Which magazine should I subscribe too....?

[aud19]

I had a subscription to both Home Theatre Magazine and Ultimate AV, the latter of which is no longer (They did tack on the remaining length of my UAV subscription to HT Mag. which means I'm good till June '08 now! 8O )

However, I'm in need of more bathroom reading material, especially now that my Maxim subscription has lapsed and I won't be renewing. I was mildly considering starting a subscription to Car and Driver again as I really enjoy that mag but I think I'd still prefer another AV mag.

So basically I thinks it's between Widescreen Review and The Perfect Vision but please post any others you'd prefer to reccomend :T

[Clive]

Audio Video Interiors

[DifferentLee]

Perfect Vision is the best HT magazine but I get several of them.

[David Meek]

I subscribe to several magazines, and the best four are:

Stereophile - audio, video & media
Absolute Sound - primarily audio & media
Perfect Vision - primarily video & media
Widescreen Review - primarily video & media

If I could only have one, it would be Stereophile.

[i_amadeo]

now for the bathroom i prefer nothing but for a good read and lots of juicy information i would go with
sound and vision
and
homecinima choice

[George Bellefontaine]

Jason, if you like to read reviews on both hardware and software, Widescreen Review is the best way to go because it will be very current. Prefect Vision is good but reviews are often old hat by the time they get around to them. I know a lot of folk here don't like Home Theater Magaziner but I have found it to be much improved now that its two sister publications are out of the picture. Another terrific home theater mag is Home Entertainment; sort of a coffee table type mag, similar to the old and great and sadly missed Audio Video Interiors.

[aud19]

Thanks guys

Not a big fan of Sound and Vision but I'll have a look at Home Cinema Choice I.A. (have never heard of it though).

Haven't heard of Home entertainment either George but I'll give it a once over as well.

I'll never have the money for a dedicated 2-ch system so I think that puts Stereophile out of the running as a lot of their gear reviews are 2-ch oriented. Good mag. though and I have enjoyed their "style" when I have picked up the odd issue.

Well let's see if more votes keep coming in

[Joseki]

I thought you wanted good reading material....

If that is the case, then Stereophile is the best of the bunch out there. The writing style is very nice and has a pleasant, amusing cadence to it. When I first discovered the magazine, my reaction was similar to yours: I don't have a 2-ch setup - why do I need this? However, there is a ton of valuable information in that magazine.

They cover multichannel music and have an obsesive manner of reviewing speakers. I tend to agree with the theorem that if it is good for music, it is good for movies. I also subscribe to the notion that one does not have to focus on one or the other. Both of my theaters/listening rooms perform admirably with movies and with music - 2-ch or multichannel.

All that is to say that Stereophile has a lot to say even to the 5.1/7.1 afficionados out there. Pick up a copy and check it out - especially the articles written by Art Dudley.

David

[aud19]

I do enjoy the content/writing style and they do have great speaker reviews but I dunno.... maybe.... but they also review a lot of 2-ch specific stuff as well which would be "wasted" on me.... Oh I don't know!!!!

[Jack Keck]

I tend to agree with the theorem that if it is good for music, it is good for movies. I also subscribe to the notion that one does not have to focus on one or the other. Both of my theaters/listening rooms perform admirably with movies and with music - 2-ch or multichannel.

All that is to say that Stereophile has a lot to say even to the 5.1/7.1 afficionados out there. Pick up a copy and check it out - especially the articles written by Art Dudley.

David

NOt to hijack the thread or anything like that, but when I was first learning about any of thi sin the mid 70s, there was the east coast sound (preferred for classical & jazz) vs. the west coast sound (rock). I came to the conclusion that if a speaker was not good for everything, then it was good for nothing.

To get back on topic, I read Sound & Vision. What the heck, it's cheap.

[stringzz]

Stereophile, Absolute Sound and Perfect Vision are all great magazines. I think PV has only like 6 or 8 issues a year, which kinda sucks. Stereophile is great, but they seem to only review the high end stuff which most of us will not afford. They do get a little technical on the reviews, lots of test data, if that's your thing. I tend to want to know how well it sounds to the reviewers ear and how does it compare to their reference equipment.

[i_amadeo]

stereophile has alot of tecnical information witch is hard to understand ....home cinima choice is all about top reviews and has a sesction on peoples home cinima lounges each month they post a new home cinima setup and rate the whole louge with all with pics they visit wich is out of this world also has the best of ....(receivers ....speakers ...etc ) over 1000$ ...and under 1000$ with each issue ......so youl see wher your gear stands and if you want to buy new gear youl have a nice idea what to get for a whole year ROTEL rmb 1095 was rated no 1 over all other high end power amps now thats saying alot ...and i have mine and it is.............. no 1 ;x(

[David Meek]

ROTEL rmb 1095 was rated no 1 over all other high end power amps now thats saying alot

Yes, that does say a lot.

[Shane Martin]

S&V and Widescreen Review would be my pick.

[resperc]

here is my $.02

1) I used to subscribe to Sound and Vision but I don't anymore. The reviews were elaborate descriptions with very little critical evaluation.
2) I used to subscribe to Ultimate AV (Stereophile's Guide to HT) but that is no longer available. This is unfortunate because I liked it.
3) I currently subscribe to Home Theater. It is pretty good and it comes every month.
4) The Perfect Vision is a great publication and it is my favorite, but a subscription only has 7 issues a year.

I am debating adding a Stereophile subscription. We will see.

Resperc

[depaulbdemons]

I used to read Stereophile and Home Theater but have found myself reading Perfect Vision more often now. Need to check out Widescreen.

Oh and I have also begun reading Electronic House. They have some nice (albeit short) articles on rooms that I haven't seen in other mags. :T

[Mark1Ace1]

Widescreen Review - Great magazine
Home Cinema Choice, excellent British magazine that put Home Entertainment Mag to rest..

Mark

[JetFlyGuy]

Robb Report Home Entertainment deals much more in the high end than the other mags. I subscribed to Sound and Vision, but wasn't interested in too many of the articles.

[maddog]

Stereophile's Ultimate AV was the best. Tom Norton is the best AV reviewer out there, IMO. As others have noted, it is no longer available in print. However, it is still available on the internet. The whole magazine is published on-line every month just like it was when it was in print. The same staff, columns, and style. They have a great print feature where you can print the entire article in a printer-friendly format even if you are just viewing one of many pages. It's not as good as the color magazine that was published, but it's still better than most of the printed publications out there. At least they are not afraid to be critical in their reviews. Most of the reviews of high-end gear in their printed replacement Home Theater magazine are nothing more than cheerleading articles that are in awe of that expensive equipment.

[RobP]

There is a magazine out called Home Theater Builder, its geared towards the DIY types much like myself. Its pretty good. Audio Video Interiors was my favorite

[Chris D]

soundgravy, I actually write for Home Theater Builder Magazine.

[David Meek]

Yeah, you ought to see that C-17 flying up 'n down 'n around while he's trying to write his articles, too! :B

[gianni]

I would not bother with Sound and Vision. I subcsribe but here's what I don't like:

They seem to cater to the mass market companies only.
The reviews are pretty superficial, generally lacking in technical info of any kind.
Descriptions regarding a components performance in an area are vague.
They like everything they review or at least everything they feature.
Too much content on gizmos -- It should be called A/V and gadjets.
It just reminds me of one big advertisement.

Needless to say, I won't be renewing.

[Jeff]

I agree with gianni, that magazine likes everything. Absolute Sound and Stereophile are the two best audio mags.

The down side is they don't review most of the mass marketed items. Much of Stereophile is damn expensive.

Jeff

[MarcoV]

Home Theatre and Electronic House...

[deke]

What do you guys think of the new "The Perfect Vision?" I was a subsriber for the last couple of years... I think it's a step back and cancelled my subscription.

[David Meek]

I'm not crazy about it either. I'll just let my subscription expire.

[deke]

I agree. It's still a good place for the latest from CES and discussion on HD (as is this forum)... but I was dissappointed to see cameras being reviewed. It seems like it is now catering to a different group. Oh well, it does still have some good stuff - but I'll be checking it out online rather than paying a subscription.

[chinets]

My Favourite: Stereophile, Absolute Sound and Perfect Vision are all great magazines per se. However, I also like Home theatre Mag, Hi Fi Mag, Perfect Vision and Home Entertainement and Stuff mag are also all good and fun!! The more the merrier I guess!! You get more than one review or Info about the equipment you are looking for.
Cheers!