Stereophile Recommended Components 2024

[A Surfer]

Your point is 100% irrelevant. I have tried to explain it to You, but I can not understand it for You.

Not trying to be argumentative, or unkind, but that is a tad arrogant. For the record, I am not defending those who perpetrate the mythology of esoteric audio gear. I was simply pointing out in practical terms that those caught up in such waste are not alone.

 

[FrantzM]

This is a bit of a strawman. Lots of people here including me don't have 'ASR approved' systems, but then there isn't actually any such thing, at least not 'officially'.

The argument is against the claims of superior sound quality offered by more expensive equipment touted by Stereophile et al. And the promotion of nonsense. There's a set of $25K interconnects on the recommended list.

I don't think there is any question that the magazine is complicit in duping people into thinking this stuff is worth spending their money on.

I only know a handful of enthusiasts with effectively unlimited budgets. The rest have families, mortgages, car loans.

They really need to be informed as to the best value for money approach. But many spend their limited budget on pointless trinkets in the genuine belief that they will be getting 'improvements.' And that is directly influenced by the source of such nonsense, which is mags like Stereophile. It's not a victimless crime.

Superb post. Emphasis is mine.

This needs to be re-posted:

many spend their limited budget on pointless trinkets in the genuine belief that they will be getting 'improvements.' And that is directly influenced by the source of such nonsense, which is mags like Stereophile.

Peace.

 

[Putter]

Here are a few thoughts. As a rational consumer, but poorly educated in what actually constitutes high fidelity and electrical and mechanical engineering needed,
I personally took Stereophiles recommendations seriously. With increased knowledge from ASR among others and a certain amount of common sense, I've come to realize that mags like Stereophile are using these lists primarily as unpaid advertising so the components keep coming.
The lists are so extensive that basically they're including the wheat AND the chaff. I have some of the recommended components at the lower levels such as the Infinity Primus 150 or the LS 50 Meta. I generally ignore their electronic reviews, but find that their speaker reviews somewhat useful because they do contain some actual objective info.

 

[MattHooper]

This is a bit of a strawman. Lots of people here including me don't have 'ASR approved' systems, but then there isn't actually any such thing, at least not 'officially'.

Fair enough, I presumed people would have interpreted that I was exaggerating for effect.

I’m certainly aware that some ASR members don’t have the type of equipment I would make an “ASR recommended list.”

And of course, we all agree that it’s good to promote realistic information about audio gear, especially so that people can make choices advisedly.

However, I submit there is still a general truth in what I was implying.

This is a bit of a strawman. Lots of people here including me don't have 'ASR approved' systems, but then there isn't actually any such thing, at least not 'officially'.

No, but there is a very obvious trend and tenor in this forum, right? It’s not just trying to save people from buying expensive cables.

The general trend is evaluating performance and value based on some specific technical criteria. And we can see how this narrows the playing field far more than anything you’d see on Steve’s channel.

It’s not for nothing that when people ask about what speakers to buy, the same handful of speakers keep getting suggested over and over “Genelec, Neumann, KEF, Revel..,”

Or if someone is looking at buying a turntable, the recommendations will be to not waste too much money on turntables. Where is clearly in Steve’s viewer systems, you’re going to see spending on turntables that most on ASR would deem wasteful.

There’s a very heavy “price to technical performance” bias in the forum which is perfectly legitimate, but which as I am saying, would rule against the majority of what you see in the Steve’s Viewer systems.

We know very well that plenty here with scoff at the price performance ratio for many of the speakers, turntables and other gear selected by Steve’s viewers. You can be guaranteed that much of what you see there would not be recommended had those people come here for advice. A lot of stuff in those viewer systems are no doubt just the type of gear many on ASR would deem sold on manufacturer-inflated bs and audiophile myths or misconceptions.

And no doubt there are probably some over spending on cables.

That’s why, if I look at the big picture, I can ask myself “ should I look at those systems with dismay? With the attitude that those poor audiophiles could have gotten technically better performance for less money, and so “poor them for not having ASR having advised them?”

And as I said, my answer is no. I still think they are having a blast.

Accurate information about audio gear is clearly worth being promoted. (I tried to do my modest part in this in the subjective forums).

But I don’t see common ASR criteria as the only viable route to putting together satisfying sound systems, and I try not to feel too white knighty - even if there is some level of ignorance or misconception mixed into some audio files system, hey, we can’t “save” everyone, and they are still generally having a satisfying experience.

 

[MattHooper]

That's fine if you enjoy reading fairy stories, I guess.

It’s not all necessarily “ fairy stories,” and whiIe I can certainly understand you not being interested in what Stereophile has to say, I don’t think purely dismissive takes are insightful.

 

[tw99]

For all that I have no interest at all in this list, I did notice that entirely by accident, 92% of my system, by value, is on it!

 

[GXAlan]

I will say that as a long time reader of Stereophile, in the pre Internet days to the present, I have never found a Class A product to sound bad.

I get the whole concept of $50,000 cables and $100,000 speakers to be more about wealth signaling than performance* but I see this as part of the baby/bath water analogy because if you picked the cheapest things on the list, you would end up with a good system.

What is interesting are speakers like the B&W 801 D4. Bowers and Wilkins increases its research budget, staff, and square footage. They added more anechoic test rooms among other things.

Armed with this information, they choose not to go for perfect neutrality.

Just as some people like the sound of a Klipschorn even though it’s not neutral, some people like the sound of the LS3/5a or even the Sony MDR-CD900ST. This is where Stereophile’s subjective comments can be helpful.

 

[WillBrink]

This is a bit of a strawman. Lots of people here including me don't have 'ASR approved' systems, but then there isn't actually any such thing, at least not 'officially'.

The argument is against the claims of superior sound quality offered by more expensive equipment touted by Stereophile et al. And the promotion of nonsense. There's a set of $25K interconnects on the recommended list.

I don't think there is any question that the magazine is complicit in duping people into thinking this stuff is worth spending their money on.

I only know a handful of enthusiasts with effectively unlimited budgets. The rest have families, mortgages, car loans.

They really need to be informed as to the best value for money approach. But many spend their limited budget on pointless trinkets in the genuine belief that they will be getting 'improvements.' And that is directly influenced by the source of such nonsense, which is mags like Stereophile. It's not a victimless crime.

More like ASR disapproved systems! I had the most hated speaker on ASR until just recently, the dreaded ATC SCM 19v2! I kid, sorta of...

 

[VientoB]

It’s not all necessarily “ fairy stories,” and whiIe I can certainly understand you not being interested in what Stereophile has to say, I don’t think purely dismissive takes are insightful.

I read Stereophile and other audio publications 20-25 years ago and enjoyed them. But over time I've come to realise a lot of it is just waffle and things that sound nice. Products are pushed to gain advertising revenue so they paint a nice picture about them. Places like ASR are far more grounded and real.

 

[MattHooper]

More like ASR disapproved systems! I had the most hated speaker on ASR until just recently, the dreaded ATC SCM 19v2! I kid, sorta of...

I have said that I really enjoyed certain loudspeakers (to the point of almost buying them) that were dismissed here as an overpriced disgrace in terms of engineering and measurements, and even that my expressed enthusiasm was tantamount to
“ promoting snake oil.”

It can get harsh around here sometimes ;-)

 

[VientoB]

I have said that I really enjoyed certain loudspeakers (to the point of almost buying them) that were dismissed here as an overpriced disgrace in terms of engineering and measurements, and even that my expressed enthusiasm was tantamount to
“ promoting snake oil.”

It can get harsh around here sometimes ;-)

I've not really seen many loudspeakers being slated here with terms like "snake oil". Which ones?

 

[MattHooper]

I've not really seen many loudspeakers being slated here with terms like "snake oil". Which ones?

Subjectivist’s rant debunked

Best to have something neutral and uncoloured to start with, then you can add colour or flavour to taste. But if you've found you like a certain flavouring across everything you listen to then you can buy the product that produces that flavour, with no need to fiddle with it. It's already "to...

www.audiosciencereview.com

The speaker under discussion in that part of the thread would never get a recommendation here, yet it has been responsible for a great many satisfied audiophiles, it was introduced in 2011 and has remained that manufacturers most popular loudspeaker, still difficult to keep up with the demand, and seems to have one of the highest resale values on the market.

I’d love to own a pair, but the form factor wouldn’t work for my room.

 

[VientoB]

Subjectivist’s rant debunked

Best to have something neutral and uncoloured to start with, then you can add colour or flavour to taste. But if you've found you like a certain flavouring across everything you listen to then you can buy the product that produces that flavour, with no need to fiddle with it. It's already "to...

www.audiosciencereview.com

The speaker under discussion in that part of the thread would never get a recommendation here, yet it has been responsible for a great many satisfied audiophiles, it was introduced in 2011 and has remained that manufacturers most popular loudspeaker, still difficult to keep up with the demand, and seems to have one of the highest resale values on the market.

I’d love to own a pair, but the form factor wouldn’t work for my room.

So what is the speaker and where is the ASR review?

 

[MattHooper]

So what is the speaker and where is the ASR review?

The speaker that I was referencing is the Devore Fidelity O/96. No Devore speaker has been formally reviewed by Amir, but the brand has been discussed a fair amount on this site. Based upon the design and measurements of that speaker and other Devore loudspeakers, ASR members have almost invariably been critical.

I didn’t really wanna get into it again as I’ve been round and round on those loudspeakers before.

 

[VientoB]

The speaker that I was referencing is the Devore Fidelity O/96. No Devore speaker has been formally reviewed by Amir, but the brand has been discussed a fair amount on this site. Based upon the design and measurements of that speaker and other Devore loudspeakers, ASR members have almost invariably been critical.

I didn’t really wanna get into it again as I’ve been round and round on those loudspeakers before.

ok. They're very expensive. I would expect them to measure well for that price.

 

[MattHooper]

ok. They're very expensive. I would expect them to measure well for that price.

That’s certainly the ASR mindset.

But if they measured how you wanted them to measure, they wouldn’t sound like they do.
And the manufacture was going for certain sonic characteristics that he values, which he feels his design achieved. And it turned out there was a strong market comprised of audiophiles who were looking for the same type of sound and aesthetics.

I compared them to plenty of “ better measuring” loudspeakers (Revel and others) and I found them to be different sounding and very compelling.

 

[Mr. Widget]

I will say that as a long time reader of Stereophile, in the pre Internet days to the present, I have never found a Class A product to sound bad.

I get the whole concept of $50,000 cables and $100,000 speakers to be more about wealth signaling than performance* but I see this as part of the baby/bath water analogy because if you picked the cheapest things on the list, you would end up with a good system.

I agree.

My take is that there are many here who are evangelical in their need to spread "the word" that audio bling is against "science" and they can get quite animated if anything other than this gospel is offered as an alternative.

 

[TimF]

There are those who think the bible is factual. That kind of puts them in a different universe than that of a nonbeliever.

 

[MattHooper]

There are those who think the bible is factual. That kind of puts them in a different universe than that of a nonbeliever.

That’s a fine analogy if you are simply evaluating factual claims.

But often enough people here take the broadbrush approach of dismissing everything found outside of ASR practises, for instance, magazines like Stereophile, as all mere fantasy and fairytales. As well as decrying the type of gear often found in those pages and sought among other audiophiles as essentially falling off the virtuous path of accuracy and audio best practices.

Some people can seem to forget when they are talking about their own opinions versus fact.

 

[VientoB]

That’s certainly the ASR mindset.

But if they measured how you wanted them to measure, they wouldn’t sound like they do.
And the manufacture was going for certain sonic characteristics that he values, which he feels his design achieved. And it turned out there was a strong market comprised of audiophiles who were looking for the same type of sound and aesthetics.

I compared them to plenty of “ better measuring” loudspeakers (Revel and others) and I found them to be different sounding and very compelling.

ok, it's not hi-fi though is it? Where's the fidelity?