I get both. I like both. I also get HiFi Review. Hell, sometimes I buy The Sensible Sound and HiFi +.
My perfect magazine would be:
John Atkinson's measurements: because he is trying to correlate objective and subjective results. I would imagine he has measured more speakers than anyone else in the world and I feel like a waterfall chart and frequency curve give the best predictive results of loudspeaker behavior. However, I would get rid of his tube measurements, because obviously science is not able to quantify "wonderfulness" and neither is he. He never met a tube amp he couldn't dis.
Harry Pierson's reviews just because he amuses me anymore.
Jonathan Valin's reviews because except for one important point, I tend to hear the same things he reports. The important point being that the latest expensive piece of equipment I hear and get to borrow does not obsolete everything past or present on this planet nor Vulcan. I hope the Ghost of Great Equipment that Ain't So Great Now comes pays him a visit.
The HiFi Review piece that interviews a hobbiest who describes how he got to his current system. Those guys are just honest about the journey, and they have fear of hurting no one.
Michael Fremer because anybody that can keep an esoteric thing like turntables fresh and alive, and dare I say it, exciting? is worth reading. That and he actually makes very very large purchases of reference equipment, when he could just "borrow forever" virtually anything he wants. This "borrowing", afterall does add to the cost of the equipment from a small company that a consumer will pay, one way or another. Sure he gets an accomadation, but what kind of accomadation does one get on a hundred grand turntable?
Roy Gregory when he does a major article on a piece, because he does such a thorough job, and he generally picks equipment of interest to me.
Martin Colloms, who I don't think writes for hardcopy mags anymore, because he had enough integrity to assign an actual numerical number from 1 to40 for a piece of equipment, rather than A++, A+, A, A slightly minus
Anthony Cordesman, again, because he buys his own stuff, and his reviews strike me as very very honest.
Brian Damkroker, who, because he wants to draw new people in to the hobby, never gets the bling. Always who I refer to when I have a friend who wants a "really nice system".
Could you imagine saying... "No, I don't want to borrow Alexandrias, but do ya make something around 300 bucks that you could loan me?"
Interviews in Stereophile with engineers and icons.
The HiFi Review section where readers describe their systems and what they want to do, and writers actualy give them equipment recommendations.
I don't know why, but I don't really discern many differences in the music reviews, as long as they give an indication of fidelity and performance, I don't find anybody particularly good or bad, maybe I am just musical review challenged.
The policy Stereophile has of ensuring a certain level of business before they review a company's products. This ensures for me, that there is at least some staying power, level of customer service and warranty of an item, and that at least some dealers are willing to shell out cash to carry the line.
Here's what I hate:
The public backbiting, especially from TAS, especially from Harry Pierson, but there is some on both sides. Do what good salespeople do, take the high road, make your own product as good as it can be, don't point out the other guys's shortcomings or mistakes, concentrate on making your own product as good as possible, and audiophiles will spend their 80 cents an issue, unless, of course, you publish a review on something too cheap, expensive, esoteric or mainstream, then may you burn in hell and go bankrupt by me abruptly cancelling my subscription, and taking my 80 cents with me.
Publishing a letter to editor, and then slamming the guy writing, even if he is a moron. What possible purpose could that serve? I feel that no matter how moronic or mean spirited the letter is, seeing as the magazine always gets the last commentary, makes the magazine just that inch more moronic and mean spirited. A well crafted response, on the other, such as John Atkinson printing expletives in a direct quote, and then explaining that magazine policy is not to edit direct quotes, and that the magazine is aimed at adults who, after all have heard these same epithets before, most welcome.
The incredibly shrinking Stereophile, except of course, their Recommended Components month, in which, because they recommend at least one component from any and all equipment manufacturers and get same to advertise in that issue, are pretty big.
I hear virtually nothing the way Sam Tellig does. One of us has wax in his ears. I really hope it is me. If it is me, I can just suscribe to the Musical Fidelity piece of the month club, get a new one every month, and just send it back within ten days if I don't like it. Then, I can save my 80 cents a rag.
I could take a Bose Musicwave, wrap it in leather and burl walnut, call it Boserini, and Ken Kessler would recommend it because it's Italian.
Major reviews and covers happening and in either that or the next issue, major advertising starts to happen in the magazine for that product. Okay, I'm that stupid.
Cheers,
Chris
