i'm keeping my subscription, i need to read something in the bathroom. I have some ideas why I think Stereophile is behind the other audio magazines:
1) why waste the ink on doing measurements on each product reviewed. There is no need to. I don't care if the distortion is .00005 or .00007, nor do i care about all of the other tests you do. What i care about is the sound, quality, finish, looks. Sometimes you compare yourself to the car industry. What magazine takes measurements of a Porsche when reviewing it? Just like when I bought my Porsche, i didn't get a detailed measurement sheet telling me what the compression was for each cylinder, brake pad thickness for each brake, or the thermostat setting. I judge the car by my right foot for gas and brakes, and the steering wheel for handling. I don't need a 3rd party telling me the compression in cylinder 3 is 2 lbs lower than cylinder 4. Let your ears make the decision for audio gear.
2) in sams column, it seems that it is a review of mostly musical fidelity or roy hall items.
3) it also seems to me that you only review manufacturers that advertise in your magazine.
4) you NEVER give negative reviews. You will state some negative comments in the review but at the end, you will praise it for other things to go around the negative issues. If you do give a sort of negative review like you did in the past on the Totem speakers (which was very wrong IMO), you tried to make it up giving a glaring review for their worst sounding speaker. Very odd!
5) A lot of your reviewers downplay music servers because of their complexity. But these are the same guys that take days to rebuild a TT or mount a cartridge. Very odd!
6) Your reviewers often state that this is the best sounding XXXXXXX i have heard in my system. OK, this does not tell us anything. Most of the time, when your reviewer is reviewing a new updated product, the rest of their system nowhere matches the old system that they reviewed the earlier model. If you change 1 piece of equipment between reviews, then there is no way you can state that this is better than its predecessor. Also, when stating that this is the best XXXXX you have heard in your system, it just tells me that you don't get out much. You can't state that 1 piece makes a system. If i follow your review and go out and buy the Magico speaker that you rave about and hook it up to a pioneer receiver, will the owner think that this is the best speaker made? i doubt it. I would think you would have to qualify your statements with all of the equipment you had installed to make this 1 piece stand out.
7) you are way behind the other mags when it comes to computer audio servers.You have a review every so often but the other's have much more press on the subject.
If you are not the lead dog, the scenery never changes!