Stereophile "coverage"


Stereophile must enjoy all the negative reaction they get out of their choices of what to cover. Witness the latest cover story, the new Krell LAT-1 speaker. Here, from the biggest of the big advertisers, we get basically immediate cover-story coverage of their latest release, a $37,500 speaker. Stratospheric. The reviewer (who amazingly wasn't Jonathon Scull, with something of this price), is extremely positive while almost seeming to forget the price of this beast. It doesn't go much below 40Hz and it measures horribly. I guess you'll have to wait for their $75K model to get around those obstacles, though the option to pair the LAT-1's with some Krell Master subs is offered up to get down below 40Hz.

So, a super-expensive speaker coupled with other reviews of >$8K components ("you guys never review affordable stuff!"), immediate, feature coverage of a new Krell product ("You guys pander to your advertisers!"), and a very positive review of gear that nobody would argue measures respectably (at any price) ("You guys always give good reviews!"), on top of the usual reduced size of the magazine in the middle of the summer - the August issue should keep the negative feedback coming in full doses.

kthomas
If they put a relatively inexpensive Denon receiver, or a set of computer speakers on the cover, there are lots of complaints, if they put $36,000 Krell speakers on the cover...lots of complaints, talk about you can't please all of the people all of the time, it seems like no one is ever happy with their covers. Perhaps a swimsuit issue would do it?
One of Stereophile's reasons for being, is to report on new developments in audio. I have never heard a Krell component I liked yet, but I keep an open mind. When I heard their new $10,000 "bookshelf" speakers at the Stereophile show I must say they were the best I have ever heard in their category, so why not talk about their speakers? I am interested in what they say about them, regardless of what they cost or whether I am interested in buying them. Good point Vader. Most summer issues of magazines are a liitle "light" anyway, and Stereophile is no exception.
Stereophile is about half the size and about half the cost of what it used to be. Sounds about right.
It's unfortunite that the mag that " started it all" has continued to decline in size and quality over the past several years. As audiophiles, we need publications like Stereophile, TAS and several others to represent the high end viewpoint to the Sony's and Phillips of this world. I continue to subscribe and will probably continue to do so but I think they would be well advised to listen more to their readers comments.
Two times a year they do their recommended components nonsense, now they have records to die for, good for one more issue, car stereo should be next, then their is a need for an annual product listing (October Audio, remember?), maybe an annual music recap issue would be good, that's six issues, home theater,seven. We only need ideas for five more issues and we'll be able to recycle content with minor changes every year. Cut and paste, baby.
You got that right, Steteophile is a joke! Just look at Audible Illusions and Transcendent class A reviewed but gone like magic from this years list (No advertising can't be the reason can it ?? ) Look at SoundStage on the net for honest reviews from real people who do not owe their careers to advertising giants. Also The Absolute Sound is great and just kills Stereophile for info.
What do we expect for a magazine which costs us $1.50 per issue? Every other month it is Krell or Levinson plastered all over the cover in a way which dares to surpass the most garish ads you can find inside the magazine. This entire magazine, including the articles, is an ad. As for this issue, the $37000 Krell speaker with inaudible deep bass and, if you look at the graphs, with the rolled off treble, is not quite perfect, but at least it has excellent fit and finish! Please! They loved that Sony SS-9 speaker which they reviewed. They said it was nearly flawless. I heard it at the New York show at the 5 channel SACD demo and while it wasn't horrible, it certainly wasn't memorable. They definitely did get one thing right about it. The speaker was thin sounding.

Stereophile continues to sink to ever lower depths. It reviews the same old manufacturers' stuff while ignoring new, innovative or even classic and highly respected equipment in favor of nearly, if not completely exclusively, those manufacturers who advertise with them. At this point, it would appear that they don't even care that we the readers even can plainly see their strategy. Needless to say, I won't be renewing my subscription.