• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

Stereo Review ....... I miss you

Z

zebra03

All Audio - NO BS
I miss my old Stereo Review magazine. I subscribed to Stereo Review , High Fidelity and Audio all at the same time. First HF went and that wasn't too bad. Then Audio went away and what I missed most was the once a year Equipment guide. But when SR turned into Sound & Vision , it was just too much. I stayed with S&V because I had nothing else to read but I grew to hate it.

Is there any magazine out there that is close to what Stereo Review was ? No nonsense concise reviews of equipment , CD reviews and a spirited letter to the editor section?

I am still rereading my old SR issues. :tears:
 
Register to hide this ad
I feel your pain. :sigh:
I used to subscribe to HF & Stereo Review too.
And those ads for Marantz, Pioneer, AR, Sansui, etc. yes - how I used to drool over them issue after issue. :drool:

Now I lived long enough to be able to afford at least some of them.. :thmbsp:
 
I miss em too, all of them.I get Home Theater now cause I like to keep up with whats current.But as far as just stereo,I guess Stereophile,only they're all high end.I wish they had a mag that had a vintage section and compared gear head to head,you know like Pioneer sx1980 vs Marantz 2600 vs Sansui g33000 that would be really cool.
 
I use to read that, Julian Hirsch had some great reviews on just about everything available at that time, I remember in the 1960's having to go to the store to pick up a copy, that's if I did get a ride into town, not that it was always there, but it was sure worth while reading.
 
Me too, miss all that cool stuff from yesteryear, got to bring it back!!

I too used to love reading Stereo Review, and every once in a while, I run into a few old issues and grab them up.

They're too expensive on the Bay.

If we keep up the passion, as we do here on this site, maybe we can generate enough passion with people out there that would someday come to appreciate good sound, like we all used to.

Mediocrity has taken over the world, or so it seems, and to avoid mediocrity, you have to spend quite a bit.

Cheers
 
I forget the name of the writer in the 70's that had the last page (Seinfel) ; I loved his point of view and musings : he was the one that proclaimed Tonio K's 'Life in the foodchain" as the "greatest rock and roll album of all time" (and got me hooked on Tonio K) .....he had a point
 
Yeah, I miss 'em too. I had a subscription for years back in the day, and I really preferred SR to The Absolute Sound and all of those high end mags. I liked everything about SR - the equipment reviews, the foaming at the mouth editorials, even the snake oil remedy ads. It was a very down to earth (for the most part) publication about things that really mattered to me. I couldn't care less about home theater and I hardly even watch TV anymore. I sure don't want to be surrounded by it!
 
barkerd said:
I forget the name of the writer in the 70's that had the last page (Seinfel) ; I loved his point of view and musings : he was the one that proclaimed Tonio K's 'Life in the foodchain" as the "greatest rock and roll album of all time" (and got me hooked on Tonio K) .....he had a point
Click to expand...

Steve Simels. He got me interested in Tonio K and The Pretenders too!
 
RIP Stereo Review and Julian Hirsch

Yeah-I miss em too. Tried Stereophile and S&V-both useless for different reasons.
Really miss the music reviews which were trustworthy and turned me on to some great art-The McGarrigle Sisters for example.
Stereophile lists "recordings to die for" and I get many of them-how do you spell mistake?
AV and eletist high end snake oil makes me ill!
Thanks to you for AK; I can live here.
 
is it me or did those in the "know" back then readily identify the snake oil and shun it ? it was like earning your chops : whereas today it seems the exact opposite : those in the "know" (or those that would have fit our 'back in the day" profile today ) seem to be attracted to the snake oil? ....ironic
 
zebra03 said:
I miss my old Stereo Review magazine. I subscribed to Stereo Review , High Fidelity and Audio all at the same time. First HF went and that wasn't too bad. Then Audio went away and what I missed most was the once a year Equipment guide. But when SR turned into Sound & Vision , it was just too much. I stayed with S&V because I had nothing else to read but I grew to hate it.

Is there any magazine out there that is close to what Stereo Review was ? No nonsense concise reviews of equipment , CD reviews and a spirited letter to the editor section?

I am still rereading my old SR issues. :tears:
Click to expand...

You would not be the only one bro.

I have all the issues from 93 to 97/98, I consider my formitive years, and reread them regularily. Now, I am not the biggest fan of Pohlmann, but it is funny to read how the "high res future" will unfold only to of seen it collapse. I MISS Julian Hirsch, but find his "all amps are the same, all CDP's are the same" a bit of a bunk. I can personally prove in my own system with 3 different amps he was wrong. But I suppose after listening and measuring for so long perhaps he needed a breath of fresh air. I applaud him for pointing out how bad the tuner sections of most A/V receivers have become, from someone with a tuner that provides SUPERB sound. I understand his lament.

In fact, the Stereo Review I knew, which morphed into Sound and Vision today is a complete joke, and something I cannot read or take seriously, despite some great writers in it. Like I give a S**T about video games, any electronic not audio related, or movies (I am strictly a music guy and don't get me wrong, I had a killer H/T when most did not know what it was). I could care less about my video room emulating a theatre of old with or without the popcorn. But the sad fact is: without readers mags die. Period. And the high add revenue does not come without high readership.

I personally read The Absolute Sound and Stereophile, each for its own reasons, and it is sadly all that is really out there.

When Julian Hirsch died, I think a big part of audio (NOT H/T) died with him. I hope I am wrong, but I don't think so.
 
barkerd said:
is it me or did those in the "know" back then readily identify the snake oil and shun it ? it was like earning your chops : whereas today it seems the exact opposite : those in the "know" (or those that would have fit our 'back in the day" profile today ) seem to be attracted to the snake oil? ....ironic
Click to expand...

Take a good look who pays their bills though. It might not be by choice. Funny the companies that the mags tell us have "awesome gear" that actually is cable at $10K, or speakers at $100K then show prominently the ads from the very same companies. Coincidence? And then the reviewers have the very gear, of the very high end cost, too. Collusion, anyone?
 
Stereo Review was interesting and had some really great articles. I saved one called "The Romance of the Record" that ventured to posit some reasons (along with some tests the author had done) that Vinyl sounded different than CD or tape.
Audio was my favorite, especially in the last decade of its publication. I still have the last issue in my collection of audio writing. FWIW, I have the last issue of Listener too. Makes me feel like an old fart.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom