Is "WHAT HI-FI" a good read?

Stay away from What Hi-Fi !!! They don't know what hi-fi really is .......

Hello BigBoy

I have only recently purchased my first copy of Hi>Fi+ (Issue 10) and for what it's worth, I was very impressed. The articles were well written, the reviews were complete to give you a good read on the item, in review, and yet not overly long-winded. There was no sarcasm laced through the magazine, which was printed on good quality, easy to read paper.

While the magazine is not cheap ($8.99, I think, at B & N) it was enjoyable enough that I will buy more. For me it was a refreshing change.

Good reading,
Regards
AEW

I have a healthy scepticism towards most of the UK mags,What Hi-fi is really aimed at the low to medium market in the UK-the reviews are predictible but the magazine is good at what it is.
Hi-fi +,is much more high-end and frankly has a few writers I do not care for,Jimmy Hughes constant promotion for both Russ Andrews mains equipment and Statmat products is transparent in the extreme,it's well put together but overpriced I think £5,here in the UK.
The best most balanced mag by a mile I think is Hi-fi News-covers a good range of equipment and music and has Ken Kessler probably the UK's best hi-fi writer,he's controversal but good.

Ben

It is good for low end audiophile gear, mostly British
integrateds. Many hear will say it is not real audiophile
mag, exactly right it doesn't try to be, it is geared to the
entry level audiophile gear and I think it is good for this
type of stuff.

I think the monthly shootouts where 4-8 different units of similar price are compared head to head is very
informative.

What Hi-Fi reviewers do not have a clue IMHO. It is also 90% advertising. It's not that they only review low to mid-fi equipment, it is that they seem to like the cheaper stuff over the higher end stuff by the same manufacturer. When the Rotel RCD951 CD player gets 5 gold stars and an editors choice award and the RCD971 gets 3 stars and so so comments, it makes you wonder who is listening. I think they listen to a lot of Rock music so if the component is rough sounding they think it is good.

They also have a phony rating system. A component rarely gets less than 3 stars. Most get 5 stars; and there seem to be three levels of 5 star ratings; 5 stars, 5 gold stars, and then the 5 star editors choice. They do not want to piss off any potential advertiser.

The British magazine that I have always felt does an excellent job reviewing low and mid-fi equipment is HiFi Choice. Go to http://www.hifichoice.co.uk/