I find Stereophile to be the best bang for the buck audio mag. I've subscribed to TAS and lesser known mags over the last decade but now I only get Stereophile. |
The Absolute Sound for me, by far. But it seems they no longer publish monthly, and that's the first sign of the "death spiral" so I will enjoy it while it lasts. |
For me it used to be HiFi+ but they have really gone down hill lately, even to the point of the local book store seems to be still waiting for thier december issues to arrive. Now it would be a toss between TAS and Stereophile. I prefer a few of the writers at stereophile but the production of TAS is much better. I also like the on line Tone Publications, perhaps the best of the bunch? |
I do all my audio reading online these days. I used to be fanatical back in the 80's, I couldn't read enough of the mags, and there were so many to choose from. I find it interesting that the OP likes 'What Hi Fi', the reasons he stated seems very much like what they used to do back in the day, which is a GOOD thing. TAS & S'phile just don't seem to do what they used to, certainly not for me anyway. 1/2 the fun was reading the letters section in the mags, now I read the letters HERE!! |
There was a thread about this subject a couple of months ago. |
Listener unfortunately it is no longer published |
I don't read the zines to often. I may buy a copy of TAS or Stereophile every few years but for the most part I've moved on. All my audio related text media is web based. Anyone out there remember the Sam and Armorall your compact disc article years ago Stereophile. I canceled all my subscriptions about that time. |
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As price stays the same and number of pages goes down, there's less equipment and music reviews per ad in all the mags. I find this site more enjoyable. |
Tone Audio hands down. I subscribe to them all and Jeffs ezine is by far the best produced Tellig/Valin free zone there is. New stuff, used stuff, music , concerts gadgets, all the good stuff. Plus, he doesn't appear to be biased toward any one sound or tubes vs solid state. Doesn't try to convince you your kit is wrong, just an explanation of his opinion. |
Second. I like the online Tone Magazine from Tone Publications. Beautifully written and deep music coverage. |
i read stereophile mag and absolute sound every month and enjoy the advertising too. but read audiogon everyday. i,ve noticed music questions get 10 times the response to equipment questions and really enjoy remembering music i.ve forgotten about. barcly james harvest and nektar. they don,t cover music like this in rolling stone anymore. |
Doesn't it bother you guys to see the full page ad EVERY TIME in Stereophile for the cover story component?
They're like the Bush administration. They don't even TRY to cover up the B.S.
Arthur Salvatore pointed out a while back that there's an unwritten "rule" in the mainstream audio press that they're not to make any direct comparison to another component in the item of review's class. Since I read this three years or so ago, I've been looking for an exception to this "rule", and haven't found ONE.
Where are the "shootouts" that I see in other hobbies' magazines?
Be nice to know what NOT to buy, wouldn't it? |
StereoMojo online magazine |
I'll tag Tone as well. I used to be a fan of Soundstage. It was an easy read and laid out well. it wasn't as pretentious as some others either.
Tone covers the whole spectrum of music from software to hardware.
"Playback" comes along by email to my inbox regularly and is a compilation of several online mags. it's mighty convenient. Articles range widely across the board.... AV, headphones, Displays, music etc.... from TAS and other industry town criers.
Six moons articles by and large just ramble too much for me anymore to enjoy and embedding images into the text rather than along side it is just too too tedious and exasperating.
Quite often I enjoy the individually authored reviews here on Audiogon. though usually not as polished or technical as major mags, they contain a zeal and enthusiasm that is appealing. Frequently theyre reasonably well written and entertaining too. Above all they are succinct. |
The adds don't bother me at all. As a matter of fact I enjoy them. I don't believe most reviews anyway. When reviewers start talking about tweeks like power cords, it disqualifies them in my view. I just like to see what's new. |
I really miss Listener and Fi. TAS and Stereophile are interchangable for me, a decent read nothing more.
btw thanks to everyone who recommended Tone online magazine. I downloaded the latest issue and just read the Maggie 1.7 review - not bad. |
I find Stereophile the most enjoyable because of Sam Tellig. |
Hello,
I find 6 MOONS to be my favorite review source. They are detailed and very comprehensive in their description of the technical frame work of a component and are quite effective in relating sonic performance character. I appreciate their willingness to do direct comparisions with competing components, they are`nt afraid to be critical when warranted. By the way they take great pictures of the inarnds of the reviewed components. After reading a review I feel I have a good sense of what it would sound like. |
My vote goes to Stereophile because of Fremer. |
online: 6moons
paper: HiFi+ albeit they've shed feathers and the runner-up is getting stronger: LP (in German) |
I've found some reviews on enjoythemusic.com to be most concise and to the point and also spot on accurate.
I like sixmoons also but sometimes the writers just go on and on and on and on...... before getting to the point. |
HiFi+ was the best until Roy Gregory left. So, next up would be Stereophile. I really like Art Dudley and Michael Fremer. TAS is basically dull and uninvolving. |
Absolute Sound with a grain of salt!! |
STEREO REVIEW, AUDIO, HIGH FIDELITY WHERE OH WHERE IS JULIAN WHEN WE NEED HIM. I WONDER IF HE IS LAUGHING OR CRYING. |
stop smiling
comes with a smile...r.i.p
under the radar
no depression
harp
i tend to go direct to the manufacturer's of audio equipment for my ad copy. |
About Sam Tellig (Tom Gillet).
I actually find his writings fun to read, especially his ''wine & dine'' european trips (or other goodies) to manufacturers in exchange for glowing reviews.
Unfortunately, his ''ears'' and recommendations have absolute zero credibility in my humble opinion. |
I like Stereophile. I take things they review with a grain of salt, but it seems to me that the magazine is trying to foster a culture of audio enjoyment. I read the magazine in its electronic copy through Zinio and it looks great on the iPad. Its harder to read on a computer. I also visit the Stereophile website and read the blogs, like Stephen Meijas, as it provides a counterpoint to the unaffordable high end. I like the humour and enthusiasm in Stereophile.
I find when you read a magazine where the writers are so personable, then, we read our favourite writers with some sort of identity, like we way we identify our favourite members of a sporting team, just like sonicbeauty says about Sam Tellig - he's fun to read. His neologisms (like the use of the word fremer as a verb to describe fussing endlessly over turntables) are funny. ymmv.
I also read Australian HiFi. Ha! got you there. Does anyone else read Australian HiFi? I buy it out of nationalism. Like stereophile it provides completely uninterpretable measurements on equipment that I read and wonder if anyone knows what this means and whether it means anything about the sound. |
i just found a copy of audiophile earotica at barnes and noble named hi-fi world from england. lots of eye candy not sold here and some interesting perspectives on audio in the editorials. 10.50 or f3.90 pounds. very good magazine |
For the most part I agree with Ninox but the humor displayed in Stereophile pales in comparision to the defunct Listener Magazine (those brits seem to have captured the market in terms of wit and guile bordering on silliness).
There really isn't a MAJOR audiophile publication written for the average audiophile. Market enviornment vis-a-vis payed endorsements permeates all, first in terms of component selection and then in review content (can't bite the hand that feeds you afterall). While its wonderful to read about $15K+ preamps and speakers over $20K what about taking the approach of reviewing components that fall in the middle niche that the average audiophile would be willing to spend and then if a component falls outside of that but is really exceptional writing about that?
How many reviews have you seen in a major publication about components from Audio Horizons, DeHavilland, Supratek, etc. that are little known but are well respected on this site?
I also find it curious that review content length is directly proportional to cost but not necessarily to merit. |
I was thinking about this topic again yesterday as the digital version of Stereophile arrived and wondering why I was so gracious about the magazine, especially since I bought the musical fidelity XCan V8P that Sam Tellig described as a wonderful headphone pre amp, connected to my amp and immediately blew my speakers...ah sonicbeauty, if only I knew what I know now.
I guess its a distance thing, living in Australia, I am less concerned by many reviews as some stuff just isn't available here, or even if it is if might be in Melbourne (1000km away from Sydney).So the attitude of the magazine becomes more important than the reviews, especially in a global financial downturn when we might want to listen to our music than buy more equipment.
However, I have noticed over the last year, a number of reviews in Stereophile for small $1-2K monitors, precisely what I am looking for to replace the blown speakers. Each time I have been able to borrow them from my dealer and have found that the reviewers comments echo very closely my own impressions. So this has been helpful for this average audiophile. Perhaps a series on delightful inexpensive preamp headphone amps would be useful.
I am not so certain about the utility of group shoot out testing that the british mags like. It sort of dumbs it down - what hifi is the worst for this. However I need some comparisons in a review. Australian Hi Fi is completely aggravating in that it never compares one product to another, while Stereophile gets the balance pretty right by including a comment about one product with reference to another. Its harder to get TAS here so I can't really comment.
Talking of little known but well respected: There is an Australian and New Zealand Hi Fi industry, and some companies make some great stuff but other than the high end (Halcro, Plinius) you never hear of any of it, except on audiogon (or Australian HiFi where the reviews are unsurprisingly really really positive). |
I'm with the stereophile crowd. I dont occasionally worry about whether the manufacturers influence their reviews.
I actually just re-upped my subscription for 3 years.
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I just let my Stereophile subscription lapse. Fewer reviews of gear and music, and more ads. They're also reviewing less and less 'affordable' gear lately. Well at least affordable to me. They'll review one or two affordable pieces every other month, and they'll happen to be pieces I have no interest in.
What Hifi? was my favorite due to the reasons the OP mentioned. I just can't find it anymore. I liked their shoot-outs where they had a few different pieces for around the same price and had a group of 5 or so people reviewing them blindly. Often times one of them was a manufacturer. They combined this subjectivity with objective measurements and told how each piece varied from the average. No gushing endless gushing about products. They also had reviews where they outright said to avoid products, and sometimes those manufacturers advertised in their mag.
The only version of the mag I can find is What Hifi Sound & Vision, which has more home theater than anything else. Zero interest in that. What Hifi reviewed gear in most price ranges. I didn't agree with every review, but I agreed more than disagreed.
If I could subscribe to it I definitely would. |
"I'm with the stereophile crowd. I dont occasionally worry about whether the manufacturers influence their reviews."
Idnfl: I don't mean to be disrespectful but I cringed when I read your response. |
i worked in advertising for years. all for profit and non for profit companies are influenced by money . even anarchy.com needs financial support. ha. i,m not saying they buy good reviews but come on these people are human. the old stereo review stories were the worst in my opinion. remember when they,d run tests on a pioneer sx 1250 reciever and praise its low distortion. under the boat with an anchor rope on it and i couldn,t hear a difference. ha |
As far as flipping through the ads, I like to look at the European stuff that isn't available over here in the states. I don't subscribe to either TAS or Stereophile anymore. As far as the writers go, I enjoyed reading Art Dudley the most, and I would love to get hold of back issues of his Listener magazine, which I never read. I also enjoy looking through older issues of TAS. |
Print: Stereophile
E-Zine: Affordable Audio |
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HiFi+, particularly after Roy Gregory left. I have seldom come across anyone quite so pleased with themselves. HiFi World is very good too. It tends to go for the cheaper kit and also Vintage kit, with hints on what to look for if you are buying vintage. |
I second HiFi World.
Stereophile lost heavily in 'fun' department since Corey Greenberg left ... but I stil e-subscribe. |
The Abso!ute Sound...until they changed to the larger format, Sound Practices...until they went under, Listener...until they went under.
Now...none of them. |
HiFi World and HiFi World
Tone
Dagogo
Soundstage
I agree with what has been written about 6moon: Detailed descriptions and good photography but the major drawback, ie. Srajan Ebaen's long-windedness, nearly makes the magaxine unreadable -- so I guess I read it for the pictures... |
Edit: Should read HiFi World and HiFi+...and magazine. These small screens sometimes... |
I like Positive Feedback Online. |
