What a breath of fresh air (troll, really)...
 

What Hifi Sound and Vision is!

Being on holiday (a laugh in itself, given the weather so far and the
*amount* of digging I've done today....) I relented and asked Swimbo for
a 'maggie' when she went shopping just now. (I have/had given them up as
****-boring and pompous 'agenda peddlers' who are obviously too damn
scared of their advertisers to call a spade a spade...)

Anyway, she bought me WHFS&V and I thought 'Oh, Gawd!' when I saw it.
(Hifi for Chavs, I've always thought!!)

How wrong I was/am - summat for everybody (and I mean *everybody*),
almost zero turgid technohorse****, no meandering, meaningless ********
while the writer tries to show how eclectic and obscure his record
collection is (while his spell-checker lets his ignorance of the English
language shine through on every page), as well as covering all sorts of
products all the way up to a 33K (yes - that £33,000!) CDP and, wait for
it, giving a 1,000 quid Onkyo M/C Receiver 5 stars over a 1,200 quid
Arcam equivalent's paltry 3 stars!!!

(It's not that I have anything against Arcam particularly, but I do
bloody hate the way it gets automatic reverence as 'trad Brit' kit
here - when all we ever see is posts about it breaking down and having
myself seen the knobs easily pulled off one by a John Lewis salesman!)

Best bit (apart from the HDDVD/Bluray shoot-out I haven't yet read) - no
****ing *valves or vinyl* from what I've seen so far!!!

Yes, I know I tend to prefer and use both myself, but I have gotten
(?? - OK in the US, but does it work here? Maybe not, make that
'become') sick to the back teeth of seeing them routinely pounded to
death in the maggies simply because they have both now become *trendy*
and are obviously proving to be advertising money-spinners! (Also, I
don't hate sexy SS kit, contrary to what a few here might think!!)

The much-reviled 5 star system? - No harder to ignore than certain
writers who claim 'We don't review ****e, because there's no point!' or
the 'globes' or whatever in the other comix...

Discuss/don't discuss - it's your call...

What a breath of fresh air (troll, really)...
 

"Keith G" wrote

Best bit (apart from the HDDVD/Bluray shoot-out I haven't yet read) -
no ****ing *valves or vinyl* from what I've seen so far!!!


OK, now that I've had another quick flick through - a smattering of
both, but in place, in proportion. No OTT hype and interesting to see
that the Arcam was marked down to 3 stars *despite* a full-page ad from
them...!!

(Couldn't see that happening in a couple of other mags I could
mention....)

What a breath of fresh air (troll, really)...
 

On Fri, 24 Aug 2007 19:16:07 +0100, "Keith G"
wrote:


"Keith G" wrote

Best bit (apart from the HDDVD/Bluray shoot-out I haven't yet read) -
no ****ing *valves or vinyl* from what I've seen so far!!!


OK, now that I've had another quick flick through - a smattering of
both, but in place, in proportion. No OTT hype and interesting to see
that the Arcam was marked down to 3 stars *despite* a full-page ad from
them...!!

(Couldn't see that happening in a couple of other mags I could
mention....)

Did they say why they had marked it down?

d

--
Pearce Consulting
http://www.pearce.uk.com

What a breath of fresh air (troll, really)...
 

"Don Pearce" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 24 Aug 2007 19:16:07 +0100, "Keith G"
wrote:


"Keith G" wrote

Best bit (apart from the HDDVD/Bluray shoot-out I haven't yet
read) -
no ****ing *valves or vinyl* from what I've seen so far!!!


OK, now that I've had another quick flick through - a smattering of
both, but in place, in proportion. No OTT hype and interesting to see
that the Arcam was marked down to 3 stars *despite* a full-page ad
from
them...!!

(Couldn't see that happening in a couple of other mags I could
mention....)

Did they say why they had marked it down?


Pix sent direct.

What a breath of fresh air (troll, really)...
 

On Fri, 24 Aug 2007 19:38:48 +0100, "Keith G"
wrote:


"Don Pearce" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 24 Aug 2007 19:16:07 +0100, "Keith G"
wrote:


"Keith G" wrote

Best bit (apart from the HDDVD/Bluray shoot-out I haven't yet
read) -
no ****ing *valves or vinyl* from what I've seen so far!!!


OK, now that I've had another quick flick through - a smattering of
both, but in place, in proportion. No OTT hype and interesting to see
that the Arcam was marked down to 3 stars *despite* a full-page ad
from
them...!!

(Couldn't see that happening in a couple of other mags I could
mention....)

Did they say why they had marked it down?


Pix sent direct.

Ta - so mostly a features list issue, then?

d

--
Pearce Consulting
http://www.pearce.uk.com

What a breath of fresh air (troll, really)...
 

"Don Pearce" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 24 Aug 2007 19:38:48 +0100, "Keith G"
wrote:


OK, now that I've had another quick flick through - a smattering of
both, but in place, in proportion. No OTT hype and interesting to
see
that the Arcam was marked down to 3 stars *despite* a full-page ad
from
them...!!

(Couldn't see that happening in a couple of other mags I could
mention....)

Did they say why they had marked it down?


Pix sent direct.

Ta - so mostly a features list issue, then?


Not only that - another quick scan of the Arcam and Onkyo 'reviews'*
would seem to imply some fairly significant sonic advantages with the
Onky while still giving the Arcam first place for 'stereo sound', but I
strongly suspect if you walked into a room with both of them on but only
one playing you would be hard put to say which one it was...??

I gather with these multichannel AV bruisers (7 x 130 Watts!!) ludicrous
OTT connectivity and onboard decoding abilities have a lot to do with
which one gets top slot - the Arcam was Top Dog in June against older
competition (apparently) - now, it seems, there's a new kid on the
block!

There's obviously no end to the merry-go-round, so when does anybody
actually put their hand in their pocket, I wonder? Like I said earlier,
all very interesting - and even more so when I'm not in the market for
any of it!!


*Similar horse**** to any other mag, asittapens - only much less of it
per item, from what I can see!!