Christmas '04 Consumer Reports

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

OK..... we'll they are getting better at reviewing home theater gear, but there are a few nitpicks about their latest...

Lack of Front Projectors: With models starting under $1000 they still tout CRT-RPTV's as being the "biggest of the big" for displays. And then doesn't even mention screens above 60". (Guess mitsubishi didnt pay enough to get their 71" some lip service).

BOSE speakers still manage to make their "recommended speakers" along with Sony!!!

My god, dont these people even try to look up some good companies like Paradigm, or Def Tech? Heck, they could find ads for Wharfedale, Athena, JBL, and klipsch in a best Buy circular!

The two upsides to the CR home theater reviews: The BOSE 3-2-1 "surround" system gets slammed, and CR even suggests instead that you spend $600 on a Yamaha HTiB for "Better quality and real surround sound" (emphasis mine).

Also: "expensive cables" and we must assume the whole industry because no manufactures are specified, are warned to be "avoided" because they offer "No performance upgrade" over the generic stuff.

You may or may not agree with any benefits for boutique cables in your expensive "seperates' system.... but CR may actually have prevented a few clueless people from wasting thier money by purchasing $500 in Monster cables to go with their new $300 HTiB at BestBuy (And I know of people who did just that).

[Dan]

Remember, they got sued by Bose once upon a time. CR while great for cars, appliances and conventional TVs has never been good with audio equipment IMO. It's yet another reason the reviews here are so valuable.

[sjdgpt]

I would love to pose this little problem to CR.

Two cars, of radically different designs.

Car A. Small 4 cylinder engine with a turbo.

Car B. Big Block V-8


Car A. 0-60 in 6.0 seconds

Car B. 0-60 in 6.0 seconds.

The questions.....

Which is the better car? Is there a difference in the cars?


My favorite Car "rag" would have a field day with this comparion.

What would CR say/do?

[Leprkon]

Originally Posted by sjdgpt

I would love to pose this little problem to CR.

Which is the better car? Is there a difference in the cars?


What would CR say/do?

that's an easy one.. CR would go with whichever one had a foreign "manufacturer". about ten years ago, CR rated a Mazda MX-3 something like 4.8 out of 5 and the Ford Festiva I think 3.3 out of 5 for reliability. The two cars were mechanically the same except for sheet metal and even came out of the same assembly plant. They have "no" bias at CR...

[gregz]

Consumer reports started out great, but I really think they've lost their way in general. It's not that their tests are necessarily biased, it's the knack they've developed in choosing irrelevant criteria to test - particularly in audio.

I remember way back when they choose a Technics receiver as the being the best. Anybody remember what their criteria were? Ease of use of remote? 24 hour customer support hotline? I don't remember the exact categories, but I do remember checking the cover to see if I had the April issue...

[zumbo]

Originally Posted by sjdgpt

I would love to pose this little problem to CR.

Two cars, of radically different designs.

Car A. Small 4 cylinder engine with a turbo.

Car B. Big Block V-8


Car A. 0-60 in 6.0 seconds

Car B. 0-60 in 6.0 seconds.

The questions.....

Which is the better car? Is there a difference in the cars?


My favorite Car "rag" would have a field day with this comparion.

What would CR say/do?

I think they woud pick the four banger due to fuel consumption. I believe Motorweek is the best at cars, with Car and Driver a VERY close second.

When it comes to Audio, I have to trust my ears.