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Reviewer : Michael Fremer

The $30,000 speaker cable, he said was on long term loan, they just hadn't come back to collect it. That reminds me of a story about a UK reviewer, who accumulated a mass of equipment because he wasn't going to send it back, they had to collect it.
 
MF has his moments. I have been reading Stereophile for decades and am more inclined to read the columns of Robert Baird, Jason Victor Serinus and Art Dudley .... in that order.
 
MF has his moments. I have been reading Stereophile for decades and am more inclined to read the columns of Robert Baird, Jason Victor Serinus and Art Dudley .... in that order.

Am I correct in thinking that Ken Kessler wrote for Stereophile and upset the apple cart in some way. They also had a writer, I cannot recall his name who was sacked for including some comment in his review about a musical moment ending when the panties landed on the turntable.

I seldom take any magazines these days but usually enjoy Stereophile who have some good reviewers.
 
They used to have Sam Tellig, who resigned over payment IIRC. He was always well worth reading and was another who liked classic kit so I was sad to see him go. Wes Philips went around the same time too.
 
I think Sam is probably right. I'd be surprised if Stereophile was still on the shelves in a few years time. The same goes for many audio/hifi publications. Where's the market?
 
I think Sam is probably right. I'd be surprised if Stereophile was still on the shelves in a few years time. The same goes for many audio/hifi publications. Where's the market?

I haven't brought a HIFI magazine in about eight years, I used to buy 2-3 each month for about ten years!
 
I'd be surprised if Stereophile was still on the shelves in a few years time. The same goes for many audio/hifi publications. Where's the market?

Remember its the advertising that makes the money not the magazine sales, so in theory HiFi publications could continue for a very long time. In reality it will be about as long as manufacturers/distributors/dealers feel their advertising offers a return for their money...
 
Agreed Graham.

I would personally imagine it will survive as long as the demographic that cares about these things is living at home and able to use the bathroom unassisted :)

I'm personally not convinced that's going to be much longer. It's also going to depend on their investment portfolios exceeding expectations during their retirements.
 
There is certainly decline. Much as I like Fremer, Dudley etc, and I’m still a Stereophile subscriber, it has to be said it is a pale shadow of its former self. I started a thread about The Absolute Sound in the classic room a while back as I’d bought a few mid ‘70s and early 80s copies. I landed a couple of early ‘80s copies of Stereophile at the same time. Both magazines were in a different intellectual league to anything currently available. My own view is that the internet has killed it, any in depth discussion has moved online leaving little more than glossy pictures and editorial policy for the magazines. There are few if any reviewers around these days with the depth, commitment, experience and force of opinion of say Harry Pearson or J Gordon-Holt, the ones that remain seem somewhat shallow compared to much you’ll read on the forums such as pfm, AudioAsylum etc. I’ll continue to buy for a while (I think my subscription has another year or so to run), but I may bail at that point as it does seem rather thinner and less interesting each month. The contrast to early TAS is fascinating, Pearson could take five or more pages of dense text with no pictures to review a product!
 
It was a good idea by Stereophile to have the video profiles of their reviewers.
It has nudged me into maybe taking out a subscription in hard copy or online.
My problem with hi fi magazines is that I like to keep them for future reference. Useful when buying second hand equipment. Like records they can fill your living space.
 
Agreed, the hifi magazine market is on borrowed time

Magazines yes, I think HIFI journalism is alive and well though on the web, paid for be advertising. If I want to know about a product and get multiple points of view on it, I'll google it... and ask on a forum. I think reviewers jobs are safe, printers, less so.
 
Stereophile has tried to embrace online by becoming a multi-media platform. They started by putting most of their reviews online for free. When other magazines failed to respond or decided they should be paid for old copy (!), Stereophile became a go-to online reference and consistently Googled well up the rankings. Lots of manufacturers, forums and blogs all linked to their content. Their online digital distribution is good and very cheap and they have pretty much usurped the awaful UK publications, which have become invisible. I think this thread suggests the title is doing an OK job in a tough media climate and may survive a bit longer than others... but the whole cosy reviewing/trade/manufacturing/advertising structure looks increasingly dated and stuff like recommended components is a discredited joke.
 
For me, no credible hifi review magazine exists, online or in print. What am I supposed to read, 6moons? Positive Feedback? ToneAudio? Or the worst, Mono And Stereo?

Sheesh...what a waste of time and bandwidth.
 
There has been some crossover between writer of the US and UK hifi magazines. Both Stereophile and The Absolute Sound are shells of their former selves. Still I remain loyal to Stereophile for a few of its writers: Robert Baird, Art Dudley and Jason Scott Verinus. And will unashamedly read from back to front :)

Not sure how much longer I'll continue to read, but have settled on Stereophile and while I do get sent copies of HiFi News and HiFi Choice from time to time, not sure how long they will last, for no other reason than circulation numbers.
 
Remember its the advertising that makes the money not the magazine sales, so in theory HiFi publications could continue for a very long time. In reality it will be about as long as manufacturers/distributors/dealers feel their advertising offers a return for their money...

They are all flawed anyway (especially the UK ones) as the relationship to advertisers proves that no truly bad reviews ever happen.......
 
For me, no credible hifi review magazine exists, online or in print.

I find describing the sound I am hearing almost impossible. The best reviews, using many words and comparisons, used to come up with an approximation of the strengths and weaknesses of a product.
I can't remember the last time I read such a review.
It also helps if you know the type of sound the reviewer likes.
Many moons ago Roy Gregory (then editor) of Hi-Fi + wrote a piece about the requirements of a review. Most of it was common sense and irrefutable, but I disagreed when he said the reviewer shouldn't say if he liked the product.
Nowadays of course they always do, and its the best thing since sliced bread.
 


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