Absolute Sound's "Reviews"

I still get good old paper for Stereophile (which seems to be dwindling down) and TAS and you'd better 'know' the frame of reference for their reviewers, that is the sound they prefer. It helps.

I think it may well make sense to take on Hi-Fi+ as well, even if in digital format. Some days I like reading TAS or Ster. and listening to Pat Metheny in my chair...

The same company who owns TAS also own Hi-Fi + on the other side of the pond.

Hi-Fi + is one of the best magazines in the industry, with a high calibre of writing and very good reviews. TAS has really gone downhill the last few years. If you subscribe digitally like I do in recent years both magazines have been a dogs breakfast when it coves to accessing your online paid content. 

designsfx

348 posts

01-27-2023 at 02:02pm 

I subscribed for years- it was nice to have around for exposure to really nice gear. The more I learned from reading about the experience of actual users (various forums) the more I began to see through the mags reviews and commentary.

One day while reading the latest issue I came across an article called “You complete Me”. It was a review of an electrical outlet with magical audio properties. The verbiage used to describe the audible improvements was unbelievable and made me realize that if these writers think that I’m that stupid I shouldn’t be supporting them. I haven’t purchased (or read) an issue since.

Yes. There's plenty of that kind of nonsense here for free.

They’re not reviews.  They’re marketing material.

Just once I would like to read a review of a pricey piece of equipment that said that the reviewer couldn’t hear any difference between that and something far less expensive . . .

@liamowen 

  I really don’t like Fremer’s persona as a reviewer, but I have to say that I can’t assess his talent evaluating products because most of what he reviews is so pricey 

my disappointment regarding Stereophile is with their relative paucity of objective descriptions of some key parts of stereophonic sound reproduction of speakers, namely imaging specificity/depth, reproduction of inner detail, width of "sweet spot," perceived frequency balance, quality/definition of bass reproduction, et al- replacing such with meaningless [to outsiders] descriptions of how the reviewed product makes their own favorite recordings sound to them. 

I subscribed for years- it was nice to have around for exposure to really nice gear. The more I learned from reading about the experience of actual users (various forums) the more I began to see through the mags reviews and commentary.

One day while reading the latest issue I came across an article called “You complete Me”. It was a review of an electrical outlet with magical audio properties. The verbiage used to describe the audible improvements was unbelievable and made me realize that if these writers think that I’m that stupid I shouldn’t be supporting them. I haven’t purchased (or read) an issue since.

Stereophile is a far better magazine.

They probably understood that people does not take seriously all these supposed reviewers, who always review with objectivity (lol), buying (lol), or borrowing the reviewed machine for a long time!!!!

If you don't like it, don't subscribe (or read).  Pretty simple.

Sometimes, lately it seems more often, that they put up these "thumbnail" or capsule summary lite-reviews on their website, like the Totem. When I googled the article I got a link to a longer version, and the URLs vary slightly. Weird that they make a longer one available for free (though I do subscribe to the e-version) but harder to get to.

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/2022-golden-ear-totem-acoustic-element-fire-v2-loudspeaker/

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/totem-acoustic-element-fire-v2-loudspeaker/

If you Google, you can often find the longer version though some don’t seem to be full reviews:

Reviewers/authors all have their own style.  That makes it more difficult to determine the utility of many reviews across publications.  Having said that, if Mike Fremer actually likes something, it's probably pretty good-- maybe great.

most of the two paragraph reviews are excerpts from the longer review in the actual magazine...

Their paper version always has several extensive subjective reviews and one very lengthy review of a very expensive component.  They do have 2 or 3 issues a year where they do their recommended components and awards, which sounds like what you're describing.  They also often have an article or two about music or musicians along with several column length album reviews.

I have continuously subscribed to TAS for forty years. They recently moved to using ZINIO for their digital deliver system. They have had a lot of difficulty moving to the digital world.

Over the last couple years I have spoke to the editor about this, since I did lots of technology platform migrations during my career and could tell the were struggling. I offered my help, but they had just hired a new consultant. so, I was really happy to see them move to a standard delivery system last year.

I am very sympathetic as the editors and audio reviewers don’t tend to be IT savvy, and then easily get led down a hazardous path (particularly when they have small budgets). TAS is a labor of love more than a real money making business. I still value their reviews greatly and always compare with Stereophile and HiFi+ and auditioning when possible to feel I understand the sonic characteristics of speakers or components.

I stopped reading them years ago, and never looked at the site.  What are they doing in the print magazine?