Rank Stereophile, & why no Von Schweikert reviews

Doesnt Stereophile have a policy not to review anything that doesnt have at least 5 dealers,,,,,i think that policy was written years ago,when the internet was much younger ,there are companys that only sell thru the internet,that have stood the test of time,,,,for quality products and service.I think they deserve a little bit of respect and recognition from the mainsteam mags,,even if they dont advertise in these mags!I think thats an outdated policy that should be "reviewed" by Stereophile.

I have to admit, the music reviews in both TAS and Stereophile seem to be improving in quality and quantity.

I have to admit, the music reviews in both TAS and Stereophile seem to be improving in quality and quantity.

The only way a magazine could ever be completely unbiased would be to go the "Consumer Reports" route and not accept any ads. It's probably not going to happen. In the meantime we have to read between the lines of the reviews where the author's true thoughts are often hidden in the guise of "damning /a product/ with faint praise".

In response to Jax2, I agree that you can "read between the lines" - but I shouldn't have to! I appreciate the ability of a magazine like Hi-Fi Choice to give many of it's reviews only a 3 out of 5 star rating, and not be shy about voicing complaints. That is what I pay a subscription for.

And for every single piece of gear that Stereophile reviews, they should stop telling me:

"unheard of at the price"
"offers extraordinary value for money"
"a much lower price than you'd expect to pay for a similar design"
"hard to fault within its price range"
"is a bargain at $XXXX"
"better than anything I've heard that's cheaper, and cheaper than anything I've heard that's better"
"I've never heard anything near this price and size"

I mean C'mon already! If EVERYTHING is a bargain, then nothing is. It is all then simply fairly priced. If Stereophile ever finds an issue with an aspect of a product, then they always sugar-coat it with "but great for the price". They are insulting our intelligence already. ( But I guess the subscription and advertising dollars show that insulting the reader's intelligence pays)