Recommended components on Stereophile Magazine.

The RCL is just a ranking according to taste of stuff they've been able to review in the previous few years. It's a very skewed list. As John Atkinson might put it, I remain puzzled by the rankings and the many omissions.

You also need to pay attention to who did the original review, as your taste and priorities may be very different.

In any case, do not take the rankings literally. I have to make a conscious effort not to do so. Perhaps it's hard for some of us *not* to take rankings like this seriously, at least subconsciously, after so many years of indoctrination with ABCDF grading in school.

I like the TAS "the best" issues a little better, as they don't encourage thinking in terms of ranks like this. But they have another problem: they list by price. While this makes it easier to choose by budget, it enforces the idea that pricier is always better.

Stereophile is a good starting point but you need to then use your own ears and decide. Audition, audition, audition! I used to travel 1 1/2 hours plus to audition gear, or buy it here used and then flip it if I didn't like it.

Enjoy the ride! It can be alot of fun if you let it...don't get caught up in the search for perfect sound, find what you like and keep it!

Regards,

Matty

1) Given only those two options, I'd buy the $3K Class A component.

2) Yes, however I believe what some people fail to understand is that Stereophile
recommends components they believe to offer the best performance, but the
recommendations include *many* flavors, and Stereophile does not do a
particularly good job of describing the different flavors.

Also, Stereophile does not review components from many small companies.
Therefore, a good percentage of possibilities are not mentioned in the
magazine.

This is why one should use other resources in addition to Stereophile.

3) IMO, this is not a safe bet for the reasons given in #2 above.

Stereophile is not a bible. You are not supposed to religiously believe what it says.

It is a very good source of information nontheless. The measurement section is priceless.

Reviewing audio equipment *is* like reviewing fine wine. Everyone has different taste.

For many reasons, including some previously listed in this thread, the Stereophile Recommended Components List has become obsolete.

A definite pattern I see is that many of the participants in the audio discussion forums seem to have more involved systems than many of the reviewers, and more evolved/refined tastes as well. Beyond that, one of the dirty little secrets of this business is that negative reviewers are persona non grata, not only to the manufacturers, but also the publications and websites. Why would I put any more stock in these reviewers than I would someone participating in the threads?

One of my biggest issues is that there seems to be a lot of "slotting" of components, and by that, I mean, rating a component based more on its pricetag than anything else. "OK, this amp sounds very good, but it's $1250, Class C." There are definite exceptions to this rule, but I think it holds up far more often than not.

Beyond all of this, I've always had a problem with the Class A+ rating. Given that Class A is supposed to be the best attainable sound, how can something exceed that? Rather than demote or reclass products when some component comes down the pike to warrant it (no doubt JGH faced this many times), they decided to create an entirely new class. A lot like the grade inflation that has entered into the world of education.