News

Here at Stereophile we like to measure things. Part of that is because we can, of course—and that's another reason why we love the Internet. We have no way of knowing how many times our readers re-read certain articles, nor do we know how many different readers look at any given issue, but on the web, we can at least count the page views. Yes, we know that there are some uncertainties about that metric, too, but we can count it, so we do.

So when webmaster Jon Iverson asked me if I wanted to see the 10 most-read URLs on our website, I responded with alacrity. Of course I did. Here's the list:

B&W DM603 S3 loudspeaker
B&W 802D loudspeaker
Are You Ready For the Transporter?
KEF iQ9 loudspeaker
Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 loudspeaker
Arcam Solo CD receiver
Monitor Audio Silver RS6 loudspeaker
Outlaw Audio RR2150 stereo receiver
Slim Devices Squeezebox WiFi D/A processor
Usher Audio Technology S-520 loudspeaker

At first glance, it's a pretty diverse list: one $1600 CD player, one no-holds-barred digital music distribution system, a beer-budget model from the same manufacturer, a hybrid CD player/receiver, a budget-priced stereo receiver, one state-of-the-art loudspeaker with a $12k/pair price tag, and five speakers ranging in price between $350/pair and $2000/pair.

Another way of looking at the data is to realize that all of the products offer exceptional performance at reasonable prices. True, the $2000 Transporter and the $12,000/pair B&W 802D aren't budget components, but both can seriously claim to extend the realm of what is possible from technology: in the case of the Transporter, technology that is only beginning to flourish; in the case of the 802Ds, technology tht is nearly 100 years old.

The Arcam Solo CD receiver impressed both our reviewer Art Dudley and our measurer-in-chief John Atkinson—a nifty hat-trick for a component that might be labeled by some as a "system-in-a-box."

All five of the less pricey loudspeakers measured well—and impressed our reviewers with their sound. Yes, even the $350/pair Wharfedales.

The Outlaw Audio RR2150 may belong to that Rodney Dangerfield of audio components, the receiver category, but the $600 marvel had Michael Fremer connecting it to his big rig and loving it.

And the $300 Slim Devices Squeezebox was just plain fun, while performing exceptionally well.

Does the popularity of those 10 articles (the Transporter URL was a product announcement, the rest were full reviews reprinted from the print magazine) indicate that Stereophile should be reviewing more affordable gear? We're not so sure. While it could be argued that all of them were, after a fashion, "affordable," what they also were was unmistakably better than good. They were gems—and you have to look long and hard to find gems.

In our search for gems, we do look for affordable products, but we also try to review what our erstwhile colleague Jonathan Scull dubbed "bleeding edge" designs, which may not feature real-world pricing but frequently introduce technologies, materials, and techniques that represent the direction that the industry will soon be pursuing. At least, that's the theory.

There's the possibility of another interpretation of our popularity data, of course. It is possible that our web readers are looking for different products than our print magazine's readers. Why not pop over to our Vote! page and let us know?