Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,400
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Post by Bigman80 on Aug 17, 2019 20:41:48 GMT
I thought this was a fun idea for a thread. Only two mags I ever rated: Hifi Answers/Audiophile and Hifi Review. The rest sucked to varying degrees, what about you? More than one vote is allowed (up to 3). Feel free to chip in with some comments/memories.
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Post by dsjr on Aug 17, 2019 21:13:27 GMT
Hi Fi Sound from fifty years ago was an excellent mag I thought. Not as po faced as HFN became and fully technical in articles and reviews. Speakers had great balance of measurements and listening with no puff in the subjective assessments. I had most from 1967 to mid 70's when it merged with 'Answers' I think. They were in the loft and when my Dad moved, their condition wasn't so good and they were chucked out  Yep, I was a 'disciple' back in the 80's and bought 'The Flat Response' (Naim sponsored I gather) and HiFi review early on. I still have a handful of these and I have to say reading them today makes me feel sick! Just a phase I was going through, but so glad I'm out the other end... HiFi World can be interesting, but for me, only the measurements are of interest and I usually ignore the subjective stuff as I think it's meaningless outside of the reviewer and his/her room and personal vibe when typing the review. Mr Keyward does have his favourites though...
I have most of the original 'Choice review books and these have been invaluable when talking about the now ancient stuff many forum people talk about as if they're brand new  To see the gradual deterioration of the LS3/5a and Kan for example (KEF's fault and they claimed unavoidable) from early to mid 80's is a case in point. Martin Colloms had his consultancy fingers in a lot of pies though, so could hardly be called impartial. There's a reason I'm told, why he never reviewed Levinson gear, but he did of course, wax lyrical internationally about Krell, ARC and much of the Ab Sounds portfolio and the rest is history. The rest is all ego-massaging (with occasional back-handers?) to me and rather meaningless now. HFN has been a joke in recent times. |
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Post by nonuffin on Aug 17, 2019 23:13:44 GMT
The one thing I think is missing from every hifi magazine is entertainment.
I would have sold my soul to read any of the mags that could entertain me, very much in the vein as top gear does for the car industry.
It was my secret ambition to mimic CLARKSON's style of writing when I wrote for Hifi Pig magazine and I did manage to pen a couple of gems in the early years, until I felt the unbridled wrath of some manufacturers who took exception to having their products treated with less than total brevity, even though they richly deserved it.
To be honest I have become less than enamoured by the people in the industry who by and large I don't much care for these days.
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Post by macca on Aug 18, 2019 6:28:08 GMT
Some of those mags are before my time, like Hi Fi Sound and Popular hi-fi. I got some old Hi-Fi Reviews still from the late 1980s - they are a good read. I've got loads of hifi Worlds, probably every issue from 1992 to about 2002. That was also a good read for the first couple of years, especially as they were not initially scared of calling a piece of tat a piece of tat.
If the mag is not entertaining then I don't see the point. That's where HFW fell down, they stopped doing warts n all reviews and got in a load of boring reviewers and started reviewing cables and computer stuff so you'd only end up reading about a third of the thing as the rest was either dull or utter bollocks. And their measurements were so crude as to be pretty much useless.
I like the idea of doing Clarkson 'Top Gear' style reviews telling it like it is. The problem then is that manufacturers won't supply you the gear to review.
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Post by dsjr on Aug 18, 2019 7:42:16 GMT
Clarkson's an egotistical twat imo, but I again seem alone in this view... You lot may be too young to remember Top Gear when it started, but maybe you'd feel a good story with antics is more fun than actually talking about the cars impartially and comparing them without the ego in the way. Anyone remember LJK Setright? Another personality who wrote paragraphs where a sentence would do - In my youth I was an avid reader of 'Car' magazine, with it's 'Good, bad and Ugly' section at the back. Lord I'm dull I've just had enough of people selling themselves rather than the gear they're reviewing.
I also feel the mags are playing to their specific niche audiences and circulations were dropping for years I remember. Don't know how it lies now, but niche is definitely the word.
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Post by macca on Aug 18, 2019 7:59:35 GMT
Clarkson's entertaining and that's the whole point of the exercise isn't it? Plus they're supposed to be reviewing the gear, not selling it. Too many hi-fi reviews now are just advertorials.
I well remember Top Gear in the 1980s. Exceedingly dull consumer advise programme. No-one cared that the Allegro had a slightly bigger boot than the Metro - or whatever. Back then there was only 4 channels to choose from, if you put that crap on now no-one would watch it.
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Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,400
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Post by Bigman80 on Aug 18, 2019 8:02:48 GMT
Clarkson's an egotistical twat imo, but I again seem alone in this view... You lot may be too young to remember Top Gear when it started, but maybe you'd feel a good story with antics is more fun than actually talking about the cars impartially and comparing them without the ego in the way. Anyone remember LJK Setright? Another personality who wrote paragraphs where a sentence would do - In my youth I was an avid reader of 'Car' magazine, with it's 'Good, bad and Ugly' section at the back. Lord I'm dull I've just had enough of people selling themselves rather than the gear they're reviewing. I also feel the mags are playing to their specific niche audiences and circulations were dropping for years I remember. Don't know how it lies now, but niche is definitely the word.
You’re not alone. Clarkson irritates me too, as for Setright, he was the single most boring contributor to hifi mags. Even his picture was irritating, |
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Post by dsjr on Aug 18, 2019 8:05:13 GMT
They wouldn't, but stick Clarkson and his two chums on various jollies around the world wrecking old cars and everyone's glued... I reckon consumers actually need more advice than ever, but all we seem to get is patronising presenters talking as if to young children. Come on macca, reviewing IS selling of sorts, same with playing music on the radio. Sure it's entertaining, but how many records did you buy after first hearing on the radio? To me now, it is selling of a sort, albeit a very soft version...
Setright was a lawyer by training, but took a keen interest in mechanical engineering and wrote many books I've just discovered. His audio writings were 'intelligent Chris Frankland' so very much of their time I believe and very much Linn-Naim centred.
I read yesterday somewhere that Chris(t) Frankland is now an AN lover - talk about about turns... A motor-bike loving pal thought the short lived 'Motor Cycle Review' CF did was actually quite good.
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Post by nonuffin on Aug 18, 2019 8:21:24 GMT
Clarkson's an egotistical twat, but I again seem alone in this view... You lot may be too young to remember Top Gear when it started, but maybe you'd feel a good story with antics is more fun than actually talking about the cars impartially and comparing them without the ego in the way. Lord I'm dull I've just had enough of people selling themselves rather than the gear they're reviewing. The man we see these days is a world away from what he was in the early days of Top Gear, when he actually called a spade a spade. Despite the show turning into a comedy fest the manufacturers still were begging for them to "review" their products.
I could never understand why they concentrated on playing with supercars upwards of £100k when the audience could never afford nor even aspire to purchasing cars at that price, so the concept of meaningful "reviewing" had long since vanished, therefore in my view became pointless and three blokes horsing around doing dumb stunts became the primary spine of the show.
There is very much a similarly stupid kind of mentality in hifi mags whereby they seem to revere the very high end expensive kit so expend reams of niceties about it and pretty much ignore or overly lambast the budget kt. It is also the limitations of the language that I find tiresome these days and the words reviewers can use are coralled into a very small space by the manufacturers who only want to see the nice things being said about their products. I have been frustrated by those limitations so the only options left open are either being "nice" or not publishing a review at all, which I think doesn't serve the readership well.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2019 8:43:13 GMT
Clarkson's an egotistical twat imo, but I again seem alone in this view... You lot may be too young to remember Top Gear when it started, but maybe you'd feel a good story with antics is more fun than actually talking about the cars impartially and comparing them without the ego in the way. Anyone remember LJK Setright? Another personality who wrote paragraphs where a sentence would do - In my youth I was an avid reader of 'Car' magazine, with it's 'Good, bad and Ugly' section at the back. Lord I'm dull I've just had enough of people selling themselves rather than the gear they're reviewing. I also feel the mags are playing to their specific niche audiences and circulations were dropping for years I remember. Don't know how it lies now, but niche is definitely the word.
You’re not alone. Clarkson irritates me too, as for Setright, he was the single most boring contributor to hifi mags. Even his picture was irritating, LJK was one of those self made 'eccentrics' like John McCririck, who thought it was cool to look like an idiot! (I hate affectations) Personally, I though he was a waffling pain in the arse, I never did figure out why he went on about his ugly old Bristol car either. |
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Post by macca on Aug 18, 2019 10:10:27 GMT
Come on macca, reviewing IS selling of sorts, same with playing music on the radio. Sure it's entertaining, but how many records did you buy after first hearing on the radio? To me now, it is selling of a sort, albeit a very soft version...
Reviewing should not be selling. A reviewer should always be looking for reasons why the product is NOT a good buy, whether it is poor performance, high price, poor build quality. If I'm reviewing something I always look for the foibles, the things it does I don't like. Not talking up the good points and glossing over the bad. I think then that it is at least of some use beyond entertainment value. The problem for the pro reviewers is that they are too close to the action. If they write a bad review they might well run into the designer or company owner at the next shindig, or they might be mates with him. That's always going to hold someone back from saying what they really think. And too many of the amateur reviewers get caught up in the whole pointless flowery prose thing or are biased because they bought it with their own money and so really want it to be good and are blinded to its faults. So their independence is nullified. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2019 12:14:55 GMT
Hi-Fi Answers/The Audiophile I used to buy religiously. On odd occasions Hi-Fi Sound, HFN&RR, and What Hi-Fi.
The point sadly came though when there was nothing in The Audiophile for me other than JMH's KH's columns and the readers' letters. A couple of years before it folded I stopped buying it. Before then, Hi-Fi World had started up an I started buying that, having missed the first issue. Same thing happened with that and I stopped buying it about - not really sure. Might have been about 2012.
If I had a scanner I'd do a "Jimmy Sez" blog and reproduce some of his topics. Product reviews as well.
Top Gear. Never been much of an enthusiast for cars. Old school I liked William Woollard. You could trust Woolly. Favourite though was Quentin Wilson. Just loved his delivery. Couldn't stand Tiff Needell. Just used to get on my wick.
JC is what he is - entertaining - which is why people watch him. Which is why the viewing figures plummeted when they left the show. Antiques Roadshow had higher viewing figures - and that was without Arthur Negus. I was one that stopped watching it. Went the whole hog and stopped watching all TV about 3 years ago.
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Post by sq225917 on Aug 18, 2019 17:03:14 GMT
Hifi plush for me, I rate Gregory as the best writer in audio. But also a two faced, duplicitous POS.
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Post by antonio on Aug 18, 2019 17:27:16 GMT
I've spoken to him a few times, but going back more than 12 yrs ago. On one occasion his wife was there, she said don't worry about me, I know he loves his hifi.  I know he's gone over the top, especially Nordost even before he worked for them, but I believe he does love his hifi. |
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Post by alit on Aug 19, 2019 8:49:12 GMT
Hi Fi World for me, mainly because of the DIY supplements, used to look forward to those back in the day. WAD as it was came out with some great kits. Made a load of cash from scrap on a job, discovered I wasn’t a million miles away from them so drove down and paid cash for a pair of 300b PSE monoblocks, their top kit at the time. The first valve amp I ever put together, got it almost done but had to get some assistance from John Caswell to finish it off. The original WAD forum is where all the regulars on AT met, and all migrated to Nick’s forum when he set it up. It’s great having so much knowledge and expertise in one place.
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Post by macca on Aug 19, 2019 11:38:53 GMT
I've still got all the DIY supplements although most of the amplifier stuff is double-dutch to me - some interesting speaker projects though.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2019 21:50:38 GMT
Original 1960's/70's Hi-Fi sound.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2019 19:08:18 GMT
Plush for me. I tried to read Hifi World once, but kept falling asleep.
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Post by macca on Sept 1, 2019 21:23:27 GMT
I've got one issue of Plush. The whole tone of it is a bit too 'wealthy professional' for me. World was much more of an enthusiast's mag in the early years at least. And maybe again for a while when David Price took over.
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To see the gradual deterioration of the LS3/5a and Kan for example (KEF's fault and they claimed unavoidable) from early to mid 80's is a case in point. Martin Colloms had his consultancy fingers in a lot of pies though, so could hardly be called impartial. There's a reason I'm told, why he never reviewed Levinson gear, but he did of course, wax lyrical internationally about Krell, ARC and much of the Ab Sounds portfolio and the rest is history.
I know he's gone over the top, especially Nordost even before he worked for them, but I believe he does love his hifi.