++++StereoPhile Class A components+++++

I use the guides in S'phile, and Ab Sound, etc as an informal guide if I am looking for something. A place to form some ideas of where to begin. Then I have to see if any dealers in my area (100 miles) carry the equipment. What do others say about it on the internet. How long has the equipment manufacturer been around. What else have they made that has been heralded as 'good'.
Some equipment manufacturers seem to not want their stuff reviewed, and consideration of those items is more complicated. (and if there are only four dealers in the U.S. and the stuff is made in Paraguay by a new company founded by an eccentric Tibetian monk I never heard of... it may fall off my short list of stuff to look for...)

the recomendations of the traditional mags have less to do with music than ever before...they're kind of like playboy...great pictures...mediocre commentary.

What is wrong with "stuff that is made in "Paraguay" by a new company founded by an eccentric Tibetian monk You never heard..." "Tibetian" monk haven't heard of you either!

Eduoardo!

Here's my problem with the ratings: "Editor's Note: Class A Loudspeakers are sufficiently idiosyncratic and differ enough from one another that prospective customers should read Stereophile's original reviews in their entirety for descriptions of the sounds."

What does this tell you? The reviewers don't know what speakers are supposed to do. As one reviewer who does know what he's talking about said: "There is something on the recording. Reproducing it correctly can produce only one result. This "different perspective" is a way for audiophile reviewers to conceal the obvious fact(just compare Stereophile's measurements to the reviewers
comments) that audiophile reviewers mostly have no clue as to what things ought to sound like."

To my mind, first class speakers shouldnt make sounds of their own. I'm fairly easy with respect to speakers, I think. There are a few that I think sound ok at their price points, some I think sound very good. But there have been some Class A rated speakers that are unlistenable.

Ultimately, the rating system is worthless, except in generating demand for the products.

Read Audiogon not Stereophile!