August Hifi News
- Thread starter Ptah
- Start date
Evil Emperor
Taller Than Stalin
I trust no-one in this stinking cesspool of an 'industry' anymore. Everyone it seems is too busy having an agenda and attacking one another to actually attempt to progress things. If it's not you, it's Avondale. Or AVI. Or NVA. You are all alike, all angry little men, separated by ideologies.
You DO NOT get to liken yourself to Serge, or Chris or any like minded objectivist in this. Unlike them, you have a dog in this fight; that makes me distrust your motives, even if I agree with your message.
narabdela
who?
Mescalito
pfm Member
Personally, I don't give a toss if a contributor has a vested interest. I will read what he has to say, and unless he goes totally OTT pushing his commercial interest (Hi, Ashley!), gauge the worth of his standpoint or opinion on it's merit.
Arkless, as far as I have been able to ascertain, does not push his business in his general interactions on this forum. He occasionally posts a one liner in threads where someone has specifically asked for repair advice, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Chris
Barrymagrec
pfm Member
The suggestion that the opinions of anyone in the trade should be disregarded because of self interest would deny forum members of a huge amount of useful information that cannot be found elsewhwere. If any opinions should be ignored it is those of some who spout ignorant rubbish based on the assumption that nobody else knows anything.
Stunsworth
pfm Member
That sort of thing has been going on for decades though - certainly since the Linn/Naim alliance in the 70s/80s where Naim dealers wouldn't sell you an amp unless you were using an LP12. Of course that all changed once Linn started manufacturing amplifiers.
I've sat through demos where the rep would be demonstrating the improvements between two pieces of kit and while the first one was playing he'd stand looking a bit glum, or at best disinterested, then when the 'better' bit of kit was playing there's be a smile and he's be tapping his foot. Pathetic really, but it probably persuaded some people that the second demo had nore 'rhythm' or 'pace'.
I've not read the Hifi press for over a decade but I bought a couple of issues of HiFi News recently because they were reviewing equipment I was interested in. To be honest they didn't seem that bad, though I'd have preferred there to be more record reviews.
As for Kessler, I'm ambivalent. I was never convinced he was really hearing all of the subtle differences that he claimed to be, certainly I never heard much difference between cabling for example, and he always seemed to love the big expensive American equipment that I assume he could buy at trade or less. Overall though I have to say I've enjoyed reading his articles - even if I often disagreed with him.
If nothing else this thread has persuaded me to dig out some of my old HiFi News from the 50s and 60s.
sonddek
Trade: SUPATRAC
Apple have never been a hardware product company. They make their money from selling the hardware, but their product is software. People have kept buying Mac/Apple stuff over the years because they like the way the software works. In respect of HCI, it is arguable that Apple has always had a telling, and even technical, advantage over the main competitor, and that is what has kept it in business. If they had allowed Mac OS to run on IBM-compatible systems they would have gone out of business last century. So no, Apple doesn't suffer in performance comparison, precisely because performance is largely determined by HCI, and Apple users are impatient or wise or foolish enough to have worked this out.
narabdela
who?
"Uninterested", yes; but "disinterested" is exactly the opposite of what he was.
Stunsworth
pfm Member
You are correct.
My point is ''why be so destructive'? I know some of the hifi journalists...most are perfectly decent guys who do their best.Of course they pull their punches a bit, like every other form of consumer journalism.But there is still plenty of interest (at least for me) in these mags. Hi Fi News has loads of stuff about records etc. That's why I buy it.
It's the sheer vitriol directed at them which I find distasteful. Without the mags the hobby would just die completely..they are a vital part of it, 'comics' or not.How about a bit more generosity towards those with different views (perish the thought!)
It's the sheer vitriol directed at them which I find distasteful. Without the mags the hobby would just die completely..they are a vital part of it, 'comics' or not.How about a bit more generosity towards those with different views (perish the thought!)
Alan Sircom
I dü werds, me
While it's hardly in my interests to come to the defence of someone who thinks so little of what I do for a living, I think your antipathy toward hi-fi in general has clouded your judgment here.
You are absolutely correct that what someone does for a living should be taken into account (if it is relevant), but to dismiss their statements as agenda-driven simply because they are 'in the trade' is paranoid and potentially leads to nonsensical conclusions. In this case, I think you can omit the word 'potentially'.
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I do take issue with one thing Arkless said. I don't think anyone who writes about audio is in it 'for the money', and that's potentially one of the problems with audio publishing today. Those who write about hi-fi today generally do so because they are enthusiasts, because if they weren't, they might kick off about the fact the rates we pay our writers have at best stayed the same for more than 20 years.
Those of us who worked in larger publishing houses (Dennis, Future, Haymarket, IPC) did get on-the-job training, some of us have branched out to survive, and like anyone we strive to improve our products by honing the required skills (which in today's publishing industry appear to be 'preventing copyright theft', 'not getting sued over a typo', 'learning how to do twice as much for half as much' and, specifically for hi-fi 'generating enthusiasm about anything). But most come to writing about hi-fi through a love of hi-fi.
Well he's right & you could not be more wrong.
The paranoid attack was not called for.
Mescalito
pfm Member
The hi fi comics have actually contributed a hell of a lot to the decline of the industry.
A newcomer or potential newcomer reading a review of a £500 kettle lead is going to take one look, burst out laughing & walk away shaking his head.
And most of them richly deserve the vitriol & ordure poured upon them. They routinely mislead & lie.
Chris
JohnW
pfm member
I remember during one Penta HiFi show for Pink triangle, Ken had such an outburst at me, we are talking about raving mad - I'd said nothing to trigger him off!!! - ever since then I've just consider him very much a "Pompous Ass".
And I don't care about stating my feelings in public - He'll not be getting any of my designs for review...!
John
JohnW
pfm member
a piece on how to make your SS amp sound more tubelike
Why on earth would I want my nice, linear solid state amplifier to sound more "tube-like"? That's nearly as daft as all those people who think that good digital sounds more "analogue-like"!
JohnW
pfm member
Hey
))) I'm one of those guys who targets my Digital designs to sound more "analogue-like"! 