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No, you are doing just fine, but you should cover more CD playback products and stop covering losers like SACD and DVD-Audio.
With Michael Fremer's "Tracking Angle" column and periodic vinyl product reviews from many others, should <I>Stereophile</I> be doing even more in this area?
A littl more would be nice, but don't swing the pendulum too far the other way. We still want to see more equipment reviews. Along with more industry update on what is happening in the format wars, new products,etc. A little less "biography" would be nice too.
Stereophile, as of late, has steered away from audio fundamentals and has made too many detours into the areas of digital audio and computer controlled software. It's high time for Stereophile to give far more consideration to both vinyl equipment and its associated software.
It's all about nostalgia, some call it hype - and that's ok, but face it these days are over and so is the age of music stored on some "carrier", I'm afraid. A couple of years down the road there will be only music by demand - the masses prefer this to the good old days when you had to roam the shops and the record-cover alone was a feast to dis"cover".
You should DEFINITELY cover vinyl more! Granted, us vinyl lovers are a minority in the "audiophile" world. But aren't Audiophiles also a minority in our imperfect world? I hate that word audiophile! I think music lovers is much better.
Don't change a thing. Why add more. What you have is very good, but not overwhelming. It has increased my interest and awareness in vinyl, but not overwhelmed me. The occasional alternate perspective from M.F. is always a good thing too. Thank goodness for Art Dudley.
Vinyl is so out of date that it's not going to get any more out of date than it already is, hence it's always going to be interesting. Who wants to read about a new shiny disc format that nobody makes music for, and is so technologically advanced it's out of date before it even leaves the designer's bench?
Coverage is about right, however, I suspect that most readers with vinyl collections consider that media to be a secondary source. Hence, mega buck investments are not considered. Why not approach vinyl this way: Select a quality cartridge priced under $500.00 and assemble an arm/table combination around that cartridge. RETAINING THE SAME CARTRIDGE, assemble different arm/table combinations. Total target maximum list price, $2000.00
With so many units under $1K and more people wondering about vinyl playback, Stereophile should include some of the new offerings. BTW, I'm sending a simple unit to Argentina next week, since there ( and other South American fellows) are much interested lately about vinyl sound.
I would like to see a little more practical hard-earned wisdom from vinyl veterans. General thoughts on equipment synergies, set-up don'ts, and, very importantly, info about disasters and how to avoid them. What about when a cantelever is bumped and suddenly points south? How delicate are the mysterious mechanisms inside? Why are wall shelfs advocated when there is frequently so much bass energy close to walls? You'd think that there'd be huge benefits, in sound at least, from putting a turntable in a different room. What about used (or new) records and their panopoly of annoying noises? Visual clues to their existence can be misleading. Some pristine discs are unlistenable, other seemingly ravaged ones sound great. We should have a vocabulary describing the various problems, with info an which ones are caused by the manufacturer, a bad record player, or by bad handling and storage.
Stereophile has some of the best vinyl coverage. However, I would like to see more articles that adress the technical aspects of record playback systems. Not all of Stereophile's readers were born in vinyl's hayday, and there is a lot to be misunderstood about it. Most folks don't even realize that it is so much better than digital. Which brings me to my next point.: I would like to see more coverage on the really affordable vinyl gear. That way all of those naive people can actually get excited about vinyl, and be able to buy a nice playback system.