Hi-fi World

Its certainly better than all the other mags I think.

Yes you sometimes need to take the reviews with a pinch of salt, but frankly if you read reviews (of anything really) and took them as some kind of objective truth, then you are an idiot.

I mean they actually HAVE an occasional DIY supplement (which no other mag does). They do frequent articles on older second hand kit and will readily admit that the latest isn't always the greatest. They have always been champions of vinyl and tubes. The editorial articles are usually worth a read. Their letters section is a class apart from the other mags. It even has better ads.

Doesn't smell as nice as HiFi Plush though

 

Always been worth a read - it was one of their specials a few years ago which got me into vinyl.

They did lose it for a bit - Panasonic DVD player slaying £2k cd players - and this was when I dropped my subscription, but it has returned to its place in the last year or so.

The guys who work on the mag genuinely seem to enjoy what they do and you get the feeling there are fewer hidden agendas with them compared to other more glamourous mags (in a recent plush mag the editor reviews 8 high end bits of kit all for one edition of the mag ?????).

Plus they reviewed the SRM/Tech stuff sold on ebay and made me replace the ringmat with one of theit silicon mats and I'm a lot happier now.

 

dp is a bit of a ken ishiwata fanboy though
still hfw is top of the pile imho although plush's smell is alluring. in fact if you read world for it's real world / diy stuff (and the games of what if hi-fi you can play with the ads) and plush for the 'if i won the lottery' then you don;t need to read the other mags. choice is dross anyway, news is up it's own arse - only the techie bits and readers system saves it imho. and the other one is best left unmentioned.
cheers


julian

 

Plush does have an excellent music review section, with a good range of reviewers so you're not reliant on your tastes coinciding with those of just one bloke.

 

Hmmm. Its a shame that the music they choose to review is generally such middle of the road, middle aged, middle class, middle of everything stuff though (an accusation which can be levelled at all of the hifi mags mind).

 

That's probably true, but I don't notice as I'm middle-aged and middle-class meself! I was thinking more of the reviews of classical music than of the rock/pop gubbins, especially the detailed stuff on particular artists/labels.

 

largely with the others, they are professional writers, some of whom are into hifi.
some of whom do it for a living.

with hf world, certainly from the early issues it was apparent it was started with enthusiasm by geeks interested in the stuff, passionate about it.
largely these same guys are still running the mag, noel keywood, david price(wans't there at the beginning, came in 1994 circa).

I think a lot of the big brands, naim inc., cyrus,MF, are pretty good, and the reviews reflect that. Certainly IMNSHO, naim is the most engaging non valve stuff.

but yes, a sad day when they went do-lally on dvd's, panasonic and the denon were said to be better than a 2k cd, I don't know why they said that, certainly with their switch mode power s's I have found things time better in general.

I suspect DP was given his modded KI's, and didn't have to pay for it. So conflict of interest? oh to be a reviewer....'we'll give you this lovely bit of kit if you give us a good review'..

yes please

 

It's a bit of a vicious circle all round; manufacturers won't want to lend/give stuff for review if it's going to get panned (or even damned with faint praise), so the same 'favoured' brands tend to feature in the same magazines and much good stuff goes unreviewed.