New feature? How does old kit compare?

[admin_exported]

Just thinking about this idea and wondered what others think...

How about a 'spotlight' each month on a classic or popular piece of kit from a few years ago to see how older kit stands up against current peers. So, for example,
I have a 5 year old Pioneer AV receiver which got 5 stars and was the
best thing since sliced bread when I bought it and when reading current
reviews I would like to know how my amp stacks up against some of the
newer kit currently getting 5 stars. So, a feature that takes an old classic and puts it up against the current best of the best could be interesting.

I appreciate that home cinema amps are moving forward at a blistering pace and are hard to accomodate in this type of feature but a CD player is a CD player.

 

[fatboyslimfast]

Maybe one for the website WHF team - if space is at a premium in the mag.

Could even be turned into a reader event...bring your 5-star and compare!

 

[Messiah]

I suggested this a long time ago and got no response from the team. There were a lot of others interested though and I still think it is a great idea.

So WHF Team???..................

 

[Messiah]

I suppose the hard bit would be actually getting the old kit to compare it. Maybe people can lend their kit for comparison??

 

[Anonymous]

I don't mean to pass fluid on the bonfire but I think this idea could be more trouble than it's worth. To get both pieces of equipment in the same room so they could be reviewed by same reviewer could prove difficult, and with many things the sound probably hasn't changed that much anyway. You're suggestion of a receiver is one of the areas where improvements will be heard though.

 

[Clare Newsome]

It's a nice idea, but fraught with issues - eg how well (or not) has the old kit fared: is someone's mint-condition product really going to behave in the same way as heavily used one? (Or vice versa) In other words, how do we know we're listening to/seeing a representative sample of an older product?

And that's without the issue of if we DO think a golden oldie still rules, what that means re people getting hold of one - will they be able to buy second-hand?

Not that any of this will stop us from considering it as a future feature, or indeed prevent us from continuing to compare new products with their immediate predecessors so we can communicate whether the new kit represents an upgrade or not.

 

[the record spot]

Certainly for CD players, there's not going to be a whole lot of difference in many cases. Just been trialling an Audio Analogue Paganini player today, lovely machine about 4 years old at most, but about 85% similar to my existing Linn Mimik from 1994.

It would be interesting though; comparing for the fun of it - there are always decent examples out there but it might be interesting to hear how (e.g.) a NAD 3020 stacks up against the current NAD budget equivalent, etc.

 

[Messiah]

I agree in that it would make a great article if done just out of interest. I can certainly agree with all of the issues listed so as long as people understood this I think it would make good reading!

 

[PINK MOON]

I think this is one of the best an most forward thinking ideas to improve the magazine.

But not old or used kit,, new but outdated.

Think about on this website one of the most common questions people ask about any equipment they are planning to buy is should i buy X (brand new costs £1000) or should i buy Y (end of line product that did cost £1500 but now costs £1000 it may be higher quality lower spec, that idea)

people also ask should i buy X (Brand new model costs £1000) or should I buy Y (old outgoing model that costs £600)

For example you could only implement this on the supertest, it could take half a page and include the previous best in test if it has changed. And also a a good quality, previously more expensive ,now reduced and at a similar price level to the supertest.

It doesnt have to be much and can be oppinion and sugestion rather than an indepth analysis.

 

[Anonymous]

Glad to see this getting some support. I like Pink Moons comments about comparing the outgoing model with the current one. I appreciate that an Onkyo xxx might be a five star product but would also like to know how it compared with the xxy of last year, and a comment about the fact that this may or may not be a massive leap over the sound quality offered by the xyy from two years previous.

The guys and girls in WHF towers have been there for a while and have a massive amount of experience so I would just like to hear some of the older kit referenced.

Or maybe, what about a one off. Find a few volunteers who would lend you some older kit and do a supertest. Fire up six or seven receivers from the last 5 or six years and see how they compare. Or CD players or DVD players. I, for one would be really interested in how my Pioneer 757 DVD compares to some of the upmarket players from the last couple of years and the more budget players around today. After all how much information can you get from a DVD disc?