What I hate most abot Stereophile is that all the reviews seem to be glowing. Every component seems to be groundbreaking and highly recommended. I really miss the likes of HiFi News Record Review and HiFi Choice which have, at least sometimes, given deliciously scathing reviews of equipment.
That said, I must confess to heeding some of Stereophile's recommendations. I mean, if you're going to buy some new equipment, you can do worse than buy a piece that falls into Stereophile's recommended list. A case in point would be something like a pair of B&W Nautilus 805 Speakers. I picked them up new for about $1,800 a year and a half ago. Now, if I wanted to upgrade, I could probably offload the 805s for $1,500 or so on Audiogon. That's not a bad loss on investment, and I think the Stereophile review plays a large part in keeping the value up. I'm not excusing Streophile or anything, but just noting that my buying behavior is impacted somewhat by their reviews.
That said, I must confess to heeding some of Stereophile's recommendations. I mean, if you're going to buy some new equipment, you can do worse than buy a piece that falls into Stereophile's recommended list. A case in point would be something like a pair of B&W Nautilus 805 Speakers. I picked them up new for about $1,800 a year and a half ago. Now, if I wanted to upgrade, I could probably offload the 805s for $1,500 or so on Audiogon. That's not a bad loss on investment, and I think the Stereophile review plays a large part in keeping the value up. I'm not excusing Streophile or anything, but just noting that my buying behavior is impacted somewhat by their reviews.