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Thread: Practical Hi-Fi Magazine September 1979

  1. #21
    Join Date: Oct 2012

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    I see the op hasn't been back since starting the thread....
    Arkless Electronics-Engineered to be better. Tel. 01670 530674 (after 1pm)

    Modded Thorens TD150, Audio Technica AT-1005 MkII, Technics EPC-300MC, Arkless Hybrid MC phono stage, Arkless passive pre, Arkless 50WPC Class A SS power amp, (or) Arkless modded Leak Stereo 20, Modded Kef Reference 105/3's
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  2. #22
    Join Date: Jan 2009

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    I'm openingabottleofwine.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Macca View Post
    Hi-Fi World was never Flat Earth - it was valves and DIY from the start. Linn was rarely reviewed and when it was it did not get good reviews, Naim likewise.

    Hi-Fi review I have some old issues of (the last 4 I think) and it was nothing like as bad as people claim to remember it being.
    Oops - what was I thinking of?

    By only excuse is confusion with Hi Fi Review; thinking that 'World' had morphed into 'Review'.

    And yes you are right, HFW is a good magazine, which I continue to buy on occasion. I like the reviews of unusual items of kit, but I don't agree with some of their opinions of 'classical' gear and I miss the days when it used to encourage DIY and the use of vintage items.

    But I do stand by my opinion of the defunct 'The Flat Response' and it's successor 'Hi Fi Review'. Both miserable little rags, that seemed to be nothing more than propaganda for the Glasgow-Salisbury axis.
    Barry

  3. #23
    Join Date: Oct 2012

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    Quote Originally Posted by Barry View Post
    Oops - what was I thinking of?

    By only excuse is confusion with Hi Fi Review; thinking that 'World' had morphed into 'Review'.

    And yes you are right, HFW is a good magazine, which I continue to buy on occasion. I like the reviews of unusual items of kit, but I don't agree with some of their opinions of 'classical' gear and I miss the days when it used to encourage DIY and the use of vintage items.

    But I do stand by my opinion of the defunct 'The Flat Response' and it's successor 'Hi Fi Review'. Both miserable little rags, that seemed to be nothing more than propaganda for the Glasgow-Salisbury axis.
    I well remember HFW giving a rave review to the Leak Troughline tuner and claiming it was the best tuner ever built by a country mile... values (temporarily) went from around £20 to £350 virtually overnight! It probably had something to do with the vast quantities of them most hi fi dealers had in the basement as door stops and paper weights... Some must have made a killing! Vastly over rated and completely trounced by Leak's later Stereofetic/Delta FM which still goes for like £35 or so...
    And now I have over the years accumulated about a dozen Troughlines no one wants one... oh well they do hold a door open pretty well I can see me ending up scrapping some for the mains transformers and valve bases etc for building prototype pre amps etc.
    Arkless Electronics-Engineered to be better. Tel. 01670 530674 (after 1pm)

    Modded Thorens TD150, Audio Technica AT-1005 MkII, Technics EPC-300MC, Arkless Hybrid MC phono stage, Arkless passive pre, Arkless 50WPC Class A SS power amp, (or) Arkless modded Leak Stereo 20, Modded Kef Reference 105/3's
    ReVox PR99, Studer B62, Ferrograph Series 7, Tandberg TCD440, Hitachi FT-5500MkI, also FT-5500MkII
    Digital: Yamaha CDR-HD1500 (Digital Swiss army knife-CD recorder, player, hard drive, DAC and ADC in one), PC files via 24/96 sound card and SPDIF, modded Philips CD850, modded Philips CD104, modded DPA Little Bit DAC. Sennheiser HD580 cans with Arkless Headphone amp.
    Cables- free interconnects that come with CD players, mains leads from B&Q, dead kettles etc, extension leads from Tesco

  4. #24
    RothwellAudio Guest

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    My issue with Hi-Fi World was that they produced their own gear which their own reviewers would rave about. They ran multi-page adverts for their own gear which would have cost any other advertiser a considerable sum of money. Many of the products they reviewed would have been in competition with their own products, resulting in a conflict of interests. Their own products were not available through any other retailers and no other magazines reviewed their products.

    Apart from the conflict of interests angle, I was never impressed by the technical measurements. Measurements were made and bold claims about how the product "would" sound were made based on those measurements. Frequently their own reviewer's subjective evaluation would be at odds with the measurement-based predictions.

  5. #25
    Join Date: Jan 2009

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    I'm openingabottleofwine.

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    Quote Originally Posted by RothwellAudio View Post
    My issue with Hi-Fi World was that they produced their own gear which their own reviewers would rave about. They ran multi-page adverts for their own gear which would have cost any other advertiser a considerable sum of money. Many of the products they reviewed would have been in competition with their own products, resulting in a conflict of interests. Their own products were not available through any other retailers and no other magazines reviewed their products.

    Apart from the conflict of interests angle, I was never impressed by the technical measurements. Measurements were made and bold claims about how the product "would" sound were made based on those measurements. Frequently their own reviewer's subjective evaluation would be at odds with the measurement-based predictions.
    I take their measurements with a pinch of salt - I'm much more interested in their views on how an item sounds.
    Barry

  6. #26
    Join Date: Oct 2012

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    Quote Originally Posted by RothwellAudio View Post
    My issue with Hi-Fi World was that they produced their own gear which their own reviewers would rave about. They ran multi-page adverts for their own gear which would have cost any other advertiser a considerable sum of money. Many of the products they reviewed would have been in competition with their own products, resulting in a conflict of interests. Their own products were not available through any other retailers and no other magazines reviewed their products.

    Apart from the conflict of interests angle, I was never impressed by the technical measurements. Measurements were made and bold claims about how the product "would" sound were made based on those measurements. Frequently their own reviewer's subjective evaluation would be at odds with the measurement-based predictions.
    Whilst I hadn't really thought of it that way I guess you are right about the WAD products. There was even (still is?) a forum for users of it!

    I don't agree on the measurements though as when they reviewed the Axiom I recall thinking that the measurements and technical comments were spot on and proof that they really had done the tests etc.
    Arkless Electronics-Engineered to be better. Tel. 01670 530674 (after 1pm)

    Modded Thorens TD150, Audio Technica AT-1005 MkII, Technics EPC-300MC, Arkless Hybrid MC phono stage, Arkless passive pre, Arkless 50WPC Class A SS power amp, (or) Arkless modded Leak Stereo 20, Modded Kef Reference 105/3's
    ReVox PR99, Studer B62, Ferrograph Series 7, Tandberg TCD440, Hitachi FT-5500MkI, also FT-5500MkII
    Digital: Yamaha CDR-HD1500 (Digital Swiss army knife-CD recorder, player, hard drive, DAC and ADC in one), PC files via 24/96 sound card and SPDIF, modded Philips CD850, modded Philips CD104, modded DPA Little Bit DAC. Sennheiser HD580 cans with Arkless Headphone amp.
    Cables- free interconnects that come with CD players, mains leads from B&Q, dead kettles etc, extension leads from Tesco

  7. #27
    RothwellAudio Guest

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    Quote Originally Posted by Arkless Electronics View Post
    I don't agree on the measurements though...
    It's not the accuracy of the measurements I had an issue with, more the interpretation of them and the conclusions drawn.

  8. #28
    Join Date: Aug 2009

    Location: Staffordshire, England

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    I'm Martin.

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    yes, the conclusions were sometimes dodgy, or a little cavalier - some Celestion speakers I owned were measured and they concluded that a 50 watt amp 'would be fine'

    Yes, a 50 watt amp that was happy with a load dropping down to 2 ohm, never bloody mentioned that!
    Current Lash Up:

    TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > JM Labs Focal Electra 926.

  9. #29
    Join Date: Feb 2008

    Location: Canaries

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    IMHO the best was "Answers" - I still listen to LPs recommended by Fred Dellar such as Love Wars by Womack and Womack. I also used to enjoy John Atkinson“s exploits using photographers“developing dishes as light and rigid supports under his Linn.

  10. #30
    Join Date: Jan 2009

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    I'm openingabottleofwine.

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    Hi Fi Answers was the first of the magazines to fall for, and promulgate the Flat Earth mythology.
    Barry

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