Stereophile subscription
- Thread starter homebrew
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this. The reason this is done is it's easier to make gear sound good by giving it something easy to reproduce. I always try to put on musically complex things when auditioning gear. Also they often use stuff recorded better than most music is to demo gear. I bring a wide variety of stuff including the good stuff and regular stuff to see how it handles each.
@13stoploss , your article on Art Dudley was most excellent, very nice work 
Not much I could add to that, other than a lovely lady to share it all with.
When Stereophile first started in the last century, I subscribed and would eagerly read it when it would arrive by the postman. I could identify with the components, many of which were in my price range. With time, I grew away from it, with other concerns. I lost the relationship with it. As I recall, originally it accepted no advertising. It was easier to trust them then. And with the internet, it has lost its allure for me. I will still look sometimes at reviews when it comes up in a search I do, but my relationship with it is not what it was.
For me, it is alot to unpack.
I was a dedicated reader and fan from the seventies to this past few years, but I drifted off for several reasons.
I used to feel like Stereophile was by hobbyists, for hobbyists, but it drifted to where I felt Stereophile was more of a supporting act for the industry rather than me.
There has been a shift to terminology I abhor: they can take and shove the term "high end." It's an abominable term that is designed to stratify all the people who love Hi Fi and create a FOMO situation. "High End" is self-congratulatory and is more of an economic flex than it being about our great hobby. A pox upon that term.
Stereophile claims to review and endorse affordable gear, but it is always in the context of selling that gear short. "Product X is fine, it commits crimes of omission that can really only be discerned if one listens to my 100,000 dolar plus reference, yadda yadda yadda." It's almost always a case of tacitly endorsing the "high end" while pretending to throw bones to the rabble. Don't just take my word, watch how they parse their words. They are now there to reward 'high end' gear owners by showing that their extra dollars will always buy higher performance gear.
They started using the term "entry level" for 20,000 dollar pieces of gear. More off-putting BS.
This next one is my own idiosyncratic issue, but hitting me with tripe vocabulary like "looms" for wiring seems like another industry derived and driven dose of drivel.
I realize this is a big data market driven direction and they have to maximize eyes and revenue, bt I guess I exist on the part of the spreadsheet they are wiling to sacrifice so Martin Colloms can bloviate about cabling.
Sorry for the diatribe, it was a long slow burn until I finally hit my limit.
I was a dedicated reader and fan from the seventies to this past few years, but I drifted off for several reasons.
I used to feel like Stereophile was by hobbyists, for hobbyists, but it drifted to where I felt Stereophile was more of a supporting act for the industry rather than me.
There has been a shift to terminology I abhor: they can take and shove the term "high end." It's an abominable term that is designed to stratify all the people who love Hi Fi and create a FOMO situation. "High End" is self-congratulatory and is more of an economic flex than it being about our great hobby. A pox upon that term.
Stereophile claims to review and endorse affordable gear, but it is always in the context of selling that gear short. "Product X is fine, it commits crimes of omission that can really only be discerned if one listens to my 100,000 dolar plus reference, yadda yadda yadda." It's almost always a case of tacitly endorsing the "high end" while pretending to throw bones to the rabble. Don't just take my word, watch how they parse their words. They are now there to reward 'high end' gear owners by showing that their extra dollars will always buy higher performance gear.
They started using the term "entry level" for 20,000 dollar pieces of gear. More off-putting BS.
This next one is my own idiosyncratic issue, but hitting me with tripe vocabulary like "looms" for wiring seems like another industry derived and driven dose of drivel.
I realize this is a big data market driven direction and they have to maximize eyes and revenue, bt I guess I exist on the part of the spreadsheet they are wiling to sacrifice so Martin Colloms can bloviate about cabling.
Sorry for the diatribe, it was a long slow burn until I finally hit my limit.
We had one subscription to Stereopile starting in about 1990 and passed it around to a dozen like minded friends.
Bailed around 2012. I was perusing the entire mag in under 40 minutes, Because hardly anything interested me.
Got a gift sub a few years ago then asked my friends if they wanted to read them.
Every single person turned them down... Definitely a sign of the times.
Bailed around 2012. I was perusing the entire mag in under 40 minutes, Because hardly anything interested me.
Got a gift sub a few years ago then asked my friends if they wanted to read them.
Every single person turned them down... Definitely a sign of the times.
jayvis
Addicted Member
I think that magazine reviews of low and mid-level audio components basically ended in the late 1990's when Stereo Review magazine morphed into Sound and Vision. The rise of home theater pretty much muted both consumer and media interest in 2-channel audio at that time. That time period did see increased interest in higher end 2-channel audio. The days of factories churning out high volume low and mid-level components shifted towards lower volume high end components that provided higher profit margins to more manufacturers. Stereophile and most other 2-channel audio publications dove in headfirst by significantly increasing their reviews of the high end. High volume manufacturing shifted to China and other low-cost Asian countries. Media perceived the majority of low and mid-level audio as components being produced by the same contracted factories under different brand names and similar overall quality. People stopped buying audio review magazines because they didn't get excited about reading reviews about the next version of the Pioneer SX650 receiver anymore. So, as the audio industry has evolved, so has Audio media. Over the past few years, I've noticed that Stereophile has changed things up by mixing more reviews of mid-level components with high end and exotic. I think they're doing a decent job of trying to appeal to a wider audience. A wider audience also means that many won't be completely happy.
slovell
Well-Known Member
A wiring loom is a common description in the automotive and aircraft industry so I guess it could also apply for electronics.
I'd love to see the automotive and aircraft journals that publish reviews of the different wire loom brands and how they perform differently.