hi-fi+ Global Network Magazine hi-fi+ Issue 243 Back Issue

. The best in audio sound very close to one another compared to a few decades ago. We still have a long way to go, but the differences between Product X and Product Y in audio are not as wide as they used to be. Also, most products in audio today are pretty good. The bad old days when a mediocre product would not only sound dreadful but try to execute you with electricity are long gone. Except for a few very cheap products rarely sold in audio stores that have an alarming records of re-profiling records played on them, modern audio is at least competent, if occasionally, a bit ‘Meh!’.

All of this makes it understandable that people want to know which is ‘the one’. They want to know which is the single best of everything and AI-generated websites are keen to tell you just that, often based on nothing more than an attempt to skew sales toward their target. The world is not like Highlander, which is a shame because I think I could carry off The Kurgan look.

Like everything from a decent steak to that next car you’re thinking of buying, there are always options. And while those AI-generated influencers would like you to pick Car A or Steak B and then laugh at anyone who disagrees with them, the world is seldom that black and white.

But people keep asking ‘which is the one’.
I guess this is a positive thing. A decade or so ago, I wouldn’t be asked the question; I’d be told the answer with a veiled demand for approval; ”I’ve got a Gruntastic Enfabulator V... that’s the best, isn’t it?” It just doesn’t feel very positive in real terms. This demand to know the best implies that everything else... isn’t. And that’s not the case. Just as Fender Stratocaster is the best guitar for Strat players and a Gibson Les Paul is the best for Les Paul players, and the same applies to cameras, watches, cars, yachts, and maybe one day, space suits... it also applies to hi-fi.