jaxwired:
Well, the WHF star ratings definately include price. In general, as price increases, quality increases. Therefore, the more expensive an item is, the tougher it is to get 5 stars since the competition is of higher quality. So most, if not all, 4 star rated products will be 5 star rated as the purchase price decreases.
With all that said, if you can demo a product, the WHF rating should be meaningless. WHF ratings should just be used to create your short list prior to demos.
Depends on the category. If you look at turntables, there's only one price band which runs from £175 up to many thousands, so they're all theoretically competing against each other, yet there are few models that don't get 5 stars. This means that the budget Pro-ject is as good as an LP12, and I, for one, simply don't believe that.
The other problem is that WHF likes a certain sort of sound at the moment, which I don't, and I've found some of their 3 and 4 star products suit my tastes more than the so-called class leaders.
The WHF rating system is both contradictory and flawed, as I've flagged before. I certainly wouldn't rely on their ratings alone to create a shortlist, there are many other sources of reviews out there. Anyway, in the end it doesn't matter whether WHF gives one or five stars, it's all down to personal taste.