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Post by hifinutt on Sept 10, 2022 2:15:44 GMT
heard a rumour that hi fi world mag going into administration . if so its rather sad. used to enjoy reading it
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Post by antonio on Sept 10, 2022 4:07:44 GMT
There's the problem Phil, too many people used to read it
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Post by jandl100 on Sept 10, 2022 5:45:02 GMT
Edit: Brain fart mode <on>.... Back in my Hifi mag buying days (long gone now) it was my favourite. The writers were closest to my own tastes and audio perceptions of all the publications, so it was the most relevant for me. They also seemed to review the most relevant gear. And it was nicely presented in top quality paper and great photography. I subscribed from Issue 1 for several years. I had huge pile of the things which I eventually sold off. I sold Issues 1 & 2 separately and got good money for them on ebay!  They got bought out by Absolute Sound didn't they, but that was quite a while after I stopped subscribing. EDIT Oops, I mixed up Hifi World with Hifi Plus.  HFW was always a bit naff - aimed more at DIYers and vinylistas than was relevant for me. |
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Post by macca on Sept 10, 2022 6:30:41 GMT
I have lots of issues of HFW but not the first one, I think my earliest is about sept 1991. When it started it was easily the best mag. Always liked Keywood's speaker reviews, they at least had some basic measurements plus half the mag was not wasted with classical music reviews like with Hi Fi News.
Went a bit rubbish and 'what hi-fi' when Jon Marks took over as editor, and the bloke after him whose name I can't recall. Then had another golden age when Pricey came back as editor.
Was still buying it up to about 2010 but there was far too much space wasted on reviewing foo by that point so I gave it up.
Still have all the copies I bought.
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Post by macca on Sept 10, 2022 6:40:32 GMT
I think the problem all the mags have is that they don't offer anything over what the internet can.
You buy a mag you get one person's opinion on some kit you may not be interested in, wheras on line you can get multiple people's opinions on kit that you are interested in. Given the vast majority of mag reviewers don't actually have any real knowledge and are just giving a totally subjective impression there is no value added over some random punter on line's impressions.
Plus the on-line is free and the mag costs a fiver. No longer a valid business model.
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Post by jandl100 on Sept 10, 2022 7:17:32 GMT
> > Oops, I mixed up Hifi World with Hifi Plus in my previous post. Blame it on old age. HFW was always just a bit naff imo - aimed more at DIYers and vinylistas than was relevant for me. Printed on cheap naff paper. At least in the early days. As you say, they did do some measurements, though, Martin, so you should have been right into them.  |
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Post by macca on Sept 10, 2022 7:31:55 GMT
> > Oops, I mixed up Hifi World with Hifi Plus in my previous post. Blame it on old age. HFW was always just a bit naff imo - aimed more at DIYers and vinylistas than was relevant for me. Printed on cheap naff paper. At least in the early days. As you say, they did do some measurements, though, Martin, so you should have been right into them. Hi Fi Plush - is that still going? I think I have one issue. The only difference to me between that and the other mags (Choice, World, News) was that the waffle went on for more pages. HFW speaker measurements were very simple but they would still show up a stinker so that was useful. Thing about the early days was that it was a good read, you'd get a couple of hours out of it. When it got to the point where I could read everything of interest to me in five minutes I gave it up. I could live with some of their nonsense (valves and vinyl are superior, digital is flawed, we don't publish bad reviews) but when they started reviewing mains cables and magic fuses that was it for me. Not paying good money for that. |
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Post by Pigmy Pony on Sept 10, 2022 8:13:11 GMT
I always used to buy Hifi News at the airport when going on holiday. I'd finished with it before the plane had took off. Haven't done that since before the lockdown.
My next door neighbour (retired hifi shop owner) gives me Hifi Choice and What Hifi each month. Passes them over the garden fence in exchange for my Which? magazine. I think he gets the better deal.
They go in the recycling bin every three or four months when their presence starts to do Mrs. P's head in. The cat loves to sit on them for some reason. Unless it's open on a Russ Andrews advert, when she can't seem to get comfortable.
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Post by misterc on Sept 10, 2022 9:05:01 GMT
I do have some in depth knoweldge of this and have done so for while, ihmo printed media for a subsciption magazine is pretty much dead, only the older generation what the comfort of a pick up style read I undersatnd that. BUT Noel 's readrship consisted mainly of the 65+ year olds holding onto valves/vinyl comfort bastian publication. It's like a small child's comfort blanket.
Their website looks like a 1998 first try, nothing is kept really upto date and KN is about as in touch with todays market as Woolworth's cafe'on a Saturday afternoon during the miners strike as a hipster walking in and asking for a Chi latte after stroking his facial growth with bread balm and consulting his I-phone 47+ that and a bit more to confirm the exact date and hadn't landed in the middle of a causality loop.
Joking aside if NK had actually understood the market and introduced new features, different reviwers etc and not buried his head in the sand then things maybe a little different today.
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Post by jandl100 on Sept 10, 2022 9:17:05 GMT
.... Noel 's readrship consisted mainly of the 65+ year olds holding onto valves/vinyl comfort bastian publication. It's like a small child's comfort blanket. Harsh. But true. |
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Post by macca on Sept 10, 2022 9:41:59 GMT
The DIY supplements were good. Still got some of those somewhere. Got me into designing speakers where I did actually learn some real stuff. Mainly that it's really hard to design good loudspeakers, but also other things like what capacitors, resistors and inductors actually do and what happens when you drop hot solder on the carpet.
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Post by misterc on Sept 10, 2022 9:53:52 GMT
The DIY supplements were good. Still got some of those somewhere. Got me into designing speakers where I did actually learn some real stuff. Mainly that it's really hard to design good loudspeakers, but also other things like what capacitors, resistors and inductors actually do and what happens when you drop hot solder on the carpet. Martin
It's not all bad, but it so dated its needed a total refresh, with interesting articles, features, industry expose's and reviewers who had more experinace with real music and events etc.
Thats all acedemic now, plus NK was very resistant to change lol
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Post by macca on Sept 10, 2022 10:17:28 GMT
The DIY supplements were good. Still got some of those somewhere. Got me into designing speakers where I did actually learn some real stuff. Mainly that it's really hard to design good loudspeakers, but also other things like what capacitors, resistors and inductors actually do and what happens when you drop hot solder on the carpet. Martin
It's not all bad, but it so dated its needed a total refresh, with interesting articles, features, industry expose's and reviewers who had more experinace with real music and events etc.
Thats all acedemic now, plus NK was very resistant to change lol
I think the reason that it was popular back in 1990 when it first started was because it was a throwback to the mags of the 1970s. No-one else was doing that. Like you say though a lot of that readership are pushing up the daisies now we're thirty years on. People like features and so forth but I did read somewhere that advertisers are not keen on them since they don't sell product like reviews do. And if you can't get advertising revenue you go broke. |
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Post by robbiegong on Sept 10, 2022 11:02:51 GMT
It's a shame, as always great to have choices and options.
I used to always buy the 4 or 5 Hifi mag releases, from airport WHS, as a treat to myself when flying out on summer hols with the Mrs and the girls. It was that indulgent part of my holiday experience, reading them on the flight and when chilling on a recliner by the beach.
I still have the March 2011 edition, which did a five cart group test, which included the 2M Black. It was so spot on, and exactly as to my own experiences of it, that I was amazed, It was like it was written from out of my head. The reviewer had described it bang on, to a T, I was very impressed and always remembered that.
* Silly me, thought this read Hifi News mag. Either way, I like Hifi World, so still a shame if Hifi World does go.
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Post by misterc on Sept 10, 2022 12:40:17 GMT
Martin
It's not all bad, but it so dated its needed a total refresh, with interesting articles, features, industry expose's and reviewers who had more experinace with real music and events etc.
Thats all acedemic now, plus NK was very resistant to change lol
I think the reason that it was popular back in 1990 when it first started was because it was a throwback to the mags of the 1970s. No-one else was doing that. Like you say though a lot of that readership are pushing up the daisies now we're thirty years on. People like features and so forth but I did read somewhere that advertisers are not keen on them since they don't sell product like reviews do. And if you can't get advertising revenue you go broke. There is a big over riding issue with a lot of companies not wishing to advertise in that magazine due to NK attitude, where as Paul 'I am hifi in the UK' Miller bless him; apart from being Ricardo's number one bitch ( or is that the other way round?  ) has a very business like menatlity to advertising' You have 'x' number of pages that gets you 'x' number of HFN badges, or if it's a Yank product KK will give editors choice or outstanding award badge) though you would need to be looking @ 2 pages a month for that level of 'reward'
Noel's done the line thinking did alienate a lot of manufacturers, but thats just a personality thing.
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Post by Pigmy Pony on Sept 11, 2022 6:29:32 GMT
Home and on-the-move entertainment has become so wide-ranging (streaming TV, computer games, social media) that a relatively niche interest like hifi has seen its devotees dwindle to the point where they are no longer viable as a business.
WHF Sound and Vision will probably hang on in there because of the range of products it covers. Shame that it's a bit cack.
But if I was considering buying something audio-related I'm not likely to be swayed by an article in a hifi publication. I would just speak to you guys about it. So much of it is your fault!
The future probably belongs to tech magazines like T3, which cover more of the hip products like smartphones, mountain bikes, even barbeques, gym equipment and remote controlled toys. And they probably look cooler on your coffee table for visitors.
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Post by Pigmy Pony on Sept 11, 2022 6:31:11 GMT
Home and on-the-move entertainment has become so wide-ranging (streaming TV, computer games, social media) that a relatively niche interest like hifi has seen its devotees dwindle to the point where they are no longer viable as a business. WHF Sound and Vision will probably hang on in there because of the range of products it covers. Shame that it's a bit cack. But if I was considering buying something audio-related I'm not likely to be swayed by an article in a hifi publication. I would just speak to you guys about it. So much of it is your fault! The future probably belongs to tech magazines like T3, which cover more of the hip products like the latest smartphones, mountain bikes, even barbeques, gym equipment and remote controlled toys. And they probably look cooler on your coffee table for visitors. |
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Post by Pigmy Pony on Sept 11, 2022 6:32:15 GMT
Home and on-the-move entertainment has become so wide-ranging (streaming TV, computer games, social media) that a relatively niche interest like hifi has seen its devotees dwindle to the point where the publications are no longer viable as a business. WHF Sound and Vision will probably hang on in there because of the range of products it covers. Shame that it's a bit cack. But if I was considering buying something audio-related I'm not likely to be swayed by an article in a hifi publication. I would just speak to you guys about it. So much of it is your fault! The future probably belongs to tech magazines like T3, which cover more of the hip products like the latest smartphones, mountain bikes, even barbeques, gym equipment and remote controlled toys. And they probably look cooler on your coffee table for visitors. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2022 8:20:36 GMT
Were you on the sauce last night?
Your fingers seem a little fatter than usual this morning.
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Post by Pigmy Pony on Sept 11, 2022 9:04:04 GMT
Were you on the sauce last night? Your fingers seem a little fatter than usual this morning. Don't know what happened there. I had a beer-free evening, maybe that's the problem. |
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Post by macca on Sept 11, 2022 9:41:42 GMT
Steve no function beer well without.
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Post by rexton on Sept 11, 2022 19:25:40 GMT
Shame HiFi World may be on it's way out. I occasionally buy it. I kinda like it's style, but all things must end I suppose.
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Post by misterc on Sept 12, 2022 8:07:12 GMT
Shame HiFi World may be on it's way out. I occasionally buy it. I kinda like it's style, but all things must end I suppose. Watch this space |
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Post by rexton on Sept 12, 2022 11:15:18 GMT
Shame HiFi World may be on it's way out. I occasionally buy it. I kinda like it's style, but all things must end I suppose. Watch this space Tease…. |
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Post by hifinutt on Sept 13, 2022 9:39:21 GMT
theaudiophileman.com/hifi-world-magazine-closes/The release says… “Published since 1991, I regret to tell you that after 32 years Hi-Fi World magazine must now cease publication, since the company producing it – Audio Web Publishing Ltd – has became financially unviable due to loss of bookstand sales in the High Street, at railway stations and airports around the world during the Covid Pandemic. Until 2019 Audio Web Publishing Ltd was trading profitably, but has currently ceased to do so. “As director I am obliged to liquidate the company and have appointed KSA Group Ltd (licensed insolvency practitioners) to assist and place the company into a creditors voluntary liquidation in order to protect creditors interests. “All creditors of the company will receive, by post, from KSA Group Ltd, details of a forthcoming creditors meeting and how to make a claim in the liquidation for any financial loss you may have, or are likely to incur. “I offer heartfelt thanks to all the readers who have supported us for so long. It was the work of my lifetime and very enjoyable too. Thank you all so much. Noel Keywood, publisher.”
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Post by robbiegong on Sept 13, 2022 10:45:03 GMT
theaudiophileman.com/hifi-world-magazine-closes/The release says… “Published since 1991, I regret to tell you that after 32 years Hi-Fi World magazine must now cease publication, since the company producing it – Audio Web Publishing Ltd – has became financially unviable due to loss of bookstand sales in the High Street, at railway stations and airports around the world during the Covid Pandemic. Until 2019 Audio Web Publishing Ltd was trading profitably, but has currently ceased to do so. “As director I am obliged to liquidate the company and have appointed KSA Group Ltd (licensed insolvency practitioners) to assist and place the company into a creditors voluntary liquidation in order to protect creditors interests. “All creditors of the company will receive, by post, from KSA Group Ltd, details of a forthcoming creditors meeting and how to make a claim in the liquidation for any financial loss you may have, or are likely to incur. “I offer heartfelt thanks to all the readers who have supported us for so long. It was the work of my lifetime and very enjoyable too. Thank you all so much. Noel Keywood, publisher.” Tis a shame |
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Post by misterc on Sept 13, 2022 14:23:43 GMT
All I am going to say here is it could have been saved months ago if NK hadn't buried his head in the sand.
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edward
Regular
Still prospecting?
Posts: 194
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Post by edward on Sept 13, 2022 15:16:35 GMT
What a shame to see another one bite the dust. If only NK had moved to actually do what his company name implied - Audio Web Publishing - that is encompass modern techniques of publishing high quality audio articles on the web with the real possibilities of online ad revenue and perhaps a subscription tier.
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Post by misterc on Sept 13, 2022 16:17:14 GMT
What a shame to see another one bite the dust. If only NK had moved to actually do what his company name implied - Audio Web Publishing - that is encompass modern techniques of publishing high quality audio articles on the web with the real possibilities of online ad revenue and perhaps a subscription tier. I'm afraid Edward he is to set in his ways and still believes that 25 years old are obsessed with valves and vinyl while only wishing to read printed media.
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Post by rexton on Sept 13, 2022 18:11:09 GMT
Well that confirms that then. Shame. Now, upwards and onwards....
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) has a very business like menatlity to advertising' You have 'x' number of pages that gets you 'x' number of HFN badges, or if it's a Yank product KK will give editors choice or outstanding award badge) though you would need to be looking @ 2 pages a month for that level of 'reward'
