Native_bon
Well-known member
- Nov 26, 2008
- 182
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Some high horses being mounted in response to a mild comment. Kinda agree that reviews of super high end kit desrves only an odd page occasionally. I preferred the (cant remember the name) 'a small group of non experts comparing different banana plugs' articles. Real people listening to things most of us may wish to use. I remember equipment stands and digital music formats being tested. Why not (dare I say it) cables, BD players, surround processors etc? Did WHF not ask for opinions/suggestions a while back? I have subscribed for years but I find less to read now of interest. Maybe its time to seek opinions again WHF?
professorhat
Well-known member
- Dec 28, 2007
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Defend TopGear? Never (I drive a Vauxhall) but at least there is a little entertainment in seeing a supercar driven and reviewed in a light hearted commentry. £35000 CD player? 3pages to say it sounds good but is expensive. Need I say more?
RobinKidderminster said:
No, quite the opposite in fact.
I enjoyed it, as I enjoy the Temptations section in every issue of the magazine. It's INTERESTING to see the sort of gear that most of us could never afford. Unlike some, I can accept that fact and not get jealous of the idea that some people can pay more for a CD player than I can, which is really the crux of these complaints.
- May 31, 2007
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U seem grumpy LHC? 3 pages on this CD player and several others on other high end kit. However, you seem to miss my point. You and others seem to like this part of the mag whilst others find it pointless. Better to share our opinions but hardly an opportunity to object to others.
I really dont see that jealousy (lhc) 'is the crux of the matter'. I dont feel jealous. I simply find little interest in seeing photos of exotic kit and being told it sounds good. Ofcourse it does! Tell me a Ferrari is fast and I am equally unsurprised. At least I can 'experience' a car on TV but I cant experience sound in text.
Cheers
I really dont see that jealousy (lhc) 'is the crux of the matter'. I dont feel jealous. I simply find little interest in seeing photos of exotic kit and being told it sounds good. Ofcourse it does! Tell me a Ferrari is fast and I am equally unsurprised. At least I can 'experience' a car on TV but I cant experience sound in text.
Cheers
RobinKidderminster said:
You're using it as such, you and others are actively asking the magazine to remove this feature, if you don't like it, don't read it, why should you get a say on whether the rest of us should be able to read it?
But you don't object to being told that kit you CAN afford sounds good (or not)? Presumably not otherwise you would read the magazine or any reviews on the website. So what's the difference between those items and this one? There is only one difference, you can afford the other things, you can't afford this, so you don't want to see it and you don't want anyone else to see it either, regardless of whether they can afford it. That sounds like jealousy to me. I don't see any other reason why someone who claims to be interested in hi-fi wouldn't want to see the best kit available, regardless of whether they can afford it.
I mean, if you went to a hi-fi show, would you only go in the rooms with kit you could afford? How boring would that be?
I wonder what interests you in exotic kit reviews beyond 'it sounds great'? If I were able to hear it, maybe at a dealers or a show then thats a different matter. Many years ago I heard wardrobe sized (panasonic I think) speakers and it was a great experience. I have driven a supercar and enjoyed the experience. The written word gives me far less enjoyment. I am jealous of neither and feel uncomfortable at the suggestion - I remain happy with my AV and my car.
BUT, the main point of this post & thread is to find peoples opinions on their interest in a particular article. We both have different but equally valid opinions without the need for 'accusations' of jealousy or moaning that I dont want others to have their opinions. Shame we cant share our opinions unchallenged.
I think the reviews too long (tho not pointless neccessarily). You enjoy them. Thats fine with me. Enjoy
BUT, the main point of this post & thread is to find peoples opinions on their interest in a particular article. We both have different but equally valid opinions without the need for 'accusations' of jealousy or moaning that I dont want others to have their opinions. Shame we cant share our opinions unchallenged.
I think the reviews too long (tho not pointless neccessarily). You enjoy them. Thats fine with me. Enjoy
Big Aura said:
Ditto.
It was a close run thing, but in the end I thought I'd just dig out my old CD72 from the loft.
Seriously though, I enjoy reading about stuff I have no chance in hell of ever owning. If the magazine was cover-to-cover high end, then yes, I'd have a whinge, but a few pages here and there? Not a problem.
RobinKidderminster said:
If you can't, then the review has failed. Just to know it 'sounds good' isn't enough: you really should be able to get a mental picture of the way the product affects certain pieces of music when partnered with given components, with tight referencing so you can go away and listen to that piece on your own system and think 'Ah right, so that's how it sounds here; now I get what they were saying about the way it was presented by the review product'.
Yes, it's like 'dancing about architecture' (as whoever it actually was put it), but the skill of the good reviewer, just as that of the good novellist or historian, is to conjure up vivid impressions in the mind of the reader, and all by the use of nothing more than those rows of squiggles on page or screen.
Some of the best journalism about cars was done without the aid of supporting video, which video tends to render the writer/presenter all but superfluous: I'm thinking of some of the classic pieces from the heyday of Car magazine, available on the magazine's website (albeit with rather too many typos) as part of its 50th anniversary celebrations, or the American magazines Car & Driver or Road & Track when they're on form.
Yes, these magazines have pictures (and increasingly video content, too, in their tablet editions), but what does all the heavy lifting, and delights the reader, is the quality of the words.
Big Aura
Well-known member
- Oct 13, 2008
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Big Chris said:
That said, I once visited a house where the chap had 3 record players in his music room. 2 of which were more expensive than the Burmester, so there's a customer for everything.
I recall WHF once did an "Ultimate Guides - high end" and it was the most thumbed-through magazine I owned (exluding ones found in some woods when I was a lad). They did another high-end guide as a free add-on mag to the main magazine, but sadly it was the same guide as before, with the content slimmed down.
The euromillions is £80m this Friday, we can all dream of a Burmester, and maybe one of you will be in a position to order one for your shed on Saturday morning.
RobinKidderminster said:
Everything, not least the simple fact that it exists at all, something that I wouldn't know about if it weren't for that section of the magazine. Beyond that I like to read about what goes into these things, what the manufacturer does to attempt to justify the cost, the construction techniques etc etc. These pieces are about far more than just what the item sounds like.
Whilst (Spiney) I cant agree totally, I understand your sentiments. I think it easier to describe some things in words but describing sound in words in this context will never give ME a 'picture' of how it sounds. In some ways I agree that this would imply that reviews of ALL kit, not just high end, would have litle value tho a review is not just about sound. MY opin8on remains that I would prefer to read reviews of less exotic kit by less experienced reviewers than reviews by experts (which I am not one) of equipment which I will never (wish) to hear. If loads of people enjoy these reviews then mag sales figures will reflect this interest.
I repeat (again) that I dont object to these pages and I do read them but I also think that (for ME) there should be no more than (say) 2 pages in this area.
If anyone would like more pages devoted to really high end systems then let them say so. Thats fine too with me.
I repeat (again) that I dont object to these pages and I do read them but I also think that (for ME) there should be no more than (say) 2 pages in this area.
If anyone would like more pages devoted to really high end systems then let them say so. Thats fine too with me.
RobinKidderminster said:
Isn't that the whole point of this sort of magazine though? Missing the point that The Big Question was NOT a review feature again incidentally.
Why are you here again? If you disagree with the fundamental raison d'etre of the magazine then why do you come here?
Awwww lhc! I'll leave this thread with my opinion (if I may). 'The Big Question' - yea. That was the name. I liked them. 
spiny norman said:
I thought it was Frank Zappa - apparently not: http://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/11/08/writing-about-music/
I quite like: Most rock journalism is people who can't write, interviewing people who can't talk, for people who can't read.
EDIT: Either the site has thrown another undeletable duplicate post, or I have stunned myself with my really quite tragic WHSV geekdom.
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