Bloody hell...roy Gregory...

I too, can see no problem with a reviewer getting a deal on review kit, or even getting it free. I have to believe that reviewers are, like us, enthusiasts at heart. If so, then they are not going to put kit in their home system unless they think it is worth the entry.
I also find it most useful for mags to give lists of reviewers kit, as it does help in understanding their preferences. My system is not dissimilar to Roy Gregory's, so I might expect to like other stuff he recommends. As it happens I do not get on with Nordost cable (except the digital lead Silver shadow), but I did give it a chance based on his review. As we all say time and again, at the end of the day it's your ears that count (as it is your money that is being spent).

 

glad someone did and has got a sense of humour.

Its like bangin your head against a brick wall, like Mr C said, RG has to come clean and declare everything otherwise there will

1/always be suspicion, also, he must think his readers INCREDIBLY stupid to believe him.

2/his mag is not worth the nice paper its written on.

3/the fact that he only reviews certain brands arouses suspcion

4/the fact that he uses these very same brands similarly arouses a great deal of suspicion

5/ how about lunch at a chelsea restaurant for a good review? possible?

6/ its becoming clear that the rasion d'etre of the mag is not hifi, it appears to be a way of getting expensive gear on the free/cheap.
review some stuff, then get to keep it. hmmmm.....

7/the mag has now lost TOTAL credibilty from that point of view. Its another manufacturers mouthpiece, and a shambles of journalism.

8/ I propose a law against this and requiring all mags to declare interests or be shut down.

 

Put it this way - have you ever seen a review in a glossy magazine which lets the public know about the benchmark dac1? This little £750 dac is a match for any £5k cd player. Do they ever let you know about giant killing £500 valve preamps, or 6k loudspeakers that can be had for 1.4k in kit form. Do they ever let you know a £2 per meter studio cable will beat any mega gold dust hype cable. They don't, and won't be letting you know any time soon. The commercial hifi mags are just glossy sales brochures. The only resource to be fully trusted are those without any financial interest whatsoever. Listen to equipment yourself, and listen to others on the net with recent demo experience. There are really decent products out there that don't buy into this BS. Money makes the world go round.

 

C'mon, he reviews loads of stuff from loads of manufacturers, including solid state (including Naim) and valve amps; CD players, turntables and speakers. As others have said, he''s hardly going to review stuff favourably and then use something entirely different in case he's regarded as 'biased'.

The criticisms I personally would level at him are that.

1) He reviews too much as well as editing the magazine

2) He overdoes the superlatives (not that he's alone in this).

I've listened to, liked, and in a couple of cases, bought some of the stuff he's raved about. In other cases, his rave reviews to my ears are entirely unjustified, but that's no different from saying that Jonathan Ross's film reviews are sometimes spot-on and sometimes wide of the mark.

Various people have referred to some 'journalistic code of ethics'. What is this? From my experience of journalists, the only 'ethics' they know about is a county in the East of England.

 

Have a look at www.spj.org/ethics_code.asp

It does lean towards news media in its language, but as the article clearly states in the preamble, "Conscientious journalists from all media and specialties strive to serve the public with thoroughness and honesty" (my italics)

'Perks' from manufacturers are essentially a conflict of interest when you are supposed to be writing honestly and objectively about those same manufacturers. All I'm asking is that RG has the respect for his own profession and his readers and declare his conflicts of interest, regardless of their nature, so that we can make informed decisions.

No, I don't have all the facts, that is why I'm asking for them from RG... What is so fanatical about that?

 

These have always been my criticisms too.

The first - the reviewing and editing is a mistake IMO. David Price of Hifi World also does the same. I think its a mistake because you cannot successfully 'edit' yourself - because you fundamentally agree with everything you've written!!

The second - superlatives - I think this has a lot to do with the magazines stance on only reviewing equipment they feel is worthy of a review. However, such importance is paid to the superlatives and complex language (and nothing else) that you sometimes end up asking yourself 'so what does it sound like, what equipment does it work well with, and how does it compare with other products in its price range?' - these 3 things are what I really would want to know in a review!!

 

I don't think it's wise to regard those who edit or write for consumer magazines as journalists. They're simply an extension of the marketing departments of the companies involved in the industry in question. Journalism is about investigation, consumer magazines are about selling products.

-- Ian

 

David Price may also edit/review but he was a reviewer on his mag long before he came an editor and imo his writing hasn't changed now he is an editor. I also quite like the fact he adds his comments in a side bar on some reviews to give his words regarding the equipment.

The latest hifi+ is almost a 'what RG listened to last month' as most of the major equipment in it is reviewed by him. If he's short of reviewers I'm sure there are many people who could help him out.

As for the Benchmark Dac1 - Stereophile did an excellent review of this and mentioned the fact it was a serious high end bargain.

Look at the Zanden CD player reviewed in hifi+, when something costs this much and is raved about by the editor then the best thing would be is for another reviewer to 2nd opinion it. The problem with hifi+ is it now has a case of the What hifis - in other words the best cd/turntable/amp/speakers ever are released on each mag.

Magazines are only relly there to show us what's available, personally I enjoy columns by people like Art Dudley rather than the actual reviews.

 

Yes, in Hi-Fi World. The March 2005 issue featured a full on glossy two-page review of the Benchmark DAC1 that awarded it their highest recommendation (5 "globes"). The January 2005 edition gave similar kudos to the Ming Da MC-7R valve preamp selling for £288.

As for Hi-Fi+, they published a 4-page review of the Heed Audio "black box" series by Paul Messenger in Issue 30 that turned me on to a most amazing brand from Hungary that I never would have heard about otherwise. Since then, I've purchased Heed's Canopus monoblocks, Questar phonostage , and recently sat-in on some demos of easily the best loudspeaker/amplification pairing I've ever heard.

Do the mags play favorites? Absolutely. As has been mentioned previously, Mr. Gregory will happily write for Nordost and virtually anything distributed by Audiofreaks and Absolute Sounds. And David Price will pass up no opportunity to review/mention anything and everything from Origin Live, Musical Fidelity, and recently, Naim. They pay their bills from advertising and we understand that fully before we purchase or subscribe.

The upside for us is that there are real treasures to be found lurking amidst all that shilling. By and large, the writers other than the editors mentioned are quite good. And Gregory and Price themselves often rise to the occasion when it's obvious they're writing out of genuine affection.

The current Hi-Fi+ (Issue 38) features 8-pages on the Eminent Technology LFT VIII planar hybrid loudspeaker. It sells for $1500 and has no UK distribution. But it makes for a fascinating read. Nothing's perfect, but I always find a number of worthwhile items in every issue of these two publications.

Regarding the subject of journalistic ethics, I'm honestly more concerned about their screaming absence in the realm of political reportage that permit unconscionable situations like Iraq to fester than I am about the full disclosure of some reviewer's kit.

 

I would hardly describe hifi world as a 'glossy'. More like recycled blotting paper in fact. This is obviously an enthusiasts magazine, not the usual marketing tool.

 

The Benchmark DAC1 is listed for review in the next issue of Hi-Fi+

 

Well, it is an enthusiast's magazine, yes, but it's also unquestionably a marketing tool. The fact that people think it's more trustworthy than some other magazines suggests David Price is doing his job very well.

-- Ian

 

Au contraire, Paul, the latest issue has been sexed-up ever further and is now 100% glossy, sans blotting paper.

When you characterise it as an "enthusiast's magazine", are you thinking mainly about their D.I.Y. and retro features? 'Cos it's certainly balanced out by their monthly contests and 5-page Sevenjoaks ads that utterly wail "marketing tool".

OTOH, I'd be tempted to consider hifi+ an "enthusiast's magazine" based on the sumptuous photography alone!

No one is innocent.

 

Does anyone else pick up hifi world now and feel they've read it in five minutes? I'm sure it wasn't always like that. Seems to be very little substance in there now imo, the reviews always leave me feeling I know very little more about the kit, theres no proper tech specs anymore other than a THD graph and -3dB points, and the reviews come across as being based on specific pieces of music, 'the such and such instrument in such and such piece had so much air'.
Its ok if you've heard the piece but it means absolutely nothing at all if you don't, seems to me like reviewing a car based on a specific road. Atleast with Hifi+ I get a feel for what the equipment is about and don't feel like I'm being sold it directly, just that it may be worth considering. Alot of the time the designers philosophy means more to me when shortlisting stuff than how much air and space it has on some recording or other. Hmmm. Not that I've ever bought anything I've seen reviewed in either magazine.

 

I'm a big fan of both HiFi World and HiFi+. Each magazine covers a different sector of the market - budget/hobbyist/DIYer in World and fabulous high-end audio porn in HiFi+.

I love the hifi+ music reviews and achingly expensive review kit. OK, so I can't afford 98% of it, but nor can I afford 98% of the cars I read about in EVO. As for them having biases towards favoured companies/suppliers, everyone does, to a certain extent. At least they've been upfront in stating that they have a natural bias towards distributors who provide kit that a) works properly and is b) delivered on time!

What makes me lauch about this thread is that y'all seem to base your buying decisions on their conclusions, rather than your own. What difference does it make if RG waxes lyrical about Nordorst Valhalla? Borrow some from your dealer (I'm sure he'll be more than happy to oblige at those margins!), wire up your kit and make up your own damn mind.

DT

 

I don't think anyone said anything like that. The point was whether or not they were being honest not whether what they say is gospel.

 

I bow to your superior knowledge. In fact I haven't seen hifi world in years, so Im out of touch. Sevenoaks ads. Glossy paper. Sacriledge.

I do like the Hifi+ pictures I must admit. Utter hifi porn. However I stopped buying it after they reviewed some 15k nordorst interconnects. Hello McFly!

I buy Hifi choice and Hifi news. To me there are ok. Halfway between the two extremes of What Lowfi, and What Utter Nonsense.

 

But as long as we use our own ears to make the final decision, does it matter? (And I would be very careful indeed about chucking around aspersions about others' honesty on a public forum).

 

Have you read another thread?
I havent seen anyone say that

 

You what?! Did you actually read what I said? I wasn't 'chucking around aspersions about others' honesty' ANYWHERE. That is what I took the thread
as being about. Personally I don't give a toss what kit reviewers use or get free.