To the folk at WHF

[plastic penguin]

Guess I'm a gullible dope,I have various bits of kit I bought on the strength of the the reviews in what hi fi magazine! Guess what? The reviews were spot in too! Even a pair of speakers that had a bad review (I bought these before I read the review) at the time I disagreed with the review? Even spoke to big bod at the manufacturer of said speakers lol..but in hindsight I see the review as a correct one..times have changed with the onset of google etc when you ask a question and you have a choice of a thousand answers? None of them especially wrong? Too much information everywhere! Magazines have to change..go with the flow..which I think is what hi fi is doing..its still a interesting read, unlike other publications with their boring reviews and their scientific measurements which you need a degree to understand..and the drooling over valve equipment? Yuk...

You are neither. There are a minority who just buy on reviews alone and are happy. By contrast, since joining in 2008 I've lost count of the people who've just lumped 5 star products together... and came totally unstuck.

 

[manicm]

I'm going to generalise and play devil's advocate, the majority of you peasants think MP3 is good enough so why should WHF not go on the direction it is?

 

[lpv]

Magazines are just vehicles for selling advertising.

They're also sources of information.

any examlpes? any?

Uuh?

BS and information are 2 different things.

one mans rubbish is another's treasure!

true

 

[keeper of the quays]

Guess I'm a gullible dope,I have various bits of kit I bought on the strength of the the reviews in what hi fi magazine! Guess what? The reviews were spot in too! Even a pair of speakers that had a bad review (I bought these before I read the review) at the time I disagreed with the review? Even spoke to big bod at the manufacturer of said speakers lol..but in hindsight I see the review as a correct one..times have changed with the onset of google etc when you ask a question and you have a choice of a thousand answers? None of them especially wrong? Too much information everywhere! Magazines have to change..go with the flow..which I think is what hi fi is doing..its still a interesting read, unlike other publications with their boring reviews and their scientific measurements which you need a degree to understand..and the drooling over valve equipment? Yuk...

You are neither. There are a minority who just buy on reviews alone and are happy. By contrast, since joining in 2008 I've lost count of the people who've just lumped 5 star products together... and came totally unstuck.

you have a point..i have pondered on this..all these five star reviewed bits of kit all have different attributes..soundstage, pace, rhythm 'air' etc..so when all this put together? Is there another list of attributes needed? As presumably the previous list per item cancels each others attributes out! This sounds like gibberish! Lol..i hope you get what I mean?

 

[luckylion100]

I find myself reaching out and thumbing my way through the latest copy of What Hi-Fi hoping to find some real Hifi content, however the magazine is always replaced unsold back into the shops display rack. Sadly the most hifi thing about What Hi-fi is this section of their forum.

I get that times change, products and trends are continually developing and they must focus on that, sadly their content is just too diversified. Disappointing that this magazines title doesn't truly reflect it's contents but I suppose it's instantly recognisable and a stalwart of hight street newagent's shelves and unlikely to change.

I go for Hifi Choice and more so Hifi News, the latter on the whole has products way beyond my means but still it's hifi and always contains interest articles, another thing I've found contnually lacking in this publications content. A great shame...

 

[TrevC]

Review quote.

"You should definitely audition this revealing and dynamically exciting"

Guess what?

. HDMI cable?

A mains lead. They really are clueless.

 

[expat_mike]

Maybe they were reviewing some mega-expensive network router isolation feet - newly released by russ andrews.

 

[manicm]

It's not WHF to blame, it's the consumer, note how not even Cyrus are immune with their forthcoming amp including Bluetooth, I'd rather have a USB drive connection ala Marantz HD-AMP1 thank you very much. But it's inferior lower tier wireless that's important to the consumer these days.

 

[MajorFubar]

The market is still there for the 'old' mag. Seems like an opportunity is being missed to me

I agree as well, but generally it seems we're a minority.

 

[spiny norman]

The market is still there for the 'old' mag. Seems like an opportunity is being missed to me

Quite possibly by Hi-Fi Choice: you'd think the people there would up their game to fill the gap being left for them to occupy.

 

[MajorFubar]

I'm going to generalise and play devil's advocate, the majority of you peasants think MP3 is good enough so why should WHF not go on the direction it is?

It's a fair enough question which no one has yet answered, but it's a true one. WHF his headed the way it is because increasingly less and less people concern themselves with quality audio playback and instead care more about convenience. I don't necessarily mean members on here...no one on this forum is representative of the general populous in terms of hifi and AV.

 

[chebby]

I'm going to generalise and play devil's advocate, the majority of you peasants think MP3 is good enough so why should WHF not go on the direction it is?

It's a fair enough question which no one has yet answered, but it's a true one. WHF his headed the way it is because increasingly less and less people concern themselves with quality audio playback and instead care more about convenience. I don't necessarily mean members on here...no one on this forum is representative of the general populous in terms of hifi and AV.

I am.

And I am also manicm's 'peasant' as well. (I'll take on the role with pleasure.)

My 'MP3' is AAC and at higher rates (320k) than usual, but still compressed enough to take me 'beyond the pale' of polite society.

My 'wireless' is AirPlay rather than Bluetooth (but my Quad amp also has Bluetooth and it sounded pretty good when I tried it).

My main audio source(s) are iOS devices (phone and tablet) and a Mac Mini.

My secondary source is television (TV on it's own, TV + Humax, TV + Bluray & DVDs and Apple TV for BBC iPlayer) connected with optical digital cable to the DAC in my amp.

I deliberately sold the last (and best) 100 records from my old LP collection a couple of years ago in order to prevent temptation leading to the purchase of another turntable and I am still glad I did.

The retirement of my previous system late last year meant no more FM tuner. (That was an emotional wrench i'll admit.) It also meant no more CD player. (No bother about that at all, i'd only used it about once a year, for a few minutes each time, for 5 years just to test it still worked!)

So I am - more than partly - representative of everything that's wrong in this hobby.

Going from the speakers 'backwards' to the amp, then to the sources and the wireless delivery, my system loses 'hifi credentials' in great globs at each step and I don't care who hates that because I am getting enormous pleasure from it.

 

[Al ears]

More night shift workers, or do you guys just wake up in the night and reach for the laptop/tablet instinctively?

Night shift Chebby, and a boring one at that. Top of the morning to you!

You also have to remember our foreign cousins are also up and about. ;-)

 

[Al ears]

Magazines are just vehicles for selling advertising.

As are websites. What where you going here again??

 

[lpv]

Magazines are just vehicles for selling advertising.

As are websites. What where you going here again??

relax.. it's Sunday evening. if you don't get it just ignore it.

 

[chebby]

Well, it's time for supper, a glass of fizz and our daily dose of televison here (poached smoked haddock with salad, Perthshire sparkling water with orange juice and episode 5 of 'Line Of Duty' series 3 recorded last Thursday).

Hope you all have excellent and productive night shifts. I am glad our nation's well-being is being attended to so assiduously whilst we mortals are all abed.

 

[expat_mike]

Well, it's time for supper, a glass of fizz and our daily dose of televison here (poached smoked haddock with salad, Perthshire sparkling water with orange juice and episode 5 of 'Line Of Duty' series 3 recorded last Thursday).

That fish sounds appetising - hope it turned out as good as it sounded.

 

[Leeps]

i just buy hifi choice & hifi world both are just about hifi and that's it both do very good reviews on upto date hifi .

Me too. Hifi Choice is my general mag of er...choice these days, with the occasional Home Cinema mag. I'm not interested in Bluetooth speakers or mobile phones which EVERY issue of WHF seems to be full of. Perhaps getting 2-channel kit from manufacturers for review IS getting more difficult as I've also noticed repeat reviews: the same amps already reviewed in a group test will be presented in a head-to-head style review months later.

 

[keeper of the quays]

Well, it's time for supper, a glass of fizz and our daily dose of televison here (poached smoked haddock with salad, Perthshire sparkling water with orange juice and episode 5 of 'Line Of Duty' series 3 recorded last Thursday).

Hope you all have excellent and productive night shifts. I am glad our nation's well-being is being attended to so assiduously whilst we mortals are all abed.

 

is that undyed smoked haddock? You can keep the fizz..ideal meal! Smoked haddock, salad consisting of peppery leaves, olives.feta cheese and cucumber,green peppers too...vinaigrette? Very nice..i also have a baked yam too...

 

[plastic penguin]

More night shift workers, or do you guys just wake up in the night and reach for the laptop/tablet instinctively?

Night shift Chebby, and a boring one at that. Top of the morning to you!

You also have to remember our foreign cousins are also up and about. ;-)

Then there's raving [semi]* insomniacs like me who only needs 5 hours sleep a night

*No euphemism required. *nea*

 

[Al ears]

Well, it's time for supper, a glass of fizz and our daily dose of televison here (poached smoked haddock with salad, Perthshire sparkling water with orange juice and episode 5 of 'Line Of Duty' series 3 recorded last Thursday).

Hope you all have excellent and productive night shifts. I am glad our nation's well-being is being attended to so assiduously whilst we mortals are all abed.

I am far my nightshift has nothing to do with your nations well-being.

However, enjoy that haddock.

 

[chebby]

More night shift workers, or do you guys just wake up in the night and reach for the laptop/tablet instinctively?

Night shift Chebby, and a boring one at that. Top of the morning to you!

You also have to remember our foreign cousins are also up and about. ;-)

Then there's raving [semi]* insomniacs like me who only needs 5 hours sleep a night

*No euphemism required. *nea*

Not one of al ears' 'foreign cousins' then? (Like the Queen or the Welsh.*)

*No ewephemism required. *nea*

 

[bigboss]

Review quote.

"You should definitely audition this revealing and dynamically exciting"

Guess what?

. HDMI cable?

A mains lead. They really are clueless.

At least they've asked you to audition, instead of buy.

 

[unhalfbricking]

I bought the WHF March 2016 '20 greatest speakers' edition precisely because it specifically featured hi-fi kit. Once I got home and read it I quickly realised that the whole multi-page feature was a cut-and-paste job from previous reviews featuring little or no new reviews or information. The whole thing had a 'cobbled-together at very little expense' feel about it. Very disappointing!

 

[TrevC]

Review quote.

"You should definitely audition this revealing and dynamically exciting"

Guess what?

. HDMI cable?

A mains lead. They really are clueless.

At least they've asked you to audition, instead of buy.

What's the point of auditioning a mains lead? They will all perform the same providing they connect the power properly. They should be concentrating on value for money in terms of the construction quality.