What happend to Active Speakers Supertest, What is WHF strategy for future hifi reviews

[NigelF]

I remember last year Clare mentioned that in early 2010 there will be a active speakers supertest with contenders like AVI ADM9.1, Adam, ATC and AE, is this still on the cards?

I've also noticed that recently there hasn't been any high-end hi-fi supertests published for e.g amps & speakers in 1 to 1.5 grand range, is there a change in strategy at WHF to move away from hifi and focus on TVs and AVs?

There was also no Ultimate guide on HiFi published this year which is a pity, because normally I get rid of all old magazine issues and keep ultimate guide as reference because it contains reviews of all the hifi gears tested during past one year.

If you can't publish ultimate hifi guide because of financial issues & sponsors, can you at least put all hifi gears reviews on website?, I know there are plenty of stuff on website but not all reviews are published.

There is also not much progress on online magzine availability? What's cooking at WHF!

 

[John Duncan]

 

[Clare Newsome]

NigelF:
I remember last year Clare mentioned that in early 2010 there will be a active speakers supertest with contenders like AVI ADM9.1, Adam, ATC and AE, is this still on the cards?

We have an active speaker test in our next issue, with a wide range of brands/options included - it's been a very, very interesting test and we're still in progress on it. That issue is on sale 5 May; with subscribers from 29th April.

NigelF:

I've also noticed that recently there hasn't been any high-end hi-fi supertests published for e.g amps & speakers in 1 to 1.5 grand range, is there a change in strategy at WHF to move away from hifi and focus on TVs and AVs?

No change in strategy - just very few new hi-fi products, particularly at those price points. We continue to include more hi-fi tests than any other magazine/website. And of real-world products that you have a good chance of auditioning!

NigelF:

There was also no Ultimate guide on HiFi published this year which is a pity, because normally I get rid of all old magazine issues and keep ultimate guide as reference because it contains reviews of all the hifi gears tested during past one year.

If you can't publish ultimate hifi guide because of financial issues & sponsors, can you at least put all hifi gears reviews on website?, I know there are plenty of stuff on website but not all reviews are published.

Ultimate Guides never covered all the product we'd tested - just the four- and five-star rated products. Every single product we've tested in the past year is on the website - all star ratings, all prices.

If you can't find a particular review online, please let us know!

NigelF:

There is also not much progress on online magzine availability? What's cooking at WHF!

Plenty cooking, I can assure you - porting our website over to a whole new platform, for starters (hence JD's post above)

Re digital editions - it's on the 'to do' list, but currently held up by some political wrangling at a magazine-industy level; something that's way beyond WHF and even Haymarket's control at this minute, but that we're lobbying to get sorted. We'll keep you updated....

 

[matthewpiano]

Clare Newsome:
No change in strategy - just very few new hi-fi products, particularly at those price points. We continue to include more hi-fi tests than any other magazine/website. And of real-world products that you have a good chance of auditioning!

Crucial point. Understandably, most dealers run demo stock very tight and cherry-pick a focused range of products that they have a chance of selling in decent numbers. Often even getting to audition 3 or 4 highly regarded budget amps in the same dealer is very difficult, and the scope gets smaller the higher up the food chain you get. There are exceptions but very few of us are lucky enough to have a dealer like Frank Harvey Hi-Fi Excellence within travelling distance. There have been several times when I've visited a local dealer to be told that the only real options in the mid-range are Cyrus or Naim.

However, I do think that WHF&SV needs to make sure it doesn't under-play the influence it has. A good review of, say, the Sugden Mystro pairing in WHFS&V could create significant interest in the product from dealers as well as prospective purchasers. It is a bit of a never-ending circle and it would be good to see the magazine breaking that cycle and introducing some less mainstream ideas like the Sugden kit, Audio Analogue, Union Research, Opera etc. at the mid-range price-point.

 

[Clare Newsome]

matthewpiano:[It would be good to see the magazine breaking that cycle and introducing some less mainstream ideas like the Sugden kit, Audio Analogue, Union Research, Opera etc. at the mid-range price-point.

If we're supplied the products, we're happy to review them.

And yes, we do have some budget to buy - in fact i've splashed some of our WHF cash out this very issue to ensure a review we needed to run...

 

[matthewpiano]

Clare Newsome:
matthewpiano:[It would be good to see the magazine breaking that cycle and introducing some less mainstream ideas like the Sugden kit, Audio Analogue, Union Research, Opera etc. at the mid-range price-point.

If we're supplied the products, we're happy to review them.

And yes, we do have some budget to buy - in fact i've splashed some of our WHF cash out this very issue to ensure a review we needed to run...

Please don't think I'm criticising Clare. I just feel that you raised an important issue that is really affecting consumers in the hi-fi market - that of availability, and specifically the availability of demo kit across a wider range of product.

Of course, manufacturers supplying their kit for review is another element in the cycle and it certainly seems some of them don't help matters at all.

 

[Clare Newsome]

I didn't take it as criticism - all useful feedback! - but wanted to clarify for the benefit of all.

For further clarification, we're happy to test any product a manufacturer/distributor can assure us will be reasonably available to see/hear before a buyer commits to buy (whether in a dealer or via home trial).

 

[chebby]

Clare Newsome:And yes, we do have some budget to buy - in fact i've splashed some of our WHF cash out this very issue to ensure a review we needed to run...

ADM9.1s for the forthcoming Active speaker review?

Ashley would go ballistic even if they won! Please do it. Please.

 

[Anonymous]

Lol he probably would

 

[NigelF]

Thanks Clare for your detailed and honest reply, nice to hear that next month there will be active speakers shoot-out, can't wait

,

Regarding hifi reviews of top-end tier gears, you are right the market is fairly limited, it's a shame that average people spend more time listening to music then watching TV but more and more companies focus on AV stuff then hifi gears with exception to portalable players.

 

[Andrew Everard]

And of course each month our Temptations section reviews high-end equipment both stereo and multichannel...

 

[NigelF]

Hi Andrew,

Temptations gears are really high-end and out of budget for average hifi enthusiast , what I am talking about are gears in the range ot 600-1500 budget.

If my memory serves well, last supertest for amps and speakers in the budget range of 1k to 1.5K was long time ago

 

[Andrew Everard]

Indeed, but that probably reflects the market: as soon as there's a sensible group to test, we tend to put it together and publish the results.

 

[Diamond Joe]

Clare Newsome:
We have an active speaker test in our next issue, with a wide range of brands/options included - it's been a very, very interesting test and we're still in progress on it. That issue is on sale 5 May; with subscribers from 29th April.
You've got me wondering now Clare, roughly how long does a group test like this take to complete? Hours, days, weeks?

 

[Andrew Everard]

Depending on the complexity of the product and the number of them in the test, days or even a week or two, rather than hours.

 

[Diamond Joe]

Thanks Andrew, it doesn't surprise me in the least that tests can take up to a couple of weeks, I imagine AV amps take a while. P.s. I didn't think for a second that tests only take a few hours.