[penthouse-D]

Just recieved my February issue of The Absolute Sound. There is very detailed coverage of R.M.A.F.. Very little about VS. Come to think of it, does anyone have any current reviews of the products in any major publications???

[douglesc]

In My Opinion the Magazines are ALL ABOUT WHO GIVES THEM MONEY AND NOT IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE READER, SUBSCRIBER............Albert must not give them much.  Thus He gets little coverage. That is my opinion.

[TONEPUB]

It has precious little to do with advertising, as much as you'd all like to believe otherwise.  It usually depends on the manufacturer making the product available for review.  If they don't send you the stuff, it can't get reviewed. 

[JackD201]

TAS/Hi-Fi+ plus covers VSA fairly much. Stereophile does not. Online PFO, Soundstage Network, Stereo Times, Dagogo and even Sonic Flare cover them too. It's Stereophile where you will draw a giant blank. Even their show blogs will praise associated components in VSA rooms but give nothing but a passing mention of the VSA loudspeakers that let them hear what those pieces of equipment were impressing them about. Personally I stopped reading Stereophile when Harley and Scull left.

AFAIK every publication has criteria for choosing products to review such as number of dealers etc., etc.

I also don't think advertising has anything to do about it. TonePub is right about giving review samples for review. Many really good manufacturers along with VSA, like VAC, CAT, GMA, VMPS and others make just enough products to satisfy their customer's requirements. In such cases, a positive review can be a double edged sword. Having great demand and not enough supply creates a lot of problems on it's own like having to scale up production. VSA is going through that now. They are moving to a larger facility just to keep up with VR-33 orders. Many press darlings like Magico are running big backlogs. Up to 6 months I've been told by a Magico dealer.

[wywires]

It has precious little to do with advertising, as much as you'd all like to believe otherwise.  It usually depends on the manufacturer making the product available for review.  If they don't send you the stuff, it can't get reviewed.

There is plenty of evidence to the contrary

[jab]

funny, the other day i rcvd my "last issue" alert from Stereophile..  I've been an avid reader and subscriber for many years..  Chronic failure to mention any VSA speaker model in the "recommended components" issue, year after year, has always been difficult to digest and understand..  Stereophile has only given VSA token recognition,, often times, audio show summaries.  I've decided,,, finally,, to make my last delivery of Stereophile the last.  Jack

[es347]

I've had a handful of letters-to-the-editor published over the past 25 years dressing down various staff members.  None take criticism, constructive or otherwise, well.  I have zero respect for any of the S'phile writers.  Heck I essentially have zero respect for just about all audio journalists.  And don't even get me stared on Absolute Sound and Jon Valin.  With all due respect JackD, I can't help but think that had Albert invested 10s of thousands of dollars in advertising and provided review models on "loan", VSA would have made the vaunted recommended lists.  So here's my new years resolution...I will not re-up my subscriptions to the audio rags....that and I will limit my caloric intake to 5000 cal/day   

[catastrofe]

I've had a handful of letters-to-the-editor published over the past 25 years dressing down various staff members.  None take criticism, constructive or otherwise, well.  I have zero respect for any of the S'phile writers.  Heck I essentially have zero respect for just about all audio journalists.  And don't even get me stared on Absolute Sound and Jon Valin.  With all due respect JackD, I can't help but think that had Albert invested 10s of thousands of dollars in advertising and provided review models on "loan", VSA would have made the vaunted recommended lists.  So here's my new years resolution...I will not re-up my subscriptions to the audio rags....that and I will limit my caloric intake to 5000 cal/day 

I'm making the same resolutions.

Except for the 5000 calories/day limitation!!   

[Delacroix]

I would point people to the sticky post here on collected reviews, there is an aggregated link there which indicates many reviews over the last 15 years for VSA products, most of them extremely positive. So generally, it is fair to say that VSA does get press coverage. The real question seems to be why S'phile has not reviewed them but I don't think there is too much that is sinister here, I suspect there are many companies whose products have never been reviewed by that magazine. I don't actually think the advertising budget drives the editorial content but clearly that belief never seems to be overcome, no matter what John Atkinson says. I do find more incomprehensible some of the frequent choices made e.g., how many Musical Fidelity products have garnered reviews over the last 5-10 years?  I think a couple of folks here have pointed out that products have to be submitted to be reviewed and some companies just produce enough to sell, not to circulate extras around.  If there is something more to the lack of VSA in S'phile, I would like to hear from those in the know.

For the price, I think the major mags are worth the subscription and some writers are really very good. There are horror stories about the integrity of some reviewers, not least the one just mentioned (visit Audio Asylum sometime)  but on the whole, I think S'phile and TAS contain enough decent coverage of our hobby to justify the highly subsidized subscription cost.  I don't need their approval to like the products I  enjoy but it's nice, I suppose, to be able to calibrate a reviewer's taste to known items. I prefer a world where we have publications dedicated just to audio, flawed as any one might be. Happy New Year!

[JackD201]

Quite a few reviewers are friends of mine in another forum. To be fair to them, there are really too many products out there and not enough editorial space allotted them. JA and Stereophile as well as Chris Martens at UAV have criteria that include a minimum number of US dealers and company history. The rationale is that reviews are pointless if the reader can't get the product readily anyway and that they would blame themselves if suddenly the company that made them folded. I say, fair enough. Their mag, their call.

It seems I'm not the only one that noticed the S'phile snub. Jab noticed it too. Just look at the KR mention in the S'phile blog. How the heck did they hear those traits if not through the speaker? To add insult to injury, every other blog entry show the associated components at the title.

Here it starts with THE MIGHTY KRONZILLA then assigning the wrong model number and something about handwriting becoming illegible. WOW!

http://www.stereophile.com/content/mighty-kronzilla

I'm no conspiracy theorists but this is enough to make me one! 

As I said though. It doesn't matter. I don't read Stereophile anymore. I got sick of reading nothing but Triangle and MF from ST month after month and JA using page after page chronicling his foray into recording while limiting page space for the other reviewers. I read MIX and EM for recording not Stereophile. As I said when RH and Jonathan Scull left there was no more fun in it for me. I prefer the online mags now and being half way around the globe I'd rather subscribe to TAS' GEC than get my copy two months late.

[TONEPUB]

There is plenty of evidence to the contrary

Big difference between speakers and wire....   Every wire company will send wire.  It takes a lot more money and effort for a speaker company to have review samples available.

[jimdgoulding]

They make very, very high quality end game transducers.  Testimony is abundant to that.  And they have been doing this for quite awhile.   

[es347]

Big difference between speakers and wire....   Every wire company will send wire.  It takes a lot more money and effort for a speaker company to have review samples available.

I could be wrong but I would be willing to bet that if JA asked for a review pair of VR9s, Albert would pony up.

[es347]

Amen Jim! 

[es347]

Quite a few reviewers are friends of mine in another forum. To be fair to them, there are really too many products out there and not enough editorial space allotted them. JA and Stereophile as well as Chris Martens at UAV have criteria that include a minimum number of US dealers and company history. The rationale is that reviews are pointless if the reader can't get the product readily anyway and that they would blame themselves if suddenly the company that made them folded. I say, fair enough. Their mag, their call.

It seems I'm not the only one that noticed the S'phile snub. Jab noticed it too. Just look at the KR mention in the S'phile blog. How the heck did they hear those traits if not through the speaker? To add insult to injury, every other blog entry show the associated components at the title.

Here it starts with THE MIGHTY KRONZILLA then assigning the wrong model number and something about handwriting becoming illegible. WOW!

http://www.stereophile.com/content/mighty-kronzilla

I'm no conspiracy theorists but this is enough to make me one! 

As I said though. It doesn't matter. I don't read Stereophile anymore. I got sick of reading nothing but Triangle and MF from ST month after month and JA using page after page chronicling his foray into recording while limiting page space for the other reviewers. I read MIX and EM for recording not Stereophile. As I said when RH and Jonathan Scull left there was no more fun in it for me. I prefer the online mags now and being half way around the globe I'd rather subscribe to TAS' GEC than get my copy two months late.

Did you notice JA's limp excuse for getting the name of the VR35s wrong...poor handwriting?  Yeah right.  Had it been a pair of Magicos his notes would have been in calligraphy. 

[penthouse-D]

I find it very peculiar. Firstly, no dealers? I live in NYC and there isn't a dealer within ,I'd say 500 miles to be conservative. You would think the company would be begging to have the products reviewed. Let's take emotions out of it for a moment. Have you ever read a bad review of anything? Makes you think.....

[es347]

Have you ever read a bad review of anything? Makes you think.....  Penthouse, I'm missing your point here.

[JackD201]

I've had a handful of letters-to-the-editor published over the past 25 years dressing down various staff members.  None take criticism, constructive or otherwise, well.  I have zero respect for any of the S'phile writers.  Heck I essentially have zero respect for just about all audio journalists.  And don't even get me stared on Absolute Sound and Jon Valin.  With all due respect JackD, I can't help but think that had Albert invested 10s of thousands of dollars in advertising and provided review models on "loan", VSA would have made the vaunted recommended lists.  So here's my new years resolution...I will not re-up my subscriptions to the audio rags....that and I will limit my caloric intake to 5000 cal/day 

They do make the lists Gavin. Just not Stereophile's because you have to get reviewed first 

Even Valin reviewed the Unifield 3 even if strictly speaking anything under 25 large isn't his beat. Sue Craft reviewed the Juniors and they stayed on the recommended list until they were discontinued. Come to think of it, the Unifield 3 got something like 5 or 6 different reviews, all of them glowing.

[Daedalus Audio]

the whole review deal is very complicated and based on many factors. I for one am becoming more cautious with 'pro' reviews and I get more excited about good feedback and reviews from customers and other manufacturers. don't misunderstand me, most of the reviewers I've dealt with are great and often prove helpful just for the advice of their 'ears'. 
also on show reviews, the mags can only visit so many rooms and they start with their advertisers to touch base and say hi, unfortunately at a show of any size that means there isn't much time to cover the rest. they really do their best to be fair.

thanks,
lou

It has precious little to do with advertising, as much as you'd all like to believe otherwise.  It usually depends on the manufacturer making the product available for review.  If they don't send you the stuff, it can't get reviewed.

sooo, Jeff, want to schedule a review???

[penthouse-D]

My point is,I read a lot of reviews and can't really remember reading a bad one. Maybe people don't review products they don't care for.