I applaud the magazine

[MrReaper182]

Some people seem to think that What hi-fi sound and vision is getting worse because the magazine prints such things as smartphones and wireless speaker reviews. Well my response to that is that's a lot of rubbish. Like it or not the future of hi-fi is changing from lots of separate pieces of kit to one wireless speaker were you control your music from a smartphone or laptop. Lots of premium hi-fi companies realize this so they make their own wireless speakers and that number only going to get bigger as more and more premium hi-fi companies realize that's were the money is. I applaud the magazine for embarrassing the future of hi-fi and not being stuck in the past like some people are.

The future of hi-fi may look different from how it looked for many a decade but that does not mean that the hi-fi sector is shrinking or dying as it is still in a very healthy state.

 

[tino]

I'm OK with WHF reviewing wireless speakers but I don't think they should be reviewing smartphones/tablets other than in general terms i.e what you can do with them AV wise.

 

[Al ears]

I'm OK with WHF reviewing wireless speakers but I don't think they should be reviewing smartphones/tablets other than in general terms i.e what you can do with them AV wise.

I think they are right to do so certainly this is where the 'vision' bit comes in with more people watching video etc on smartphones and tablets. Admittedly if I do want to see reviews of purely hifi kit or album reviews I read other publications.

 

[nopiano]

I enjoy reviews of some of the more peripheral items, where there is any chance I might own one. I must admit the cheap wireless speakers don't hold much appeal.

It might be a bit predictable, but I'd like a group test of at least one hifi range each issue - turntables, speakers, amps, DACs, etc. And some analysis and explanation of where products overlap - e.g. How does the sound of the newest Oppo universal player compare to a stereo only model.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Well I am one of theses people who is stuck in the past

i used to buy what hifi magazine but not so much now as I like a magazine that hifi only as there are plenty of magazines out there that cover phones , tablets and so on .

i personally think things end up coming back round into fashion just like vinyl did so I would not say proper hifi is dead

I think people play around with the little gadgets but then get bored and end up look for something that will sound better and that's proper hifi

 

[chebby]

Well I am one of theses people who is stuck in the past ...

What about your Yamaha WXC-50 ?

 

[macdiddy]

magazine I looked through in WHSmiths, maybe a change of name to "Where is the Hifi" would be a better option.

*sad*

 

[Frank Harvey]

Well I am one of theses people who is stuck in the past ...

What about your Yamaha WXC-50 ?

Its a "separate"

 

[Frank Harvey]

I used to moan a bit about the amount of phones in the mag, but if more people are using phones as their source, I think it's fair play.

I'd always dismissed phones as not a serious source, but a recent experience has changed that.

Whilst testing out a product that I'm currently writing a review for, I thought I'd test out the product's Bluetooth capabilities. I no longer keep music on my iPhone 5S as I just don't have space, but I do have a few music apps, so I decided to try some music from my 'South American river music app' (I'm not advertising for them!). As this music is from bypuying a few CDs and vinyl from them, it is music I know. So I chose the recent remaster of Roger Waters' Amused To Death. Apart from RW messing with certain tracks, the remaster is pretty awesome, so I expected it to sound half decent. Wow. Through the system I was using at the time, it was sounding so good that you'd easily be able to fool people into thinking they were listening to some hi-res studio version! I was even paying attention to the higher frequencies, which are usually the first frequencies to give away any shortcomings in the signal. Nothing. Clean, clear, perfect. And that was through a very revealing pair of loudspeakers.

I've read that iPhones don't do aptX, so I don't know if that was what I was listening to, but the amp was telling me it was 44.1kHz (which I wasn't expecting from the app itself). Phones are solid state storage, so other than the Bluetooth being a different version, I don't imagine that a different phone would sound any different in sending a digital Bluetooth signal to a product as long as they're doing it properly (I might be wrong), so I'm presuming the DAC in the product I'm reviewing was performing the magic - which would mean that "hi-fi" isn't dead yet - if a phone can sound that good as a source, then you can easily demonstrate the benefits of a good Bluetooth enabled hi-fi, even if it is incorporated into a conventional audio system.

 

[MrReaper182]

magazine I looked through in WHSmiths, maybe a change of name to "Where is the Hifi" would be a better option.

*sad*

but dismissing the magazine just because it does not cover your vision of what hi-fi should be is just stupid. It covers all sectors of hi-fi and phones and tablets are becoming essential part of a lot of peoples hi-fi systems. The hi-fi world is changing weather you like it or not. I get that a lot of people don't like change but change does not have to be scary.

 

[tino]

I'm against reviews of phones, tablets and PCs in general in WHF because although they may be viable sources it's not necessarily the particular model of phone - they are all pretty much the same - but the enabling technology that makes it possible be it aptX Bluetooth, Airplay, streaming services, DLNA, or a particular display resolution / technology. I would rather see articles looking at the relative merits of these bits of tech, and the occasional review of a device that brings something new to the party. For example it would be nice to see a review of the HP Pavillion Wave PC .... This looks like an ideal candidate for the centre of a home AV system, or perhaps the nVidia Shield TV box.

PS the aptX Bluetooth performance of my BlackBerry beats that of an iPhone but I have't seen any article about my phone in a hifi magazine

 

[Leeps]

Some people seem to think that What hi-fi sound and vision is getting worse because the magazine prints such things as smartphones and wireless speaker reviews. Well my response to that is that's a lot of rubbish. Like it or not the future of hi-fi is changing from lots of separate pieces of kit to one wireless speaker were you control your music from a smartphone or laptop. Lots of premium hi-fi companies realize this so they make their own wireless speakers and that number only going to get bigger as more and more premium hi-fi companies realize that's were the money is. I applaud the magazine for embarrassing the future of hi-fi and not being stuck in the past like some people are.

The future of hi-fi may look different from how it looked for many a decade but that does not mean that the hi-fi sector is shrinking or dying as it is still in a very healthy state.

I'm one of the people you disagree with. I have nothing against new methods of delivering hifi, as long as they are actually 'HIGH-fidelity' - i.e. it actually sounds half-decent. I just don't think a Pure Jongo or a £300 soundbar is hifi at all and shouldn't pretend to be. I remember hearing a 5* rated (by WHF) soundbar for the first time. I just couldn't believe how bad it sounded - I really was shocked even with reasonably modest expectations.

My issue then is with the magazine title, that still includes the word 'HI-'. Although ultimately, who cares what either of us think, you can just not buy it.

You can keep on buying WHF if the bluetooth speakers that dominate its pages float your boat. As for me, I'll continue buying Hifi Choice. Its most recent issue of integrated amps was excellent.

 

[Romulus]

My favourite part of the magazine is the temptations as remakably this section is still mostly about HiFi. However recent issues for me are getting boring. Yes technology moves on but it does not mean it happens to be interesting..?

 

[Romulus]

Some people seem to think that What hi-fi sound and vision is getting worse because the magazine prints such things as smartphones and wireless speaker reviews. Well my response to that is that's a lot of rubbish. Like it or not the future of hi-fi is changing from lots of separate pieces of kit to one wireless speaker were you control your music from a smartphone or laptop. Lots of premium hi-fi companies realize this so they make their own wireless speakers and that number only going to get bigger as more and more premium hi-fi companies realize that's were the money is. I applaud the magazine for embarrassing the future of hi-fi and not being stuck in the past like some people are.

The future of hi-fi may look different from how it looked for many a decade but that does not mean that the hi-fi sector is shrinking or dying as it is still in a very healthy state.

I'm one of the people you disagree with. I have nothing against new methods of delivering hifi, as long as they are actually 'HIGH-fidelity' - i.e. it actually sounds half-decent. I just don't think a Pure Jongo or a £300 soundbar is hifi at all and shouldn't pretend to be. I remember hearing a 5* rated (by WHF) soundbar for the first time. I just couldn't believe how bad it sounded - I really was shocked even with reasonably modest expectations.

My issue then is with the magazine title, that still includes the word 'HI-'. Although ultimately, who cares what either of us think, you can just not buy it.

You can keep on buying WHF if the bluetooth speakers that dominate its pages float your boat. As for me, I'll continue buying Hifi Choice. Its most recent issue of integrated amps was excellent.

Totally agree with the above and HiFi Choice recent article on English amps was a very interesting read.

 

[MajorFubar]

I applaud the magazine for embarrassing the future of hi-fi and not being stuck in the past like some people are.

I have no particular opinion or axe to grind regarding the subject matter...but easily Quote of The Week for me :-D

 

[Deleted member 2457]

I applaud the magazine for embarrassing the future of hi-fi and not being stuck in the past like some people are.

I have no particular opinion or axe to grind regarding the subject matter...but easily Quote of The Week for me :-D

Made me chuckle too.

 

[MrReaper182]

Some people seem to think that What hi-fi sound and vision is getting worse because the magazine prints such things as smartphones and wireless speaker reviews. Well my response to that is that's a lot of rubbish. Like it or not the future of hi-fi is changing from lots of separate pieces of kit to one wireless speaker were you control your music from a smartphone or laptop. Lots of premium hi-fi companies realize this so they make their own wireless speakers and that number only going to get bigger as more and more premium hi-fi companies realize that's were the money is. I applaud the magazine for embarrassing the future of hi-fi and not being stuck in the past like some people are.

The future of hi-fi may look different from how it looked for many a decade but that does not mean that the hi-fi sector is shrinking or dying as it is still in a very healthy state.

I'm one of the people you disagree with. I have nothing against new methods of delivering hifi, as long as they are actually 'HIGH-fidelity' - i.e. it actually sounds half-decent. I just don't think a Pure Jongo or a £300 soundbar is hifi at all and shouldn't pretend to be. I remember hearing a 5* rated (by WHF) soundbar for the first time. I just couldn't believe how bad it sounded - I really was shocked even with reasonably modest expectations.

My issue then is with the magazine title, that still includes the word 'HI-'. Although ultimately, who cares what either of us think, you can just not buy it.

You can keep on buying WHF if the bluetooth speakers that dominate its pages float your boat. As for me, I'll continue buying Hifi Choice. Its most recent issue of integrated amps was excellent.

I sub to the mag hi-fi choice and I sub to the mag Hi-fi news. If you don't keep up with the times you become stale and die. Now just because you did not like a product the the mag reviewed does not make it a bad product. A lot of the time What hi-fi are normally spot on with their reviews because it is not just one person who reviews a product but every one who works on the magazine. So I guess only people who can spend upwards of a grand on hi-fi should only be aloud to buy hi-fi and companies should stop making products that are less than a grand. That just a stuid thing to say. Everyone has different budgets. You have a very snobbery view.

 

[MrReaper182]

I'm against reviews of phones, tablets and PCs in general in WHF because although they may be viable sources it's not necessarily the particular model of phone - they are all pretty much the same - but the enabling technology that makes it possible be it aptX Bluetooth, Airplay, streaming services, DLNA, or a particular display resolution / technology. I would rather see articles looking at the relative merits of these bits of tech, and the occasional review of a device that brings something new to the party. For example it would be nice to see a review of the HP Pavillion Wave PC .... This looks like an ideal candidate for the centre of a home AV system, or perhaps the nVidia Shield TV box.

PS the aptX Bluetooth performance of my BlackBerry beats that of an iPhone but I have't seen any article about my phone in a hifi magazine

Shows how much you now about smartphones tech. I owned a Samsung high end phone in the past and I now own a Sony high end smartphone and I can tell you they both sound musical different. Also they both have different EQ settings. The Sony has better EQ settings than Samsung. The headphone jack is also miles better on the Sony. So all phones are not the same as you so claim. Now without some reviews not many people would know any of that without having owned both companies high end smartphones, after all you did not.

 

[jmjones]

No problem with new methods and keeping up with the times, but unfortunately there is only so much space in the magazine. In my mind I have phones in the same category as Walkmans, and Bluetooth speakers as transistor radios. Both good for a particular application but hardly a competitive HiFi system for your average geek. It's funny they have reviewed the return of the radiogram too.

I had a good time last year howling laughing at £2.5k worth of of Sonos kit masquerading as a surround system (a mate of mine thought it would be a good idea). Hopeless in terms of SQ, connectivity and the number of wires/power points required to run it. And, his wife mistakenly thought wireless meant less wires!

The problem is the breadth of coverage spreads things to thin. I don't think you can use WHF to plot upgrades paths any more. Like a few on here I'm now drawn to slightly more specialist magazines.

When I want a camera, I'll read a camera magazine, when I want a phone, a phone magazine. What HiFi seem to be reviewing anything that makes a noise.

 

[Frank Harvey]

And, his wife mistakenly thought wireless meant less wires!

An all too common misconception. The majority of people who walk in asking for wireless speakers soon change their mind as soon as you make it clear to them that both speakers need a mains lead.

We know that unless batteries are used, a speaker cannot be truly wireless. I think we have to look at how products are classed, and how they're portrayed in the media. Calling speakers or systems "wireless", its no surprise that people walk into stores thinking that's what they're going to get. It's not too much of an issue with people who already have an interest in this sort of thing, but when it's attracting fresh faces to hi-fi, the last thing you want to be doing is scaring them off by telling them they can't get what drew them into the store in the first place!

 

[Leeps]

So I guess only people who can spend upwards of a grand on hi-fi should only be aloud to buy hi-fi and companies should stop making products that are less than a grand. That just a stuid thing to say. Everyone has different budgets. You have a very snobbery view.

No, that's not what I said, or meant. The examples I used were a cheap bluetooth speaker and a £300 soundbar. Not a grand. The law of diminishing returns has the opposite effect less than a grand. There can be big improvements in SQ for paying just a little more. After all, much of the cost of a £100 Bluetooth speaker is the packaging, distribution, marketing etc.

It's not all about the cost. There are some cracking little systems out there for little more than the soundbar.

A hifi I used to own was a Cambridge CD player and amp with some midrange bookshelf speakers. They were cheap components but were genuinely hifi in SQ to my ears and it could comfortably outperform every soundbar I've heard up to and over a grand. Bring it up to date with a streamer of some sort and it would be a capable modern system for little comparative expense.

My gripe is that WHF doesn't help people cut through the marketing hype of non-fi products by showing what alternatives are out there for the same money that are far superior in SQ, especially when people that often post here want systems for 50% movies / 50% music. Although a £100 bluetooth speaker isn't ever going to be hifi. If your budget goes low enough there's only so much you can expect.

When people see a soundbar get a 5* review, many readers might think that it actually sounds good, but it doesn't. There needs to be a big bold warning, "this is a 5* product [font="ProximaNova-Semibold, arial, verdana, sans-serif"]for a soundbar at that price point and may be bettered by any number of active stereo speakers or stereo amps at the same price."[/font]

[font="ProximaNova-Semibold, arial, verdana, sans-serif"]Many regulars on this forum might know that, but not some non-techy buying a mag for the first time thinking he's going to get a decent sounding product, only to be disappointed.[/font]

[font="ProximaNova-Semibold, arial, verdana, sans-serif"]Interestingly my most recent purchase, some used Ruark Talisman III's cost me around £300. I appreciate they're used, but my point is that you don't have to spend big bucks to get real hifi.[/font]

 

[Frank Harvey]

Many regulars on this forum might know that, but not some non-techy buying a mag for the first time thinking he's going to get a decent sounding product, only to be disappointed.

Or, more likely, buy it because it is a 5 star product and not even bothering to listen to any alternatives, which may actually suit them a hell of a lot better - or find that the budget of the 5 star product isn't where they want to be.