In my first reply in this thread I mentioned my two favorites. I'll explain further:
SGTH:
When I first discovered this mag I thought the reviews were just totally arrogant and out of touch with reality. Well....they may indeed be out of touch with reality, but their reviews compare everything with the best they have seen and the best theoretically possible. So when they review a $5000 projector they are comparing it to a $60,000 projector they have reviewed in the past. They are always pushing for more. The reviewers are enthusiasts who care only about performance.
I have bought the following items solely based on their reviews:
Sherwood Newcastle Receiver- It was one of $$$ rated recommended components. I was very happy with that. Performance was all they said it was. Ergonomics were not so great. I sold it after a few years because of a lack of features. My current Onkyo receiver was chosen based solely on features and ease of use. I got what I asked for, but the performance sucks.
SGTH $$$ recommended BagEnd Infrasub 18" subwoofer got a glowing review. I don't think I will ever need to upgrade this sub. It is both powerful and musical. Because BagEnd is not a consumer brand I was able to buy it at a pro audio store at a significant discount. In the SGTH review they said the $3000 Velodyne was the best, but the then $1200 Bagend was very close. I paid less than $1000.
I aslo chose the DVDO iScan based on price and the fact the every magazine gave it great reviews. I quickly replaced it with an HTPC. Line doubling was not quite enough for my projector.
There was a somewhat controversial issue of SGTH that was very helpful.
They had for the cover feature a comparison of center channel speakers. In that very same issue they was an article saying that all three front speakers should be identical! They gave an example of a double blind test where they had 3 identical $100ea. Radio shack speakers and 3 audiophile speakers with a non-matching center speaker. They were all behind a screen. They told the listeners that the Radio Shack speakers were some sort special new product called home theater 2000 or something like that. Every one seemed to agree that the audiophile speakers were somewhat more detailed, but the identical rat shack speakers were better because they were more seamless and created a more transparent audio system- they made the movie more enjoyable!
I took that advice and tossed out my center speaker and got one that was identical to the other two. I was amazed at the difference it made! All of a sudden the surround system disappeared.
Audio Video Interiors is fun to look at- the text is useless except for an occasional quality review, but the home and system are fun to dream about- I call it
TVs of the Rich an Famous
Forum vs Magazine:
I have learned a lot more on this forum than I have ever learned in a magazine. But when it come to reviews you need to be weary of what you read on the Forum.
A good Magazine reviewer spends hours upon hours evaluating dozens of projectors. Often they will have several at once. They also have time to properly calibrate the projectors they are reviewing.
Forum members (with exception of the industry professionals here) usually are lucky to see more than a couple projectors before they buy something. Then often they end up defending their purchase making their review a bit biased.
I have been burned more often by forum advice than I have by a quality magazine review. SGTH seems as unbiased as you can expect.
Consumer reports may be unbiased, but they don't do the kind of detailed reviews we who are obsessed with home theater require.
Widescreen review has a lot of great tech articles- most of which are over my head! But the bits that I can understand are very helpful in causing discontent with the equipment I already own and cause me to desire stuff I can never afford!
So the magazines are great, and make me a poor man
~Jay
