound but in the last decade most just cater to those who advertise or who allow reviewers to keep their gear for extended periods. I do agree with Alan Sircom (hi-fi mag UK) - his observations on equipment I own is spot on.
schubert
7,386 posts
 
For decades I've found the German "Stereoplay" reliable , they use bars and numbers as well so one need not know
German. Website .
david12
1,454 posts
 
I think the best you have to accept is that a magazine won't review a bad bit of kit. You could argue, what's the point? If it is useless, why waste the paper. I have spoken to reviewers and editors and they say the same. They will call a manufacturer and say "Do you really want a review of this kit?"

If they print bad reviews they won't get any advertising or any kit to review. That is a problem for sites/ mags not taking advertising, like Bound for Sound and the UK magazine HiFicritic. They can find it difficult to get stuff in to review, manufacturers are afraid they have no influence over the outcome, without an advertising budget to withdraw.

You can read between the lines of lukewarm reviews, so the magazines are'nt useless. I use them to become aware of new products to look out for at shows or consider for an audition
cerrot's avatar
cerrot
1,700 posts
 
My problem is that the mags don't review. They narrate. In one of the current rags, there is a review of a CD player. The reviewer has an esoteric SA 50 in his rack. Same price point as what was reviewed. Any shot at comparing the two for us? Not a shot. Their "reviews" are written to sell products for their advertisers. You don't know what the problems are until they review they upgraded version. Only then do they say, "yeah, its much quieter...". I buy them for the pictures.
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