Reviews Archive

Crocodile

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al7478:you know the menu with white words on a black background above ^, where you click on forums? Well on that menue 5 places to the left.That's current products.

I asked about ARCHIVE.
 
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Anonymous

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There is no archive available yet. I think they're working on it though they said a while ago HR was a problem.
 

Alec

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Crocodile:

al7478:you know the menu with white words on a black background above ^, where you click on forums? Well on that menue 5 places to the left.That's current products.

I asked about ARCHIVE.

Yeah fair point, and im sorry if i came across a bit "funny", but i didnt mean to and there was no need for the CAPS.
 

Clare Newsome

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Sorry, we haven't got our 33 year archive online just yet. Our sister title, Gramophone, has just launched a beta version of its even larger archive - we're learning a lot from that endeavour, but (especially with this recession having hit) we're not going to be following suit just yet.
 

Crocodile

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Clare Newsome:Sorry, we haven't got our 33 year archive online just yet. Our sister title, Gramophone, has just launched a beta version of its even larger archive - we're learning a lot from that endeavour, but (especially with this recession having hit) we're not going to be following suit just yet.
May be worth looking at as a subscription offering?
 
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the record spot

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As ana lternative, how about the staff's top 10 picks of the last 20 years or so? You all must have clapped hands on the widest range of kit in the industry and it'd be interesting for the readership (I'm assuming online only when I say that) to know what made your ears sit up and take notice.

Doesn't need to be WHF recommended stuff either just whatever you stopped in your tracks for over the years (though not sure how that would sit politically, but that's someone else's problem!!).
 

Andrew Everard

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I'll suggest it, but right now keeping the site running as it is occupies all the resources we have available - and then some, as evidenced by the day and time on this post.
 

mattc76

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Clare Newsome:Sorry, we haven't got our 33 year archive online just yet.

Well come on then...chop-chop....no slacking now!.....

(Tee-hee)
 
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Anonymous

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the record spot:As ana lternative, how about the staff's top 10 picks of the last 20 years or so? You all must have clapped hands on the widest range of kit in the industry and it'd be interesting for the readership (I'm assuming online only when I say that) to know what made your ears sit up and take notice.

Doesn't need to be WHF recommended stuff either just whatever you stopped in your tracks for over the years (though not sure how that would sit politically, but that's someone else's problem!!).

For once I can't agree with you. The archive is of great historical importance, and it would be best to have it available in full. It's so hard to find info on old equipment from well-known manufacturers, let alone from the little known. For example, I bought an ancient CJ Walker 58 turntable to restore, and can I find out anything about it? A resource such as the What Hi-Fi reviews would assist me in restoring it just by making the pictures available, as I think my deck has been modified. HiFi Choice used to have an archive available, but it has disappeared without trace, more's the pity. Also, how many times does the question "I have an old XXXXX. Were they any good?" come up.

I'm impressed you have the archive - if you can make it available, please do so in its entirety.
 
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the record spot

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Well, I think in fairness what I'm asking for is something different from a dedicated archive. This is a pretty serious undertaking, but the staffers' top 10 each doesn't come anywhere near the sheer quantity of kit out there. I think mine was really just to stimulate a bit of discussion as opposed to providing a central point of reference.

I'd like to see it though, and I miss the Hi Fi Choice reference site (or was it Hi Fi World - I can never remember!). That was quite handy for old reviews, but doing this stuff well doesn't come cheap (IMO, the best ones make it look easy and the worst ones were the ones are literally thrown together!).
 

Andrew Everard

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You're forgiven for swearing this once, both of you
emotion-1.gif
- and as far as I know that other archive was lost in a fire affecting a server with no backup.
emotion-16.gif


We'd certainly like to do it, but it's a very major - for which read very expensive - project. After all, most of those reviews don't exist in electronic form, so getting them on the site would be a matter of rekeying or OCRing and then checking literally thousands of pieces of copy, trying to fill in tech specs and so on.

That's why it would be so expensive and time-consuming, and times is tough at the moment, as you know...
 

mattc76

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Andrew Everard:
You're forgiven for swearing this once, both of you
emotion-1.gif
- and as far as I know that other archive was lost in a fire affecting a server with no backup.
emotion-16.gif


We'd certainly like to do it, but it's a very major - for which read very expensive - project. After all, most of those reviews don't exist in electronic form, so getting them on the site would be a matter of rekeying or OCRing and then checking literally thousands of pieces of copy, trying to fill in tech specs and so on.

That's why it would be so expensive and time-consuming, and times is tough at the moment, as you know...

We could do it! I mean enthusiastic forum members that is. How about everyone who's keen, send in a large stamped addressed envelope you stick in the old copies of the mags we'll scan 'em and make sure everythings ok - then email them back. We'd get a few old back-copies for our efforts and you'd get the work done! Sorted!
 
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Anonymous

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RS,
No no, fair enough, and fair point, what you suggest is a different thing entirely. I just wanted somewhat clumsily to reinforce to the What HiFi staff what a wonderful resource they're sitting on.

Andrew/Mattc76

Count me in if you need help. I'm one of those with an unexpectedly lot of time on my hands.
 

ElectroMan

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Tarquinh: For example, I bought an ancient CJ Walker 58 turntable to restore, and can I find out anything about it? A resource such as the What Hi-Fi reviews would assist me in restoring it just by making the pictures available, as I think my deck has been modified.

Have you seen this?
emotion-1.gif
 
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Anonymous

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Excellent, no I hadn't, thanks. Mine has a different arm, and the phono plugs on the front, but that's it.
 
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Anonymous

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As an alternative, might it be worth doing an article comparing 10/15/20 year old components with modern components of similar quality? ÿAs an example, would I better buying a £80 NAD 3020 or a Cambridge Audio A5 (hypothetical question, I have both and there isn't much in it!).
 
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Anonymous

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So, almost exactly 3yrs on..

Would be great to be able to access your archives - I, for one, would think it fabulous to read the old reviews on kit long forgotten.

pretty please, with bells and ribbons? :)
 

Andrew Everard

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siac said:
So, almost exactly 3yrs on..

Would be great to be able to access your archives - I, for one, would think it fabulous to read the old reviews on kit long forgotten.

pretty please, with bells and ribbons? :)

Agreed, and it's something we were, as a company, discussing again only yesterday. Apart from 35 years of What Hi-Fi?/WHFSV, we have all that old Hi-Fi Answers/High Fidelity/Audiophile/Home Cinema/etc stuff, not to mention Autocar going back over a century and so on.

It's something the company as a whole is looking at seriously – as long as the suits can find a way to monetise all this content, of course...
 
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Anonymous

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Andrew Everard said:
It's something the company as a whole is looking at seriously – as long as the suits can find a way to monetise all this content, of course...

One controlled way to start this might be to just focus on the older 4 or 5 star product reviews, so people can revisit the "classic winners" for example. It would be a test of interest after all.

I'd think monetising a download would be easy enough, you could charge via a Kindle app, ipad/Phone app, Android app, single web downloads, subscriptions, one-off's for "special editions", the older the rarer and more expensive etc.

Eventually, can you imagine flicking through the pages of a 1980's WHF on your Kindle while drinking Sangria by the poolside! How cool would that be!!

Granted I don't have the costs of archiving to compare to potential revenues, but...
 

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