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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
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.
bifwynne
2,206 posts
 
I seem to recall that there may be more of a synergistic interactive process going between manufacturers and the "better" audio mag reviewers.

Yes ... I appreciate and do not ignore the comments about the relationship between the mags and the manufacturers who advertise. So yes, there is a real concern that the reviewers may not be 100% objective and independent.

BUT, I seem to recall that if a serious reviewer detects a serious issue with a product, he will contact the manufacturer and vett the issue out. The outcome is that the manufacturer may correct the problem before the product goes full blown retail, or at least shortly thereafter.

I admit that my comments are based on old recollections of stuff I thought I read some time ago. Perhaps a reviewer who is also an A'gon member and who catches my post will chime in.

Bruce
cerrot's avatar
cerrot
1,700 posts
 
Bruce, I agree with what you wrote. Further, along the same vane, I remember looking forward to the Meitner CD player (SACD player, years ago) review as I was on the fence between that and the Esoteric. I read the review and went with the Esoteric, only because my dealer represented esoteric and not meitner. From the reviews, it was a coin toss and I'd rather toss the coin in my dealers corner. Well, I am VERY happy with Esoteric BUT it wasn't until the next generation Meitner players were reviewed that the reviewer stated how much quieter the new Meiter (spinner) was. It would have been great info to have had in the original review. They don't give similar components to the same reviewer specifically to avoid a direct comparison, and loss of advertiser dollars. They specifically do not tell us very basic traits of the components that you need to unravel in subsequent reviews. Like I said, I give them high marks for nice photos.
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