Sound and Vision mag print edition ending 2024-10/11

[Doug G.]

I don't care. I stopped my subscription shortly after it changed from Stereo Review to Sound and Vision. Stereo Review was a great magazine. Sound and Vision, not so much.

Doug

 

[timbre4]

I got hooked in 1971 when an older fellow next door loaded me some 1969-1971 issues of AUDIO magazine. After that I started subscriptions with Audio, Stereo Review, High Fidelity magazines with Schwann Record & Tape Catalogs. All of these brought me a lot of enjoyment, especially Stereo Review from 1972-1988.

 

[barfle]

I had subscriptions to many, if not most, of the hi-fi and electronics magazines over the years. Started with “Popular Electronics” while I was in high school. I discovered “Audio” in the early 70s and kept it going as long as they lasted. I’m pretty sure I had “Stereo Review” in my mailbox for a while, but it eventually got VERY high-end and out of reach. I wanted to be a video nerd, and “Video” was NOT the equivalent of “Audio” - maybe they just didn’t have the budget for quantitative test equipment, hard for me to say, but reviews never got more specific rhan “excellent picture quality.” I don’t recall the exact title of the magazine (maybe just “Home Theater”) that had a column titled “Home Theater Architect” that seriously dealt with room acoustics and sight lines. It eventually died and “Sound and Vision” was all that was left.

Alas, these days I have NO print magazines for electronics. I get an occasional email from “STEREO review” with links to free articles, but so many of those are, again, for equipment that is out of reach.

And the link is still busted.

 

[SeanSKA01]

Now that S&V is dead, the best replacement is the UK mag Home Cinema Choice, which covers video and audio equipment along with articles about movies and home video reviews. A bit pricey-,about $15 an issue- but in some ways it was a better publication than S&V

 

[barfle]

Well, the good news is that their website is alive and well, and Mark H. is still putting up new articles.

https://www.soundandvision.com/content/rising-above-auro-3d-s-next-act-immersive-audio

 

[SeanSKA01]

Now that S&V is dead, the best replacement is the UK mag Home Cinema Choice, which covers video and audio equipment along with articles about movies and home video reviews. A bit pricey-,about $15 an issue- but in some ways it was a better publication than S&V

Forget about my recommendation of UK mag Home Cinema Choice- they just went out of business as well !
It’s pretty sad that there are now no English language publications devoted to home theater hardware and software reviews and news

 

[Owen Smith]

Forget about my recommendation of UK mag Home Cinema Choice- they just went out of business as well !
It’s pretty sad that there are now no English language publications devoted to home theater hardware and software reviews and news

UK mag What Hi-Fi covers home theatre but they also cover stereo and much of it is either about streaming, earbuds and smartphones, or turntables (I try hard not to call it vinyl).

 

[SeanSKA01]

UK mag What Hi-Fi covers home theatre but they also cover stereo and much of it is either about streaming, earbuds and smartphones, or turntables (I try hard not to call it vinyl).

Unfortunately they cover little about video, and don’t run blu-ray or 4k reviews like Sound &Vision and Home Cinema Choice did. But we should be happy we have anything these days at all

 

[4-earredwonder]

Fortunately for home video, we still have thedigitalbits.com which has been online for 25 years and IMO has authoritative reviews of current 4K/BD~V films and a plethora of upcoming films info. I find their reviews excellent and it may be worth your time to visit their site:

https://thedigitalbits.com/

Yes, we ALL mourn the loss of our Audio/Video publications but with the world wide net offering instantaneous info on current products [magazines usually had a 1~2 month lag time in their reporting], time to search the net for what IS available to satiate your audio/vid curiosity!

There's also blu~ray.com with reviews of current 4K/BD~V titles:

https://www.blu-ray.com/

And Highdefdigest.com

https://www.highdefdigest.com/

As for Audio/Video equipment reviews you may want to peruse this website

https://www.audioholics.com/

 

[SeanSKA01]

Yes, I love all of these sites

 

[Owen Smith]

Unfortunately they cover little about video, and don’t run blu-ray or 4k reviews like Sound &Vision and Home Cinema Choice did. But we should be happy we have anything these days at all

I'm finding it increasingly difficult to choose new equipment. Magazines get thinner and thinner, hifi shops stock less gear and can't always demo it etc. We're reduced to buying something online, trying it at home (which is quite disruptive to the existing system) and sending it back for a refund if we don't like it. Comparing several items of gear to choose which one to buy is even worse. I hate this situation.

 

[kfbkfb]

Maybe Stereophile mag could add a "budget audiophile" section that tests and evaluates audio hardware typically sold at Best Buy (for example).


Kirk Bayne

 

[par4ken]

Maybe Stereophile mag could add a "budget audiophile" section that tests and evaluates audio hardware typically sold at Best Buy (for example).


Kirk Bayne

Wouldn't that defeat the whole purpose of Stereophile? When I briefly subscribed years ago it was to drool over the high end stuff, and maybe take inspiration for my DIY builds. Back then (as now) I had little desire to read about the junk sold in places like Best Buy. That mainstream stuff was covered in the regular AV press. I lost all interest there as well being much more focused on audio than with video!

 

[barfle]

Wouldn't that defeat the whole purpose of Stereophile? When I briefly subscribed years ago it was to drool over the high end stuff, and maybe take inspiration for my DIY builds. Back then (as now) I had little desire to read about the junk sold in places like Best Buy. That mainstream stuff was covered in the regular AV press. I lost all interest there as well being much more focused on audio than with video!

It would be nice to see reviews of gear we of ordinary means can actually buy. While that doesn’t necesarily mean all Wall-mart specials, it could go at least to the “mid-fi” range.

The Robb Report stuff is interesting once a year or so. Kinda like going to Disneyland - it’s fun to play with, but you know you can’t have it.

 

[kfbkfb]

Wouldn't that defeat the whole purpose of Stereophile?

I was thinking about trying to get (former) S&V subscribers to subscribe to Stereophile by adding a new section (possibly just 1/2 a page with a few sentences of subjective impressions of a few budget audio equip items/issue with Stereo Review type of test results [S/N, THD, IM, FR, phase shift etc.] on the Stereophile website).

I believe it's much easier to test speakers nowadays, so maybe some of the smaller, lower cost speakers (like I have, bought from Best Buy) could be evaluated (or maybe some standards could be developed for soundbars to see how they do with stereo imaging and phantom surround sound imaging).


Kirk Bayne