Page 1 of Have What Hifi Lost the plot?Discuss..

Hi all,

I have just finished reading this months What Hifi, and to my utter astonishement, see they had `reviewed` the Antony Gallos Nucleus Micro speakers. Now, having heard a set, i can honestly say that - along with the Acoustic Energy Aego set - these are modern wonders of the world.

I`m no amazing hifi reviewer, but i do know what good sounds like, and i also know what bad sounds like - the Gallos are far, far, far from bad. In fact, in 5.1 form they`re superb, with far more scale and weight than their diminutive 3 inch spherical proportions would have you believe.

Now, is it me, or have What Hifi started to slip down the slithery slope of pretentious and samey publication?

Every month i see the same What Hifi `terms` when describing sound, the same old tests, (christ, how many times can they dig up the budget DVD test, or CD players £501-£1000!!!), and an ever shrinking page count.

I used to love reading this mag - sad though it is us boys and our toys are easily pleased when it comes to expensive gadgetry; cars, massive speakers, good amps, digital camera phones for that `cleavage shot` etc.
Now, it`s a shadow of its former self, and this review of the Gallos just sums it up for me. The person reviewing didn`t have a clue, and gave the impression he was running it off an Aiwa Pro Logic Hifi with the Turbo Nutter Bastard X Bass on maximum. Clueless and highly frustrating!

The same issue then reviews a Bose home cinema system and gives it 4 out of 5, saying it has a lush and expansive sound. Quick nurse, i`m about to explode....

This is purely my own opinion, and if anyone takes offence or totally diagrees then i`m sorry, but this is just taking the biscuit.

Hell, one month the Marantz 5200 was the bees knees, the next it`s dated and doesn`t have the latest surround formats! Come on guys, we all know you can do MUCH better than this...

Angry Westy

PS, New column up tomorrow!

This item was edited on Tuesday, 17th December 2002, 10:39

My brother has these speakers in his bedroom.They sound amazing.
Theyre expensive but a lot better than the bose.The bose speakers have no bass at all.Agree with you on this one.With the full 5.1 set up its sounds great.Sometimes its hard to realise that spekers so small produce such good sound.
nilesh
scan

The joys of differing opinions, I havn`t had a listen to them yet so I have nothing to say. Some people swear by Cyrus kit but It`s not for me. I like the REL Quake sub and I know Westy will disagree with me on that one. this month essential home cinema give a ok/average review to the optoma H50 DLP projector. Yes you can get better, but at twice the price. It is bloody fantastic.

Not for the first time today I apear to be rambling. I shall go.

All the best,

The 42%er.

I`m sure that the review would have been much more positive if Gallos had treated the writer to a night out at Stringfellow`s, followed by some special "hospitality" from a teenage prostitute.

This item was edited on Monday, 16th December 2002, 19:34

I thought the Rel Quake was Ok, but nothing special - but then again compared to the Velodyne CHT-10, everything sounds lightweight :-)

Their review of the Sony DVPNS905V DVD player was stupid - it lost a star beacause it doesn`t support DVD Audio!!! It`s a superb player in every way, which despite the odd omission of component vid outputs, easily competes wih players twice its price IMHO.

Name me 10 discs worth having in DVDA format?? SACD wipes the floor with it, and besides, CD Audio is absolutely fine - just listen to it in DPL2 and you`re laughing.

Westy

Hi! Westy having left the HI-FI industry 18 months ago I have not read said comic since then.Really HI-FI magazines havent been the same since Audiophile & HI-FI Answers(Does anybody remember Ian Rankin writing reviews?)
Haymarket publications merged Audiophile into What HI-FI about ten years ago,because they had to sell enough copys to be alble to get onto supermarket shelves(If sales figures are too low the big boys are not interested.By the way if anybody is interested in high quality interconnects terminated with Neutrik phono plugs,give me a nod!

Forgot to mention I do sometimes buy the yank mag Stereophile which is generally very good.

This item was edited on Wednesday, 18th December 2002, 22:54