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Critic's Corner Discuss a review. Provide constructive feedback. Talk to the industry. |
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Critic's Corner Discuss a review. Provide constructive feedback. Talk to the industry. |
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In Reply to: Re: Measurements are objective -------- Reviews are just industry cheerleading (Cheerleaders are not Critics) posted by Jim Austin on May 12, 2006 at 04:32:09:
Julian Hirsch would be proud -- he was so often criticized for writing "Happy Face" reviews in past decades ... and today Stereophile readers adore similar "Happy Face" reviews!Stereophile usually dismisses their own measurements by saying they do not correlate with what a reviewer hears, implying the reviewer is always right, even when he and the measurements seem to contradict each other.
Reminds me of a typical JA post in response to one of mine!
If he answers my questions, I can never pin him down on what he really means. I try to summarize what he's implied in his post and then he writes back to claim I'm putting words in his mouth! I've never seen anyone 'backpedal' so fast (except politicians) from what he implies with his own words!Stereophile measurements are treated in a similar way, which is not surprising considering JA's influence: Stereophile prints measurements for the more objective readers, as if they have value, but implies to the other readers the measurements really don't have much value. This is a classic example of 'speaking out of both sides of one's mouth'!
I had previously written that Stereophile measurements were one of my three favorite sections of the magazine ... plus the letters (for humor) and any music reviews, especially the Records 2 Die 4, because I'm far more interested in music than in which audio components any reviewer got all excited about in any month.My subscription ended in 2004 but I still glance at Stereophile in my local library and currently rate it as "fair".
It could be a good magazine if it actually helped readers narrow down the huge number of components available ... to those few that should be on the 'short list' for reader auditions.
That means 500 Recommended Components ... is about 450 too many.
Stereophile and Absolute Sound writers are far closer to audio industry cheerleaders ... than to real audio hardware critics.That was not true when JGH published a no-advertising Stereophile magazine in prior decades, and is not true of many British audio magazines currently sold at bookstores here in Michigan. All were, or are, expensive magazines (measured in 2006 Dollars) but perhaps you get what you pay for?
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Follow Ups
- Stereophile publishes measurements and then tells readers they don't mean much -- the Happy Face reviews live on! - Richard BassNut Greene 05/12/0608:49:14 05/12/06 (5)
- Stereophile History - John Atkinson 14:07:14 05/16/06 (1)
- Facts can be true and misleading at the same time . Nevertheless, EVERY audiophile should subscribe to STEROPHILE - Richard BassNut Greene 11:07:41 05/18/06 (0)
- Worth pointing out... - Jim Austin 08:58:28 05/12/06 (0)
- There's a wide range of opinion out there... - Jim Austin 08:54:49 05/12/06 (1)
- All audiophiles are subjective -- I'm the most subjective audiophile of all - Richard BassNut Greene 09:47:19 05/12/06 (0)
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