I don't put too much faith in them either. One of the first crazy expensive systems I ever heard belonged to this guy who was into "deals". His whole system was a Who's Who of Stereophile Class A picks. All bought used on the basis of being "the best".
Have you ever seen one of those gags where they swap things around and you're expecting one thing and shocked to get something completely different? I gave him my CD and when the music started I whipped around and hit eject fully expecting to find he had swapped or something. But no, it was my CD.
All these Stereophile Class A Components combined for the worst sound ever. Horrible, could hardly stand it. No exaggeration.
Few weeks later we had a party, everyone in my listening room just playing tunes. Couple hours into it this guy's wife sneaks up to me, looks around to make sure no one will hear, and eyes wide in wonder whispers to me, "I could listen to this all night!!!" This was before the hopelessness of digital had become clear to me. We were probably playing a lot of CDs. So it wasn't that. It was the awfulness of the combination of all those Class A Components.
There are probably some good ones on the list. But I suspect it is more about bragging rights than anything.
I like Stereophile's bench testing. While I don't put much faith in the rankings, etc., I do like having a source for tech data on various products. I don't buy measurements, of course, but I do like to see them.
Stereophile ONLY rates the products they have reviewed, unlike TAS which will give a product they heard at a show but didn’t review a rating as well. I find Stereophile much more honest than TAS. I do have subscriptions to both and have been a subscriber since 1990. I do not trust Robert Harley or Jonathan Valin, as anything Uber expensive gets a good write up.
Harry Pearson is probably shouting from his grave for the way the magazine is run now. TAS has nice ads and that for me is the best audio porn out there. I take everything written in both magazines with a grain of salt, but in TAS case, more than one grain.
It's not possibly to listen to everything yourself. It's not possible for anyone to compare everything. Why would anyone assume a list is meant to be comprehensive? It may be far from perfect, but it can still be a good place to start. There are lists of everything from cars to whisky to Michelin starred restaurants that are equally subjective as anything Stereophile puts out. Are you just going to take advice from any yahoo on the internet instead?
If I am starting my research from nothing then reading a list compiled from reviewed items is a place to start. Some of them may not be described as anything close to what I want. Some of them are beyond my means. In looking further into others I may find a trail to something that really interests me and, more importantly, suits me. There is nothing wrong with reading a map or using a navigation app, but you still need to watch where you going.
Sad to see so much hate on the site coming from consumers who think that the first qualifier into their world is price paid! Would bet most the posters here when introducing company to their system don’t just play a track and let people listen while remaining silent unless asked a question. Then first question is what kind of amp do you have? Answer would be a glossed over name quickly followed with how much the have paid for it. I laugh at people who pay 100k for a speaker cable. Yes you must have fu money to just throw away, and I will give you the fact that it sounds better than my $100 cable but can rest assured it does not sound 1000 times better. I am not saying Schiit is the best best all end all of audio but they allows for average people to dip a toe in the water of high end audio. In the end is it not about the enjoyment of the music?!
Remember the days of yore when The Absolute Sound did not accept any ads? Say what you will about HP, I looked forward to his reviews every 6 or 7 months.
the publications/reviews business is just that... a business - whether it is old style print (now with online versions), youtube reviewers, or online only pubs like dagogo, 6moons, part time audiophile, etc etc and numerous others, coming and going in time
there is no doubt the famous ones, leveraging illustrious histories, like stereophile and tas, are important info sources, with their ’best of’ compendiums, especially for those who are new to the hobby
we who have been at this for a good while, seen inside the industry, advise newbies to realize that while these businesses do have some ethical standards, they all first and foremost worship at the alter of the dollar, and so the key is to understand how each ’gets their bread buttered’... some are straight ad revenues in exchange for reviews (and thus, inclusion on their recommended lists), others get industry accommodations on discount or free gear (’permanent loans’), invites to shows (pre covid) etc etc etc...
stereophile (not the aegir, you fools) gets the bad rap as it is the most callously commercial in its approach -- advertise to their minimums, get written up, advertise a lot, your reviews gets better and more plentiful, you get ’promoted’ in the ’recommended’ list... let your advertising commitment reduce or lapse, you get your past recommended status canceled (deleted due to ’too long since reviewed’)... like anything else in life with commercial motives - just need to know the game, then what you see happening makes perfect sense - remember, you are the customer, er target, er prey...
this is not to say that the pubs. their reviews and lists are worthless... they are not, they do have some limited value... but what they exclude, what they don’t test, what they choose to test and how bloviated their commentary is... it is for their benefit (and the manufacturers) as much, if not more, than for you the readers’
To jwaller50’s comment - What publications do we trust - I for one do use The Absolute Sound - their review of Magnapan Speakers let me to sticking with this brand for multiple years.
My system has never sounded better with my upgrade to the Maggie 1.7i. I also used them to convince myself that The Swarm subwoofer system by AudioKensis was worth the money. I now have them in my second system - great bass extension at a nominal investment.
TAS is my key reference for multiple components in my home that are an excellent value for the monies I invest in this hobby!
People actually do take these ratings seriously. I sold a amp yesterday in 10 minutes after advertising it. The guy who bought it mentioned the Stereophile list in our phone conversation. It was not the only reason but did somewhat help me sell the amp.
Just wondering if any of the nay sayers/Haters ever heard or owned the Aegir amp(s) ? I have, and they were very good.. especially when you factor in their price..
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