Five stars and five stars

[bigboss]

Let's not forget that What Hi Fi is a consumer focused magazine. Most consumers decide on a budget first and then see what's available for them. Ratings system in a particular class works best here, instead of absolute rating. There will always be limitations, whichever ratings system you choose. If a product drops in price, it is difficult to interpret in the current ratings system. On the other hand, if I want to buy the best speakers for my budget, I will struggle to find one in the absolute ratings system.

 

[gasolin]

Have noticed that WHF cange the ratings of old products as new hifi products is being released (or the old products is getting a bit old), i noticed it when looking at dali speaker the lektor 1 and 2's used to get 5 start but now only have 4, so WHF do change the rating so new product who get 5 starts isn't comparable with older products who get 5 stars

So they do differentiate so older products is degrated so they after todays standard and as new product is released only get's 4 stars where they in the old day when they where new managed to get 5 stars

Think sound is more important then bang for the buck, cheap hifi can get 5 stars like the Dali zensor 1 but i am not a fan of giving a product that is cheap 5 stars just because it's cheap compared to it's performance, instead give it 3 or 4 stars (mabye 5 stars) depending on the sound and give it someting like best buy or bang for the buck instead of just giving it 5 stars because it's a good price compared to the performance. Dali zensor 1 get's 5 stars and is a good little speaker but not as good as a Dali Ikon 6 who also get 5 stars but costs 899$ instead of 180$ for the zensor 1's therefor there should be some kind of difference in the rating so it's not only the price that indicates which one is the better speaker.

If more expensive dali's then the zensor 1 get's only 4 stars, does that mean that the zensor 1 is superior (sound, except for bas) over these "only" 4 stars speakers whith it's good performace build quality,finish and bang for the buck (low price) ?

 

[WishTree]

Why can't we have both? Let us say - Red Stars to indicate the price group in which the product is reviewed and an absolute out of 100 rating to see where that really fits. (May be occasional stellar products can beat 100 too ) I do not think it is any more complicated than giving stars to any product and I am sure, we consumers know how to read both with the context in place!

Win-Win I guess!!

 

[Native_bon]

Thats never stopped HIFI NEWS from rating in percentage...

 

[Singslinger]

Looks like the problem is the star ratings and what the numbers mean. Maybe Stereophile's system where they don't award any numerical rewards is worth considering. Readers instead get to identify with particular writers over the years and follow their recommendations/ tastes.

Then again, this might work when it comes to high-end esoterica but perhaps not for the mass-market. :?

 

[nopiano]

Thats never stopped HIFI NEWS from rating in percentage...

And they make it very clear it is within peer group, not absolute. Plus they award three other 'gong' labels, which is what advertisers need, so manufacturers can say, we were the Editor's Choice, or whatever.

 

[fr0g]

Thats never stopped HIFI NEWS from rating in percentage...

What's their target market and circulation?

5 stars is WHFs trademark. Commercial suicide to ditch it imo.

 

[Ajani]

Thats never stopped HIFI NEWS from rating in percentage...

What's their target market and circulation?

5 stars is WHFs trademark. Commercial suicide to ditch it imo.

Also worth noting is that HiFi Choice moved from percentages (out of 100) to a 5 star system a few years ago.

 

[Ajani]

Looks like the problem is the star ratings and what the numbers mean. Maybe Stereophile's system where they don't award any numerical rewards is worth considering. Readers instead get to identify with particular writers over the years and follow their recommendations/ tastes. Then again, this might work when it comes to high-end esoterica but perhaps not for the mass-market. :?

That system is quite common in the US. Though you need to keep in mind that they have much longer reviews and review far fewer items than UK mags.

Also, Stereophile has a rating system: Twice a year they rate products in categories from A - E. A is for the best HiFi products regardless of price. E is for products that are basically entry level - they give you just a taste of what HiFi should sound like. Those 2 issues of Stereophile each year sell like hotcakes, because persons are always excited to see if some affordable gem managed to get a Class A rating. Since the overwhelming majority of Class A products are ultra-expensive. I prefer the A-E rating system over percentages, because I don't see how you can really determine whether a pair of speakers gets an 83 or an 84 out of 100. IMO, it is Better just to use broad categories.

Personally, I'd love to see a hybrid system of the best of the UK and US rating systems. So WHF's 5 star system combined with Stereophile's Absolute class rating system. So then we'll know just how good a product is compared to both other products in its price range and in absolute terms.

 

[BigH]

MAybe they should use 5 stars. I can't see any 1 stars, very few 2 stars. With about 45% getting 5 stars and about 40% getting 4 stars, it only leaves about 15% for 1-3 stars.

To me 3 stars is average, 4 stars is good and 5 stars is excellent. How about 1/2 marks?