|
|
 |
 |
[Click To Enlarge]
Email A Friend - Gift Reminder |
Stereophile Magazine
Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping [details]
Availability:
1 to 3 months
Price:
$83.88
$12.97*
|
| Part No: | B00007B1PT |
| Manufacturer: | Source Interlink |
| MFG Part: | |
| Customer Rating: | 3.0 / 5.0 |
|
|
STEREOPHILE is devoted to high-end audio and features equipment reports describing how hi-fi components actually sound, regardless of their specifications. Each issue also includes articles on audio and recorded music, interviews with audio engineers and musicians, news on the developments in sound reproduction, and scholarly and entertaining record reviews. Regular departments cover building a collection of classical recordings, manufacturers commenting on the reviews of their products, and a controversial "Letters to the Editor" column.
| Psuedo Science | 2010-03-31 | 2 / 5 |
| I used to read this regularly, but then there was a review for a very expensive turntable. The reviewer made a recording of a vinyl LP onto a CD and then compared that CD with the comercially released CD. His comments were that the CD he recorded from the record sounded better than the commercially available CD.
Assuming that the record and CD came from the same master, then the only difference the reviewer was hearing was distortion. I could swallow an argument that maybe an LP sounds better than a CD, (I don't really think that, but just for the sake of argument), but then, how could it still sound better than a CD once it's been converted to a CD.
This article caused me to loose all faith in the integrity and logic of this magazine. |
| Niche, but component recommendations are dead on | 2010-03-02 | 4 / 5 |
| I have read Stereophile on and off for the last 15 years, and I have always been happy with their reviews. Of course Stereophile is a very niche magazine, as the title suggests, but they generally review a lot of high-end gear that most people cannot afford. This is obviously a magazine for those who love home audio, and will continue to seek out the ideal reproduction of music within their home. The reviewers are mostly all music purists, so generally nothing is too expensive to achieve the pinnacle of music playback. So be ready for a lot of shop talk geared at audio enthusiasts. Articles are detailed and backed up with data in many cases, but the summary and bottom line are the useful bits for me many times.
That said, I am not one with a disposable income, but I have found a lot of useful recommendations that have ended up as purchases at home that I have been extremely happy with on the cheap. I have bought 3 things over the last decade as a result of Stereophile steering me in the right direction: my Marantz CD player (blew away the more expensive Denon unit at the time), my Rotel turntable, and my Grado headphones. I always recommend listening to every component at the store before buying, but I took Stereophile's word on the headphones and bought those blindly (deafly?) unlike the CD player and turntable. I was blown away at the quality I got for a 70-dollar pair of headphones. Also, I must add that there is something rich and full about a symphony that is recorded on a 180+gram vinyl record versus a CD, and can be really appreciated with the right gear. My Rotel turntable is a low-to-mid end turntable that made me a believer in vinyl 12 years ago.
I recommend Robert Harley's book on high-end audio if you're interested achieving a higher-fidelity sound in your home:
The Complete Guide to High-End Audio
I have appreciated the efforts of Stereophile doing more budget-minded systems in the past, but I still would like to see more, with articles focused on building home systems on a budget. |
| not for me | 2010-01-01 | 2 / 5 |
| | I was an audio production major and I thought this would be a good subscription for my career, but it's really not for that. You have to know some really advanced audio terminology to get anything this magazine offers. It only reviews products that are thousands of dollars. It's for a niche audience. I wouldn't recommend unless your part of that group. |
| Stereophile isn't for you | 2008-09-11 | 2 / 5 |
| There are some big problems with Stereophile that make it worse than useless unless you already know a lot about audio (so that you can separate the useful parts from the stuff they make up):
- There's a lot of misinformation, bias, opinion and pure fantasy mixed in to the articles. Unless you already know quite a bit about audio, it may be hard to separate the useful information from the rubbish.
The writers and the editors are simply not interested in really getting the facts right and testing what they know against reality - that's hard work and it's inconvenient, after all. And facing reality would get in the way of the real reason this magazine is published, which is ....
- Like most magazines, Stereophile is a vehicle for selling advertising. Though they like to believe otherwise, Stereophile is no different from GQ or Maxim or Elle magazines. (That shouldn't surprise you, even though it might.) Stereophile's main purpose is to help sell you more stuff, just like almost every other magazine.
And, like GQ or Elle, encouraging fashion trends is a key part of Stereophile trying to get you to spend more money. That, for example, is why they are so excited about the return of vinyl. It's not because vinyl actually sounds better (!?). It's because after years of stasis, it's a huge opportunity to sell more advertising to try to sell you more stuff. The fact that they moved all the turntables, etc, to the front of their recommended list of equipment helps prove the point. Fashion trends are a magazine's best friend, whether it's GQ or Stereophile.
By the way, I'm not suggesting that the writers are consciously slanting the articles. In a way, it's far more insidious than that: they actually believe what they write. There's an implicit selection process - the only way to get hired to or stay on the staff at Stereophile is to drink the Kool Aid. Over time the primary goal has become making money, so Stereophile has inevitably been shaped into a vehicle for selling advertising.
So keep in mind that Stereophile isn't published for you, it's published for the advertisers and the owners. That might help guide you through the quagmire that is Stereophile magazine. You're simply the "target" demographic. Hold on to your wallet, and decide what to buy with your ears, not your eyes. |
| Stereophile Magazine | 2008-08-28 | 4 / 5 |
| | This is an excellent magazine for product information and education. However, more and more they are letting political agendas creep into their writing which other than that is very well done. If this trend continues, my subscription will expire. There is no place for this in a magazine advertised as a music magazine. |
* Current Price/Avail/Qty displayed on website may be delayed by up to 24 hours. Items added to cart and into the checkout process will reflect current price and status of product. |
|
 |
|
)
