What Hi Fi

What Hi Fi, now what does this title suggest. Does it mean, What Hi Fi?, hmm which stuff shall I choose, or is it What, Hi Fi? Do not be a silly chap this stuff is all too expensive do not bother with it? Or could the title be a strange greeting to a person called Fi!

Well, it is as you will have all guessed a magazine to help you the consumer choose the right Hi Fi, equipment, to make your lounge sound like heaven when you play your music; unless of course you play Steps or S Club 7, when all decent music playing equipment throws a tantrum and jumps out of the window to stop it being subjected to such rubbish! In fact it is CD player and speaker hell to have such manufactured music played through it. Ohh how many teenagers did I just offend.

As, you may know I recently needed new Hi Fi equipment and so my starting point was this magazine.

I digress yet again, so what of this magazine, is it useful, is its advice good and does it have anything interesting to say?

CONTENT

Reviews

The magazine starts with reviews of new equipment (entitled First Tests), CD players, Amplifiers, Speakers, DVD players, complete audio visual systems, personal hi-fi equipment (walkmans etc) and even Hi Fi furniture (i.e. racks and stands, I never knew that speaker stands were so important). Each individual review is very detailed and tells you what equipment they tested the piece with, how it sounded and what its technical spec is. In fact there is as far as I could see, no info left out that you would want to know. Another useful feature of the reviews is that the magazine lists the other equipment available in the same price range and how this new piece fairs against the established competition.

Then there is an interesting section about technical developments and new ideas hitting the market that allows the reader to see what is cutting edge at the present time.

Next we have a section about Hi Fi shows, where can you go, to see all the makers and leading shops together under one roof, what was shown that was new and if the show is yet to take place what you can expect to see. (These Hi Fi shows are much like the car shows from what I can make out.)

There are more reviews in the form of a section on DVDs and CDs, taking the interesting stance of what style system will unlock the treasures hidden in each CD or DVD.

That is it for reviews of new stuff, but the magazine every month analyses a section of the market, for instance what are the best speakers in the £400-£500 section and what are the duffers to avoid at all costs. Importantly the magazine looks at whether your current equipment will be compatible with the equipment reviewed. From the three issues I have they seem to concentrate on about three areas every month and analyse the market in good depth.

Features

There are features every month on a particular part of shopping for Hi Fi equipment, what shops sell the cheapest stuff, what shops offer the best service etc etc. In the latest edition there was a very useful article on Internet shopping for Hi Fi equipment.

Another interesting feature section is the Temptation articles, these focus on those pieces of equipment that cost thousands, but of course are superb and waives them in front of the readers nose. Now, this may not be fair, but at least it shows you what you could have if you won the lottery!

Advice

Yes, there is an excellent advice section, with sections on what is important in buying Hi Fi equipment and what you should buy for your needs and tastes. This section was most useful as I am by no means an expert and was well educated after my little read.

Of course there is a reader’s letters section, with advice dispensed on those subjects that have been vexing readers (that obviously spend far too long fiddling with tweeters!) by men who spend their life fiddling with tweeters.

This section is excellent as you will have an idea of a budget that you need to spend to get what you want and what stuff will suit you and your needs and music tastes. The section explains all the technical jargon and you will know what each part of a Hi Fi system does and why certain aspects (such as good quality connecting and speaker cable is so important.)

Buyers Guide

Here is the bible to follow when buying, components that have been reviewed and are still available to buy are listed, with the basic technical specification and review rating, in accordance with component type and price. So for example you have CD players split into price ranges, which is useful as you can automatically see what you can afford.

Adverts

You may think it strange that I list this part, but boy can you find deals here, most major retailers have an advert and all seem to have constant deals on, I found a great deal from Richer Sounds, by virtue of the adverts in this magazine and it is good as it shows in even more detail what you can get for your money.

USE

This magazine is an excellent starting point, if you are thinking of replacing your stereo. My old integrated system went phut, so I thought I would test the separate market (thinking it would be too pricey) but instead found that for £400, you can get an excellent pair of speakers, Amp and CD player, which puts most of the systems that stores like Dixons sell to shame.

The buying guide is very useful and even if you had little interest in the sound of your music, you will be amazed at how useful this magazine can be. For the £3.20 cover price, I think you will be able to use the information to save money and get a better sound than you thought you could afford. There were some deals listed that gave you CD player, Amplifier and Speakers for £149, whose sound quality would put a £300 integrated system to shame.

Most of all I found the reviews accurate and got exactly what I wanted and was not surprised by any aspect of what I had purchased. Well when I finally got the system!

Go on inform yourself and say Pants to Dixons and Currys and Hi to Fi.