After having a quick flick thru the latest mag this morning (then been busy, out christmas shopping!!) a quick feedback on the new format. While the magazine layout hasn't changed that much, just a few cosmetic bits here & there, the buying guide has dramtically changed and, in my view, not for the better! The content has been reduced to just a few 'best buys' & 'award winners' in each catagory. A few examples; Integrated amps <£1k, was 37 now 6!, Blu-Ray players was 30 now 8, and out of that 30, 19 were 5* products. I could go on but you get the picture. While I understand some of those that have been dropped are no longer current models they could still be bought secondhand from ebay, gumtree etc. and the buying guide was an ideal place for a quick check to see if you were getting a bargin. A more comprehensive buyers guide would be nice, if not in the magazine then perhaps on the website?
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When should you upgrade your hi-fi? How to control ‘upgradeitis’
New magazine format likes & dislikes
- Thread starter chrisr1718
- Start date
The buyers guide has changed from a very useful to a nearly useless guide in my opinion, especially concerning the "The only products worth considering" strapline.
For example, if you want an under 5" size phone which also plays high res music files is the iPhone 6s really the only option if music quality and format support are more important to you than other features?
Also the new buyers guide doesn't really give any information to compare product specifications when compared to the older guide.
If I'm looking for a soundbase/bar with HDMI connections then the new guide gives me one £600 option, what if I only have £300 to spend or would prefer a sound base?
If an easy comparison of products that have been reviewed is available on the What HiFi website then I could understand the change but I can't find that option.
For example, if you want an under 5" size phone which also plays high res music files is the iPhone 6s really the only option if music quality and format support are more important to you than other features?
Also the new buyers guide doesn't really give any information to compare product specifications when compared to the older guide.
If I'm looking for a soundbase/bar with HDMI connections then the new guide gives me one £600 option, what if I only have £300 to spend or would prefer a sound base?
If an easy comparison of products that have been reviewed is available on the What HiFi website then I could understand the change but I can't find that option.
celsius
Well-known member
First thoughts on seeing the new layout are the same as the other two posts what a disappointment, I loved the old layout of the buyers guide so much to choose from now the mag resembles stuff magazine which is also part of the same group, maybe they are trying to appeal to a younger readership not that i am old but it is no longer the informative magazine that it was
The problem is, like it or loathe we're probably stuck with it! Why bother with a Buyers Guide when it's so limited and only replicates the adverts.
I mean, why give the readers the magazine they want!
I mean, why give the readers the magazine they want!
I found myself flicking through the new mag today in 'Smiths. Yet another one I won't be buying.
I couldn't care less about smart phones and bluetooth speakers. So yet again I ask myself, "Yeh, WHAT hifi????" And the mags that do include hifi at all seem to re-hash reviews of products that always get talked about. The usual suspects of Rega, Naim et al. I have nothing against those manufacturers at all, but there are only so many times I want to read about the same product.
Thankfully Hifi Choice produce a hifi mag that actually reviews hifi and not smartphones. I've bought most issues of that mag this year and enjoy its more insightful and thorough reviews that concentrate more on speakers, amps and sources. I would value What Hifi for the AV side as I do like my surround sound still, but haven't seen anything that appeals there for many months now. WHF seems to have lost its core purpose. Either that or that's what WHF actually intended. Maybe they're less worried about 40-something readers and are aiming at younger buyers?
Certainly the mag doesn't reflect the key topics spoken about most on their own website. The main Hifi threads and the Home Cinema threads are by far the most popular and I don't think that's entirely because they happen to be at the top.
I couldn't care less about smart phones and bluetooth speakers. So yet again I ask myself, "Yeh, WHAT hifi????" And the mags that do include hifi at all seem to re-hash reviews of products that always get talked about. The usual suspects of Rega, Naim et al. I have nothing against those manufacturers at all, but there are only so many times I want to read about the same product.
Thankfully Hifi Choice produce a hifi mag that actually reviews hifi and not smartphones. I've bought most issues of that mag this year and enjoy its more insightful and thorough reviews that concentrate more on speakers, amps and sources. I would value What Hifi for the AV side as I do like my surround sound still, but haven't seen anything that appeals there for many months now. WHF seems to have lost its core purpose. Either that or that's what WHF actually intended. Maybe they're less worried about 40-something readers and are aiming at younger buyers?
Certainly the mag doesn't reflect the key topics spoken about most on their own website. The main Hifi threads and the Home Cinema threads are by far the most popular and I don't think that's entirely because they happen to be at the top.
You'd think after nearly 3 weeks of my original post someone from the magazine would have commented!
Shows how much they care.
Another lost reader. Cancelling my subscrption!
Shows how much they care.
Another lost reader. Cancelling my subscrption!
jjbomber
Well-known member
Leeps said:
It's getting worse. this month has 0 turntable reviews, 0 CD players, 0 Stereo amps, 0 AV amps nor receivers, 0 stereo speakers and 0 surround sound speakers. It has 3 DACS, 5 TVs, 3 portable MP3 players, 2 headphones and 2,764 wireless speakers. Throw in 1 soundbar, a review of Amazon prime, an advert for Apple and Now TV and that's it. No hi-fi at all.
chebby
Well-known member
jjbomber said:
I started buying Hi-fi News & Record Review two issues ago. Plenty to read, lot's of hi-fi reviews, hi-fi articles, lots of music, hi-fi history, etc. All sorts. (And Andrew Everard writes and reviews for them along with legends like Barry Fox on technology.)
I am going to invest in a digital subscription (especially as that gets me access to their archive too).
expat_mike
Well-known member
I agree with many of the other posts. In January the editor said he was confident the magazine was both new and improved, but that is not the case. Every now and again a magazine has a revamp and this new style is OK, though I can't work out what the hexagons round some headings are supposed to be. However, content is a different matter and this seems to have been a triumph of style over content. I used to like reading the PlayList section of reviews of HD, CDs, Blu-Rays etc, but that has disappeared. Fortunately the Temptations section is still there, though curiously only in the singular.
However, by far the worst changes are to the Buyer's Guide. This was very useful with its table layout to enable you to easily find a type of product with a certain set of features - eg a TV with a 40" screen and 3 HDMI inputs. That has now gone. Worse still, the star ratings have gone, which I thought were a key selling point of this magazine. Previously there were around 1000 products listed but now it's about a quarter of that. The whole back half of the magazine is now little more than an advertising section. Please do the right thing and bring back the old format!
However, by far the worst changes are to the Buyer's Guide. This was very useful with its table layout to enable you to easily find a type of product with a certain set of features - eg a TV with a 40" screen and 3 HDMI inputs. That has now gone. Worse still, the star ratings have gone, which I thought were a key selling point of this magazine. Previously there were around 1000 products listed but now it's about a quarter of that. The whole back half of the magazine is now little more than an advertising section. Please do the right thing and bring back the old format!
jjbomber said:
I picked up this month's mag in Smiths today. Looked at the preview for next month and guess what we've got?????
BLUETOOTH SPEAKERS! Dadaaaaaaa.
So that's last month, this month and next month almost entirely devoid of hifi or AV sound products. Come on WHF. If that's the way you're heading, at least be upfront about it and change the name of the magazine! How about, "Stuff"?
TV's, smartphones, bluetooth speakers, soundbarssssssszzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Leeps said:
I thought they just did, dropping the 'Sound and Vision' bit to leave just 'What Hi*Fi?', thus indicating it's now about 'tech' and not just, ummm, hi-fi. *unknw*
chrisr1718 said:
Joking aside, I think a complete change of title would better reflect what the magazine has become. Maybe What Tech? (though I shudder every time I see the term used, almost as much as I do when I see consumer technology reduced to the level of 'gadgets'), or Which Tech?, or even Techfinder General ;-). Or just Tech, which I don't think anyone else is using.
But I assume the feeling is that the brand is so strong, not to mention so firmly embedded in a stack of overseas editions, that it would be too much of risk to make so drastic a change. Instead, it appears the hope (although it's a forlorn one, I fear) is that What Hi*Fi? can establish itself as the authority on all things 'tech' by sheer dint of brand-recognition. We shall see, but I can't help but think the current title will be limiting in this respect.
Coming the month after next: drones, fitness monitors and smart fridges?
Andrew17321
Well-known member
I have subscribed to this magazine for about ten years. Even at December's half-price for two years I won't be renewing. The new 'flashy' version is worth about half the value of the old one to me. The new 'Buying Guide' is of no value at all to me, and most of the magazine appears to be taken up by adverts - less meat in it. Sad! I used to really enjoy it.
Like this website, the adverts are too obtrusive. It appears to be all about bringing in money from advertisers and less about providing useful service to the readers.
Like this website, the adverts are too obtrusive. It appears to be all about bringing in money from advertisers and less about providing useful service to the readers.
Blacksabbath25
Well-known member
i used to like the mag in the early 1990s when it was just about hifi and home cinema there used to be useful guides in the mag to help people who were first starting out in hifi hints and tips & guids i do not understand why we have moble phones in a hifi mag as there are lots of mags on the market all ready and too meany adverts in this mag more then there ever used to be
jjbomber
Well-known member
chebby
Well-known member
Blacksabbath25 said:
... i'm using a smart phone and a tablet (and a proprietary wireless system) as a high quality (lossless and 320k AAC) source which is indistinguishable - to my ears - from 'native' CD.
Tests of such phones and tablets are legitimate review fodder if tested in the context of use within hi-fi systems. Stand alone tests of them just as phones/tablets are not as relevant in a hi-fi magazine and better served by a specialist phone/tablet publication.
expat_mike
Well-known member
expat_mike said:
I have finally taken the plunge, and opted for a digital subscription. Hopefully the articles will prove interesting.
Not a forum-frequenter, but I thought I'd check in to see how the changes were being received. Forgotten how many years I've been a subscriber and like everyone else here, I'm appalled by the changes, particularly to the now-useless Buyer's Guide. Having just read a TV review, I thought I'd check up on the technical details - no chance. I've put up with the page-wasting objects of desire up to now (one every few issues would be acceptable) but this is the last straw...years of history out the window. So I'm afraid it's goodbye from me.
This section of the forums is called;
"About the mag -Got a point of view on something we’ve said in print? We’re listening" Are you really listening?? If you were maybe you'd feel the need to comment on all the negativity, especially concerning the Buying Guide, or lack of it! But obviously you're not listening...*sad*
"About the mag -Got a point of view on something we’ve said in print? We’re listening" Are you really listening?? If you were maybe you'd feel the need to comment on all the negativity, especially concerning the Buying Guide, or lack of it! But obviously you're not listening...*sad*
Green Bow
Well-known member
The new buyers guide is better in one respect that there is more info on each item. However if we see an item in the buyers guide we will google it anyway and read the WH-F review.
The downside as already discussed about the buyers guide, is the lack of items listed.
I used to buy my hi-fi kit second hand and still would. I would often buy the last generation best buys. Whereas many of those are now gone from the buyers guide.
Even the new generation kit is stripped back. Like they list the Grado SR125e. How could they not list the legendary SR60 line with the SR60e? It doesn't work.
I am considering speaker cable. There is some by Ecosse I think. Not there anymore in the new guide. There isn't any expensive speaker cable listed. Does that mean all we will ever need is Chord Clearway at £10/metre?
Also where have the readers questions gone?
Shame. I have some older copies and they were thicker too.
I am pleased someone started this thread, because I was going to, but never got round to it.
The downside as already discussed about the buyers guide, is the lack of items listed.
I used to buy my hi-fi kit second hand and still would. I would often buy the last generation best buys. Whereas many of those are now gone from the buyers guide.
Even the new generation kit is stripped back. Like they list the Grado SR125e. How could they not list the legendary SR60 line with the SR60e? It doesn't work.
I am considering speaker cable. There is some by Ecosse I think. Not there anymore in the new guide. There isn't any expensive speaker cable listed. Does that mean all we will ever need is Chord Clearway at £10/metre?
Also where have the readers questions gone?
Shame. I have some older copies and they were thicker too.
I am pleased someone started this thread, because I was going to, but never got round to it.
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