As some other have said, I really enjoyed Stereophile back in the day. I drifted away from audio as a hobby for a few years but after retirement, I seriously got back in. Initially I subscribed to The Absolute Sound. It seemed they reviewed mostly very expensive gear and I rarely read the reviews but instead looked at what the gear was selling for. I let me subscription to Absolute Sound go and went with Stereophile. I only glance through each edition and rarely read any reviews. They also tend to review high dollar gear. Not sure I will renew my subscription with them.
Audiphile Press: Am I jaded, experienced, or has it declined?
I remember Audio, Stereophile and TAS as an older teen getting me excited about music reproduction and technology. Getting out to listen to speakers and find gear I could afford to take me to music Nirvana.
I still like the gear, still like talking about it, comparing tech, sharing experiences and advice, but I can’t remember the last time I really thought "wow, that’s good writing!"
How about you?
Has too much press devolved to covering only the most expensive gear? Do we lack better international gear coverage? Does it all look like it could be easily written by an AI chat bot?