The reality of magazine reviews

[Berty bass]

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I haven’t bought any Hi-Fi equipment for over 20 years. Microphones, amplifiers, mixers etc. but no domestic Hi-Fi, nor do I have any plans to do so, unless my tuner has to be replaced. Then I will buy a used one of the same model.
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It's funny, as a bass player, I've got absolute confidence in auditioning and selecting an amp or speaker which gives me the sound I'm after. When I'm buying Hi-Fi I'm forever looking to others to tell me something's a great piece of kit though! I wonder if it's something to do with the former producing sound and the latter being required to reproduce (the recorded) sound. Either way, I wish I could just listen and enjoy. I'm by no means fanatical but it's never usually more than a few months go by before I find myself contemplating if a particular item in my (Hi-Fi) set-up could be improved, whereas I've had my current bass amp for about 8 years and have no intention of changing it - or my cabs for that matter. Apologies for straying off topic though.

[Geoff.R.G]

I haven’t bought any Hi-Fi equipment for over 20 years. Microphones, amplifiers, mixers etc. but no domestic Hi-Fi, nor do I have any plans to do so, unless my tuner has to be replaced. Then I will buy a used one of the same model.

It's funny, as a bass player, I've got absolute confidence in auditioning and selecting an amp or speaker which gives me the sound I'm after. When I'm buying Hi-Fi I'm forever looking to others to tell me something's a great piece of kit though! I wonder if it's something to do with the former producing sound and the latter being required to reproduce (the recorded) sound. Either way, I wish I could just listen and enjoy. I'm by no means fanatical but it's never usually more than a few months go by before I find myself contemplating if a particular item in my (Hi-Fi) set-up could be improved, whereas I've had my current bass amp for about 8 years and have no intention of changing it - or my cabs for that matter. Apologies for straying off topic though.

I think you have it about right, one is about sound production the other is about sound reproduction.

[Lindsayt]

Perhaps magazines reflect the reality that there is very little difference in the sound of equipment but audiophiles spend an age on minor differences in presentation .

If you get a little bit better source with a little bit better pre-amp with a little bit better power amp with a bit better speakers that all adds up to the difference between a competent sounding system and a system that sounds just so.

And what I tend to find is that genres of components tend to sound similar. EG slimline ported low efficiency speakers tend to be much of a muchness. Swap to a different genre, eg electrostatics or big woofered high efficiency speakers and you do get significant, easy to hear differences.

And there's huge differences in the price to buy. Anyone with any sense loves a giant killer. Although often when you look at the under the bonnet engineering with an understanding of what's going on, it's not so much David beating Goliath, it's more the (affordably priced) Big Friendly Giant beating Goliath.

Too many magazines - not just hi-fi - place too much emphasis on new kit and not enough on used or DIY. With What Hi-fi being a ridiculous extreme example of this. The What Hi-fi world is not reality at all. Just as all those online laptop buying guides that act as if used laptops don't exist are not reality at all.
With this being great news for the canny buyer as it helps keep the price of stuff on ebay and facebook marketplace down.

[SteveTheShadow]

My ultimate speakers Gimme some!

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[SteveTheShadow]

In my mid teenage years around 1973/74, I used to read a few mags. My favourite was “Audio” which was run by a guy named Carl Anthony. These mags were about the equipment. The music was dealt with in the record review section of the magazine.

I think these mags were far more honest about what they did than the later subjective mags of the 1980s. These 70s mags never pretended to be about music when they reviewed the equipment, it was all about the electronics, the oscillographs, the speakers, the turntables and whether the cartridges tracked properly. Music was kept entirely separate within the mag.

The September 1974 issue of “Audio” ran a piece about a guy named John Farlowe, who had set up in Brighton, a concept named “Exposure.” The idea according to Farlowe, was to “expose” the guy on the Clapham Omnibus to what could be achieved by a good hi-fi system. His idea was “they are here” rather than “you are there.”

He had a basement studio in which lurked a pair of 6ft tall Tannoy studio monitors with four dual concentric drivers per cabinet. According to “Audio” the speakers were over 6ft tall and ran almost floor to ceiling. The Tannoys were fed by a Crown DC300A power amp with a QUAD 33 on preamp duties. I can’t remember the turntable except it had the usual SME 3009 improved arm and Shure V15III cart.

I remember a few extracts from the article including stuff like:
“The Crown DC300A is a true sonic wonder. with a frequency response of
DC - 20KHz + - 0.1dB
THD 0.001% at 1KHz 1W
Intermodulation distortion (SMPTE IM 60Hz and 7KHz) less than 0.05% from 0.25 - full rated average power.
Phase lagging 15 degrees from DC to 20KHz at full rated power
S/N ratio 110dB.
“Even if you know nothing about specifications, believe me, you’d be a desperate man to want better than these,” the article gushed. Marvellous.

Farlowe kept 5A fuses in the speaker lines when he was working in the basement, as in his opinion, the 350Wpc from the Crown DC300A was easily capable of destroying the Tannoy drivers and anything else in its path. This was aptly demonstrated during the album “Love Devotion Surrender.”

“What a pedigree sound!” the article said. “We were virtually in with the band, but during an amazing Billy Cobham drum solo, a sudden blue flash followed by silence indicated we’d gone over the top! John reduced the volume, replaced the fuses and we were soon back in business. What a system!”
Farlowe had even been at the QUAD 33 preamp, which in his opinion was too noisy in a system like this.
“I’ve changed all the transistors to the new equivalents, which has dropped the noise” he said.
“He was right. Hiss was at vanishingly low levels even with the volume at max with no signal.” said the article.

A few issues later, a furious Peter Walker wrote a scathing letter, telling Farlowe to keep his mitts and his filthy soldering iron off his products.
Hi-Fi was exciting in those days. Quadraphonic sound was just getting going. Cor!
And the mags were great fun.

Simpler times.

[SteveTheShadow]

It’s interesting to me that I can remember virtually word for word, parts of some of the record reviews in “Audio” magazine. No other hi-fi magazine since has had as much positive impact on my own philosophies about the hobby. This unlike the thoroughly negative impact from the 80s subjective mags, with the bloody flat earth bias. But luckily I’ve returned to the “Audio Magazine” fold even though the thing went defunct nearly 50 years ago.

Here are a few choice comments from their music reviewers. I think I have got the gist of what their reviews were like but this is nearly 50 years ago so don’t quote me on any of it.

Tangerine Dream - Phaedra:
A galloping cosmic journey with images that echo and twitter from the edges of a vast uncharted void….. As far as the sound quality goes, I just don’t know, as the music is made up of synthesisers, sequencers and organ basically. However I would advise buyers to make sure they get a clean copy as this is a very quiet album and in parts of my copy the surface noise sounded like an elephant filing its teeth.

Argent - Nexus:
Ace album from Argent! Six vocal tracks and a three part suite on the coming and goings of that winter comet Kohoutek.
Engineer Pete Brown has got it all down too, clean and crisp, with excellent top detail and a fine overall balance, plus some truly electrifying bass effects on “Thunder and Lightning.” On one track, Rod Argent sings “Music from the spheres assails my ears,” and he’s dead right!”

David Bowie - Diamond Dogs:
If that’s how producer Ken Scott and Bowie wanted it then fine, it’s a smash, but can anyone honestly say it’s valid after the excellence of his previous works. The instruments wash around in a wardrobe full of last years blankets. Stupid unnecessary Dalek effects all over the place and apart from a Rolling Stones romp on “Rebel Rebel,” which sounds much more simply recorded, stripped back and all the better for it, the rest of Diamond Dogs is a music and sonic disappointment.

Neil Sedaka-Laughter in the Rain:
Smooth, smooth, smooth and I don’t think Neil Sedaka needs it. A big mid-range cream bun with doughnut bass. Your granny will love it.

Supertramp - Crime of the Century. What can I say except brilliant! The sound is fifty feet wide and my living room is only 16ft. The music is great too.

And so it went…

[SteveTheShadow]

I like to think that Bowie read that Diamond Dogs review in "Audio," turned into a soul boy, hooked up with Nile Rogers and his mates and came out with "Young Americans" and "Station To Station."

[CN211276]

Some of the album reviews from that era remain in my mind.

Genesis - Duke
If you want to send yourself to sleep and convince yourself that high fidelity is dead, buy Duke.

Led Zep - ITTOD
Starts off as if something is wrong with your turn table......past and present masters of heavy metal. Keyboards very prominent, an album I would not describe as heavy.

Bowie - Scary Monsters
Mid band energy and there is a hell of aa lot of it could have been better mixed.

Whitesnake - Come an get it
Can hear Coverdale's heavy breathing between tracks. Must be through exhaustion after combing all that hair.........must take him to task for his lyrics. Sexism was the bands trademark.

[SteveTheShadow]

Some of the album reviews from that era remain in my mind.

Genesis - Duke
If you want to send yourself to sleep and convince yourself that high fidelity is dead, buy Duke.

Led Zep - ITTOD
Starts off as if something is wrong with your turn table......past and present masters of heavy metal. Keyboards very prominent, an album I would not describe as heavy.

Bowie - Scary Monsters
Mid band energy and there is a hell of aa lot of it could have been better mixed.

Whitesnake - Come an get it
Can hear Coverdale's heavy breathing between tracks. Must be through exhaustion after combing all that hair.........must take him to task for his lyrics. Sexism was the bands trademark.

What would they make of all the 21st century mainstream albums?

"Flat as a pancake"
"Slightly less life than a dead horse being flogged"
"Music that should sond like a relief map of Tibet turned into a map of Holland"
"A triumph of low level detail over dynamics"
"Engineered for listening when you're digging the road with a pneumatic drill"

[CN211276]

Some of the album reviews from that era remain in my mind.

Genesis - Duke
If you want to send yourself to sleep and convince yourself that high fidelity is dead, buy Duke.

Led Zep - ITTOD
Starts off as if something is wrong with your turn table......past and present masters of heavy metal. Keyboards very prominent, an album I would not describe as heavy.

Bowie - Scary Monsters
Mid band energy and there is a hell of aa lot of it could have been better mixed.

Whitesnake - Come an get it
Can hear Coverdale's heavy breathing between tracks. Must be through exhaustion after combing all that hair.........must take him to task for his lyrics. Sexism was the bands trademark.

What would they make of all the 21st century mainstream albums?

"Flat as a pancake"
"Slightly less life than a dead horse being flogged"
"Music that should sond like a relief map of Tibet turned into a map of Holland"
"A triumph of low level detail over dynamics"
"Engineered for listening when you're digging the road with a pneumatic drill"

Very true. The Whitesnake album I mentioned received very positive comments for the production quality and mixing which I whole heartedly agree with. A far cry from their albums of this century. However I think some of it could be to cover up Coverdale's shot voice.