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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

Showing 3 responses by mcne

mcne
113 posts
 
hummmm! Most Honest Audio Magazine. Is that not an Oxymoron?
I enjoy going to the local bookstore and looking at them all. I am glad there are many audio rags published because that gives a lot of pictures to look at. But when it comes to shelling out cash for it, I am a little reserved. I have bought some of each when it has a review or article that is interesting. The English mags are very biased against American equipment. Stereopile is infected with the "Julian Hursch" virus.(is that the way it is spelled?) I get tired of Listener’s "we are so much not like Stereopile) attitude.
And I still have 2 years on my TAS subscription and still enjoy it. But let's face it. These magazines would not exist without the advertisers dollars. We have seen more then a few rebel mags go down in glorious "we will not submit to your filthy money flames". And my guilty pleasure is, I don't waste any time grabbing the new Stereopile (when it magically shows up in my mailbox) and going through the whole thing at once. I don't read the whole thing through anymore but I still enjoy it and give up the overly inflated price. So I guess that I am guilty and I am part of the problem and not part of the fix. Dale
mcne
113 posts
 
WOW Pbb? You hate GOD, ridicule creation, place science as god, and you love Bose speakers. Gee? Is there a pattern here? Dale
mcne
113 posts
 
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.
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