You can't sell the meat of the Chevvy product ranges without showcasing the Ferrari on the cover! A simple fact of commercial magazine economics. And you can't dream your way past the Chevvy or aim toward the Ferrari, without a road map to drool by. And for the most part, the showcase products are backed up by a solid mid-range of gear from the given manufacturers. So the situation is by no means tilted in the given direction it feels like.

I too miss Listener. I also have also been reading Stereophile since it had staples in it. Things change. Like getting to where they are now. 5 years from now it may be completely unrecognizable - compared to what it is now. Who knows. As for TAS, Hairy Person never wanted to accept advertising. Things change. The economics of success in a given marketplace change.

I'd say we all (generally) come and go from the maintstay magazines. I wandered off from Stereophile for about 5 years. I felt virtually as you do now.

I'm back!

See what I mean?

Just one man's opinion. Hope the love of music comes back for you, if it's gone away. If you feel it is 'off a bit', then consider dusting off a turntable, if you don't use one right now. If you've gone exclusively digital, I can tell you right now, that's where it's gone. In my opinion, if you started in Analog, and then 'go digital', eventually, the thrill of the new format leaves you cold and the desire to simply bask in music ....leaves. Get the love and the life back. Break out the analog.

Pipe,

There's got to be $12.00 of joy in there somewhere.

RG

think of it this way: a bit of effort and fun in the chase, of finding a sub $1k phono preamp might make every one of those albums sound brand new again. That's my favorite part of having a ton of albums.

At 8k albums, as you know, you tend to start telling people how many 'feet' of records you have. I've only got about 40 feet or so myself. bummer.

And the rag might help you find that used phono preamp gem.

And then rebuild it. That's what I tend to do. I shop for the perfect mod piece.

Bye bye.

Pipe
My love of music has just been given new life over the past two years, Stereophile has been my main source for reviews and test reports. Recently I've renewed my speakers, CD player and Power Amp, all of which were really more than I should have spent, were reviewed in the mag.
I think it's more a case of what you can justify spending as opposed to what you can afford, and there's nothing wrong with that thinking.

However, in my case a serious accident changed my mind and my approach is now that it can be over in a millisecond, and you can't take the money with you, so enjoy it while you can. I too am 50

Andy

Quote:
Oh yes, i am very involved in my expanding album collection.....somewhere around 8000, i just finished building another record rack for my house. Couple years ago I purchased a new turntable, a Music Hall MMF-9, got it for about a grand.

I think your house is made from Record racks

Quote:
I think 12.00 for a years sub is great, its not about what it costs me, just that instead of reading about stuff I could never afford and would not be too interested in even if I could, I could use the time to listen to an album or construct an amplifier. I have built some of my equipment, a very fine speaker system 3 years ago....

Never underestimate a bit of DIY hifi - I've seen and heard a few big surprises in my years. What people can do with a little inginuity and confidence - open a few manuals -source the right components and make some magic...Fabulous... Even Hifi News and Record Review back in the Mid-1970's used to have a DIY section...IMF electronics was born from John Wright's DIY experimentation in transmission line, and resulted in some of the world's most fabulous (today sought after) home and Studio monitors.