Stereophile's 2021 products of the year

@avanti1960

i just sold some items and could not believe how quickly they sold.

I hope you didn’t sell your SHL5+. Now that would be an unforgivable offense in my book. J/K :)

And the influence of the mags is exactly why you shouldnt take them seriously. If a mature hobbyist doesnt outgrow the various pubs within a few years then they are doing something wrong. How boring it is to have to read between the lines to get the true meaning of a review. The whole model stinks and is harmful to the hobby. 

Interesting thread. I too wonder about the relationship between Stereophile ad sales and content. However, I have read it for enough years that I can discern a great review from a merely good or ok one. I also think that generally there is lots of good gear made these days especially at popular prices and so differentiation is often along lines other than just sound. I find the measurements interesting but as a non-engineer I too could benefit from understanding more of what to look for. (I would be in much better shape if they focused on their financials, marketing strategy or legal situation but noone would care about those.) I still though want to hear my music reproduced in a more favorable form and every so often I want to upgrade gear to do it. I also live someplace without any significant retail audio presence especially one which can lend me gear I might buy and am also 1000s of miles from other states (HI) so I rely on expertise to make me aware of gear, hopefully credible expertise from the industry as well as forums like this one. I know I am not alone in this case especially as the years have passed and more audiophiles are "older", there are fewer BM stores, etc. I take everything with a grain or two of salt including here on AG and in the pubs and on other sites. BUT, it still helps and provides both entertainment and insight. 

+1 @8th-note 

I read all the rags, forums and reviews, make a list, demo and decide.
Kinda like getting your news if you only watch CNN you only get their slant on the story.
With all this consider the sources.
I do enjoy Part Time Audiophile the most.

There is definite value in the stereophile reviews but you have to be careful with matching components for compatability and synergy. this is why they list the associsted components which i like.  

Another good point, as then the reader, if able and can take in the mesurments. Can then also look up the measurements on those associated components to see if they were compatible, and if what the reviewer is saying could be attributed to it.

Cheers George

another value as mentioned is that well reviewed products retain their value better and sell faster if you are inclined.  
i just sold some items and could not believe how quickly they sold.  

There is definite value in the stereophile reviews but you have to be careful with matching components for compatability and synergy.  this is why they list the associsted components which i like.  
the other thing is that there is an unwritten rule with the class system that people fail to understand- the term "within its competitive price range"
the KEF example affirms this, the LS50s are class A products within their price range because they overperform at their price vs the competition.  The Reference products do not in my opinion and therefore the class B rating.  
I believe you can look at this within every cagetory.   Why they do not make it official rather than "between the lines" is probably a can of worms they do not want to open...

Stereophile is awesome.  Not perfect, but a very good mag.  

As for their "best of" issues, of which there are more than one per year, I am indifferent.  The reason they do so many of them is because it sells magazines.  There are many budding audiophiles who need resources for buying and upgrading gear.  Stereophile and other magazines provide this resource.  And, yes, publishing IS a business.  And it's a very difficult business to make money at, especially in the internet age.  
I hate to think of Stereophile and TAS going out of business.  The quality of the writing and the personalities of both magazines are very interesting for me.  Compare these two to some of the British mags sometime.  The integrity of the U.S. mags is much higher IMO.

Didn’t Stereophile lose its credibility when JA became editor in chief over 20 years ago? Lol, how many class A and class A+ components can you have? Perhaps the advertiser’s wallet is the limit. J/k ;)

I agree entirely regarding sensitivity and impedance/phase angle

This is why I always try to show Stereophile speaker impedance vs -phase angle graphs when recommending an amp for anyone.
Instead of just blindly saying get this amp it's the best.😵

Cheers George 

@fleschler  I agree entirely regarding sensitivity and impedance/phase angle effects on the in room efficiency of a speaker. I have read many speaker reviews that don't adequately address this. 

I think Jim Austin gave a pretty good account of the design intent: ie deliberately eschewing feedback in the interests of improved SQ into tube friendly speakers - rather than designing a panacea for all speakers. It‘s also interesting to note that Jim confirms that an amp that measures worse (ie without feedback) can actually sound better.

He also made the interesting point that some speakers like to see high output impedances. From memory, I think these these mainly fall into the single driver category. Speaker matching is always important to a certain degree.

It is interesting that the stereo-magazine.com article does not indicate the distortion level at 64/65 watt continuous output as well as other problems Atkinson found.   https://www.stereophile.com/content/vac-sigma-170i-iq-integrated-amplifier-measurements  However, on-line I just read multiple explanations that point to a need to carefully select a partnering speaker, preferably above 90db efficiency and easier impedance phase angles.  This is rated as an 85 watt amp but reaches 3% THD on a slow rise at 51 watts, 2nd harmonic distortion type which may not be hearable versus a similar solid state amplifier with the same distortion but with a quick rise.  Herb Reichert, Jim Austin and John Atkinson further explain the measurements.   They were answering @George who stated from the review  "Using our definition of clipping, which is when the output's THD+noise percentage reaches 1%, the amplifier with both channels driven with a 1kHz signal clipped at 11.8Wpc into 8 ohms."   I can't say George doesn't have a good argument that the amp section is very particular of it's speaker mate with a low damping factor and high impedance resulting is potentially great frequency response variations.

I have no opinion as I have not read the review, however it may be sample variation, as you have surmised, because Stereo Magazine found that it measured well

https://stereo-magazine.com/archive/articles?tx_archive_pi1%5Baction%5D=download&tx_archive_pi1%5Barticle%5D=69341&tx_archive_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=Archive&cHash=b63605b6cab9c40ddc6dbc5e2d1dd3ed

‘Low distortion, low noise, high bandwidth and
an enormous attenuation factor for a tube amplifier.’

Hope this helps.

Did they measure-the same one they reviewed?

@mesch Speaker sensitivity AND impedance/phase angle are to be considered jointly as to the ability of an amplifier to power the speakers unlike the @millercarbon statement. I own speakers with a 98db sensitivity that have a low impedance of 3.2 ohms and sharp phase angles there which allow 30 watt tube amps to play it beautifully and 200 watt solid state amps which cannot. Apparently, the impedance/phase angle has more impact on amps and my speakers than sensitivity.

Also, I personally know of reviewers who publish high end equipment reviews so that they can have equipment to resell.

As to the VAC 170IQ review, I was also shocked at how poorly it measured which reminded me of the recent Cary amp review of similar disrepute. In the Cary amp instance, the reviewer found that it sounded very good. There is a dictum which states that if something sounds good but measures poorly, someone is measuring the wrong thing. However, there could be a defective product (EAR Classic had such a review, later corrected-it is a very good sounding CD player) which caused the poor measurements. I want to hear from users and the manufacturer as to why the VAC 170IQ measurements stunk.

I own two components on the Stereophile A list. However, I still have a problem with its commercially driven content and the insidious manner in which it influences consumer spending and dealer‘s decision making.

There are some things that got on there, like the Exposure 2010S, which beggar belief. I know I had one, and the old Farlowe XV super stomped it in terms of music making. Personally, I would have given it a borderline B, with the caveat that it isn‘t the most musically engaging of amplifiers out there.

This thread is funny.  I'm quite sure for 90% of the contrary responders of one thing.  Had one of the components in their system been named to Stereophile's product of the year list, they most certainly would not have come onto a similar thread and denounced Stereophile and the practices and rooms of the reviewers. 

They either would have posted how they've had the component for 2 years already, or they would have said nothing.   Sometimes human nature is so funny.

Get some horns, let ya hair down and rock the house. You‘ve got to have one pair, even if not for anything else but to punish your neighbours.

That little thing would not even drive my tweeters.

Why buy anything when there is so much out there that is just as good if not better at 1/3 the price? Seems that's how most reviews in these publications go - "this is so great I bought it myself"; I'd like to see these people's listening rooms, because they sure buy a lot of stuff for themselves...

I concur. My fully regulated JLH69 still sounds absolutely wonderful 51 years post design. I would loved to have had a good example of this classic compared with the aegir on SQ grounds so I could use it as a yardstick. If the aegir were to prove significantly better, I would obviously be very interested.

Comparing it with other amplifiers I know would give me similar insight.

Stereophile is a much better read than this thread.
That's why people pay (not much) money for Stereophile.

But their recommended products is a bore and a waste of their  valuable editorial space.  They only include current gear and say nothing of the SQ relationship between say a Class A amp 10 years ago and one in this year's mag.  An objective discussion of that relationship would benefit us all.

 if you want to believe elsewise

sorry, don’t get it.........

We agree on something, they go hand in hand, and reviewers who really know how to INTERPRET them - ie what really affects the sound and what does to a lesser degree are the ones, like Herb, whom I really respect. When designing his amp he knew which parameters needed to be spot on and which could be relaxed a bit. That’s called experience.

Like I said they go hand in hand, the measurements/tests keep the reviewers honest, not the other way around. Oh and I like the Aegir, if you search I recommend it quite a lot, especially in bi-amped systems with the Vidar and Sys (to equalize the gains) on the bass
And if you want to believe elsewise that’s up to you.

And yet you certainly didn’t seem to take issue with his Stereophile review of the Aegir, which is really what this thread is all about.

Could Herb have got it wrong?

I think Herb knows a thing or two about how to actually interpret measurements, rather than make sweeping blanket statements. Read his design article. The finished item certainly wouldn‘t measure well by the criteria you espouse, yet he seems pretty happy with the sound.

Could very well do, at least "they" can then analyse what the reviewer said with the  associated equipment that he used vs the measurements John Atkinson does, and see if the reviewer is full of **** or not.  

not all hard core audiophiles that understand measurements

Some of them probably understand a lot more about measurements than you.do. I wonder whether Herb does?

Gets less pertinent with each passing year. As does the publication. Dont read any publications any longer so dont mean to only pick on Stereophile.

On the other hand, if you were to ask a group of hard core audiophiles where the real audio magic lay you would probably get the same answer.

That’s your opinion, not all hard core audiophiles that understand measurements and what they do to the sound of amps, think like that

Well, if we were all identical then humanity would be a dead thing, a non conscious thing.

We may only exist in the area of attempting consciousness, but at least the attempt is real. The individualism expressed illustrates such condition - rather well.

On way to see it... is that there is no moving forward in humanity without differences and argument. Getting along perfectly is ultimately the death of us all - the death of any human future.

Recognizing this is both good and bad. It may be that the more equal or balanced this difference (even in this ’self awareness’), the better off we are. And it being debatable is a good thing, a core thing, a required thing. Uglies are necessary, it turns out....without it we’re dead in the water.

Ouch.

S‘funny- If you were asking around for an amp that measured really badly, you would probably be recommended a single ended triode. On the other hand, if you were to ask a group of hard core audiophiles where the real audio magic lay you would probably get the same answer.

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/diy/0709/flesh_blood.htm

Written by the same guy who gave the gushing Stereophile review on the Schiit. Wonder how this baby measures? Anyone with experience would have a pretty good idea. We‘re talking percentages here at LF guys, and there‘s even more bad news. A 300B SET that measures well is practically an oxymoron.

It‘s up to you whether that makes him a bad reviewer who‘s opinion on the Schiit probably sucks.

Yeah sunshine no shit.
Obvious anyone who has to ask this has no idea either about amp measurements.
All Acoustats have this kind of load, and have similar efficiencies.

Looking for good amp to drive Acoustat 22 properly, other than the TNT-200...any ideas

Amplifying?

Yes, and all the other parameters an amp has to measure well for, and to get the best from speakers and their unique individual different loadings.

that measures like ****

Thank you for the precise definition. All is now very clear.

"I need an amp to measure well for the purpose I intend to use it for..."

Amplifying?

Or do do you believe in absolutes?

I would never buy an amp that measures like ****, and yet a reviewer says it sounds fantastic.
I need an amp to measure well for the purpose I intend to use it for, and if the reviewer say it sounds good driving similar speakers to mine as well that's a bonus.

Like I said

You need to understand the measurements also, that way you can form a judgement if the reviewer is full of it or not.
If you don't understand the measurements as well your just p*****g into the wind.

Cheers George   

You need to understand the measurements also, that way you can form a judgement if the reviewer is full of it or not.
If you don't understand the measurements as well your just p*****g into the wind.

Cheers George

I understand the measurements implicitly, it‘s just that one‘s own philosophy as to how far certain measurements correlate with subjective listening results will normally determine how ’full (or empty) of it‘one determines the reviewer to be. So this becomes a rather subjective process. Which is fine by me.

Or do do you believe in absolutes? In which case it is very easy to identify ’full of it’ reviewers (possibly even creating a ’fulness’ score for each reviewer) and by extrapolation disqualify their future reviews from garnering any credibility.

mglik,

"He had developed pretty much the first functional CD player."

What do you mean by that? Wasn't it SONY/Philips colaboration with, I think, SONY being the first to show the prototype?

Jason,Stoddard and (the aforementioned) Mike Moffat, co-founders of Schiit Audio (credit where due). And I promise -- nobody'sgiving me any free gear; I get myself poor just like the rest-a yuz!

Then why should we place faith in other Stereophile reviews?

You need to understand the measurements also, that way you can form a judgement if the reviewer is full of it or not.
If you don't understand the measurements as well your just p*****g into the wind.

Cheers George

I recently finished reading Shiit Happened, by the founders of Shiit Audio, and can wholeheartedly recommend it as an insightful, often very funny, irreverent take on how to succeed in the audio business while trying (and working) really, really hard, owning your mistakes, and trying hard to treat the people who love music and way-better-than-average sound... Respectfully & well. Did it make me go to their website and think about maybe trying some of their gear, heck yes -- the desired effect, for sure.  But they genuinely seem allergic to snake oil and stuff that costs 6 or 14 much as it probably should. More power to 'em, i say.