I agree with everyone so far. The biggest problem I have with Stereophile is Jonathan Scull. Can't this guy ever review anything that isn't 10X more expensive than what the rest of us use? The one exception was the power conditioner he reviewed. It was only $995. Was this the reason he thought it was crap? I have no experience with it, but those who do feel it to be a great product. Previously, he reviewed a set of Accuphase monoblocks. He liked them, but felt the need to recommend they be used with the multi-kilobuck power conditioner. Believe me, if I'm paying $20 - $30K for an amp, it better need nothing else. J - 10, you need to reevaluate your review list. How about mixing in something like a Musical Fidelity, Vandersteen, or PSB product once in a while? That said, I still get ripe with anticipation every month waiting for the next issue to arrive in the mail.
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.