On the Cyrus forum WHF was referred to as What Caravan as it spends so much time reviewing TVs, soundbars, in-ear headphones instead of real hi-fi. There was always the suspicion that putting adverts in the magazine got you better reviews but I doubt that has ever been true.
Of course WHF was wise to review other consumer products to keep it’s market share. It concentrates on the budget end of our hobby but it seems Naim have started producing products that are cheap enough (and good enough) to get WHF awards so well done to them.
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Well, the first bit of Naim kit I remember seeing win a What Hifi Award was the original NAIT back in around 1983/4 so it would seem Naim started building “products that are cheap enough (and good enough) to get WHF awards” around 37 years ago… 
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who have won Best Cd Player for about the last billion years…
Hey Mr Kevster…I have told you a million times not to exaggerate!
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It’s a total myth that spending ad money gets you good reviews in What Hi-Fi. Naim hasn’t advertised in the mag for at least two years - and Rega never spend ANY money on ads, and they win big every year! On the reverse side, there are plenty of brands that advertise and don’t win Awards (or even five-star reviews.)
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Well done Clare, must be great following your passion in your work.
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Not this again. As someone who has worked in magazines on and off for more than 30 years and who knows both Haymarket (WHF?'s previous owner) and Future (current publisher) well, this [swapping ad space for good reviews] does not happen. You have no proof for this assertion, neither do the geeks on that other forum, so why perpetuate the myth?
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I’ve always liked WHF, even had a subscription for many years, but the complete lack of measurements is one thing I’ve always disliked. It shouldn’t be the main thing, but there should be a nice balance IMO.
I do wonder though about the likes of Harbeth and the fact they rarely feature in WHF although a major British brand, what are they not doing for this to happen? Then there are other brands that are regularly featured, mostly with glowing reviews. The cynical side of me would say there is some level of commercial tie in, positive reviews can have an enormous effect on sales as do bad ones, just my observation.
Same here. I wouldn’t buy it month after month as it’s really more focussed on home entertainment than music and Hi-Fi specifically. Luckily there’s plenty of choice available online and in print to suit everyone’s needs.
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I stand corrected from basing an assumption on a subset of one year.
2005 when I joined the Naim fold there were no awards for Naim products in the yearly awards issue.
I can’t say I paid much attention thereafter but I’d be surprised if up to the middle part of the last decade for Naim to have more than one or perhaps two awards.
Possibly it’s merely due to the amount of new products in the last 5 years.
.sjb
To add to the conspiracy thinking, many years ago it was suggested to me by my dealer that one brand (which got very good reviews), used to submit specially tweaked products for mag & journo reviews - it wasn’t Naim.
There again, if you read some product reviews & feedback 'sites, people report a product (say an amp) can take up to 6m’s to really ‘open-up’ from new.
Some brands don’t send their products in for review, it’s as simple as that. Sometimes back in the day we’d borrow products from dealers (or even buy them!) if we felt there was enough consumer demand for a review (something easier to judge online).
We had to buy Apple iPods for years, as Apple would never send them for review! (They DID send us their first attempt at a speaker - the Apple HiFi - which we gave a 3-star review to!)
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Sorry if I offended you but I was not making an assertion at all. In fact I was dismissing an ill-founded rumour.
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That just reflects the changing market tho, surely. The days when every town had as a minimum a couple of decent hifi shops and John Lewis had a whole dept devoted to decent audio, are long gone, and convergence of home entertainment makes it a no-brainer for a mag like WHF to spread its appeal.
I still flick through it occasionally, haven’t bought a copy since the 90s tho. That’s why it covers more bases - fewer people buy hifi.
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British hifi 4-5 stars
Non British 1-3 stars
Over and over again. I trust forums more.
There’s a simple reason why British hi-fi may get a higher star rating, and that’s because What Hi-Fi reviews on a ‘performance per £’ basis.
British products tend to be cheaper in the UK - no distribution costs, import duties etc - so when reviewed against non-UK brands that may carry a premium, they can have a ‘value’ advantage.
It’s certainly not the case all non-UK brands get poor reviews, though - there are plenty of five-star winners made elsewhere, and indeed even used as What Hi-Fi reference components.
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Don’t worry, you didn’t offend me – I’m not the sort of person to take offence, especially on trivial stuff like hi-fi. It’s just a wearisome assertion that’s repated endlessly, with no proof.
So well deserved. I’m very satisfied with my Uniti Atom and 3 Mu-so Qb 2nd generation.
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