Feedback (1 Viewer)

Just wanted to say that I think this mag is ok but not great, not yet anyway. The articles are pretty boring which is hard to believe since you have one of the best writers that I really like on staff - Jeff Cherun. This magazine just doesn't stand out from any other magazine on the newstand. Even Home Theater Magazine has more interesting articles and I think that magazine is on the bottom of the heap. Just a suggestion that maybe you guys should spice things up a bit and not be so boring.

Hi Al,

As the publisher I am always interested in our readers feedback. You make the statement that our magazine is boring and the articles not interesting...can you be more specific. For the record, I was part of the launch team for HT and the publisher for a # of years as well so it's interesting that you are not a fan of that book as well.
My guess is that you are looking for a more technical read and if that is the case, then we may not be your cup of tea...but I would appreciate it if you would elaborate a bit as to what you are looking for.
Thanks for your input.

Terry Carroll

I think your starting to look the same all the time
same ads same type of articles...reviews etc.
I also agree you should spice it a bit more...

Hi Robley,

Once again I ask what you mean by 'spice it up'?
As for ad's, yes you will see many of the same as we all work with the same companies...unfortunately, I can not conjure up new companies to run ad's.
As for content, I think if you were to really compare the information you would see that we take a more 'USA Today' approach in that we give our readers solid information in an educational, less technical way than many of our competitors....
Please elaborate, if you can, on what you would like to see...Different strokes for different folks.
What we have to be careful with is the formula that has made us a success and differentiates us from the rest of the pack.
Thanks for your input.

Terry

Commenting about the "same ads" is puzzling. It's the advertisers (and their ad agencies) who dictate that sort of content. When an advertising campaign (note the word "campaign") is being run, a manufacturer's ad agency will "shotgun" the same ad in several magazines so as to run simultaneously in the same month.

Hey, I still do freelance ad copywriting. I know how this stuff works.

And the magazines need the ad revenues.

By "spicing things up" I meant that there should be a more "I'm having fun reviewing this piece of equipment" attitude instead of "here is another piece of equipment I'm reviewing." I liked Jeff Cherun when he was writing for Home Theater Magazine because he always made his articles fun and interesting at the same time. I don't mean that I need more technical data because I really don't care about that stuff, anyway. He probably left because maybe his writing was too "off hand" for some people. Let's face it, 99% of us who are really into this stuff like Home Theater are guys and as such we have a certain way of looking at things. It's funny when somebody writes a letter to a publisher that they find an article offensive. Like the saying goes "the sqeakiest wheel gets the oil." A magazine like Home Theater has tried to become more PC or a more family oriented magazine and that's fine except 99% of it's readers are probably male between the ages of 30 and 50. In the process they have become very boring. I look at your magazine the same way except you have started out this way. I just think there is more to writing about equipment than just the piece of equipment. Your writers should put a piece of themselves into the articles, also.

It is good to see Jeff Cherun back in action. He was probably a better "fit" at Home Theater back during Brent Butterworth's term at the magazine's helm.

Dont get me wrong I still think it is a great magazine..
I guess it's just when a new one comes out I seem
to spend less time reading it. Some of the articles seem to
repeat the same things from month to month..I guess I would
like to see more on dvd and content than just reviews
on equipment.

I agree to a certain extent.....I just subscribed to both the perfect vision and home theater mag, but am waiting on DVD etc.

My suggestion is to add more techy data to the articles.

In my opinion, describing how things sound/look is very subjective and typically the articles are full of words like Full, sharp...blah blah blah...

But I woudl find it mroe intersting to have someone explain (as an example) that "this DVD player has the farjoud (sp) chipset but not the whole DCDi (sp)". "The components inside of this box are of the highest quality" followed by the naems of the components.... followed by a description of what the importance the specific components add....

Point is no matter how good something sounds/looks I would prefer to pay for extra high quality....

Make sense?

I would also suggest changing the scoring method.....to me anything rating a 90 is pretty darn good....as 100 is a magical number for most things! And having to remember which shape/color is which is kinda goofy. On this, however, I have no suggestion how to handle it.

Having said all of that, I do enjoy the read, and will continue to purchase you magazine for while, but am still holding off on subscribing.

Hope that helps,
Bob

Having

I picked up a copy at Tower Records the other day. I remember seeing some stuff here about it but did not put 2 and 2 together.

I really like it as a change to the other HT books out. I normally only buy those when i am looking for something new, even though i do most of my research online now. I get very bored with those and boring over spec after spec.

That is what i really liked in your magazine it had a nice variety of stuff and was a better read(some might see this as easier).

I have already subscribed online and look forward to getting my first one, i also told a friend about it and while he was over today checked it out and liked it a lot. He is not tech savy and has never read a HT magazine and he liked it a lot and has ordering a subscribtion when he got home.

I would like to check out a few back issues i might have to see about ordering some(something i have never did with any magazine).

Keep up the good work you guys are a nice breath of fresh air in a somewhat dry subject.

What's up with the bible reference on the spine?

Just curious...

Hi Robert,

Surprisingly, very few readers ask about this...The simple answer is that the executive staff here at Avodah Publishing are all very thankful to God for allowing us to do what we do. We thought it would be fun to run a verse on the spine that speaks to the magazine and it's mission in some way example: "God said let there be light....", we are trying to shine light on a subject that for most comes off way to techie and condescending by offering a magazine written by highly qualified people who can share their knowledge in a friendly and entertaining way.

It's as simple as that!

Regards,
Terry Carroll
Publisher
DVD ETC. Magazine

This response goes directly to Al_s and Mr. Robley and in part Bob W. Are you guys actually reading this magazine? Firstly I did get a chuckle that Al and Robley write in to critique the way we review and yet give the most vague post I have ever read on the HTF. To go further, you would like our writers to interject themselves into the reviews a bit more and perhaps make them more "fun."? Guys, I've got to tell you...I know that I have personally gone way out on a limb in nearly all of my reviews by interjecting myself--perhaps too far at times. I know because I usually get a call from Terry screaming, "What the %$&# are you doing here?!" Seriously, it's like an episode of the Osborne's every time we ship. However, if we all wrote the same way, the mag would be a dull read--each writer here has their own voice. Getting back to your point Bob about more technical information--perhaps including the chipset of the player? We absolutely do when it's worth mentioning--read some of the reviews by Manoj. Having said that, I still agree that we can take it up a notch or two this next year--we've got some great things planned that will start to put the squeeze on the C/E industry. We have to take baby steps though...like anything.

Al,
One of the things we do try to do is have fun with equipment. In the end, the way it works, the way it sounds, the way it looks, and the effect that it has on us is what we need to relay to the reader. For example, when I received the Marantz universal player, I had so much fun being able to play all my discs on one unit and having them sound good, that I stated at the end that I had not had enjoyed listening to music this much in a long time. I would like to point out to you that I personally do not do this for a living (I have a pretty good day job), I do this because I enjoy it as much as everyone else on this forum.

Bob,
I do have to point out to you that making things more technical and making them more interesting can sometimes be very much exclusive. When new or interesting technology does matter to how something performs, it is brought up. You bring up DVD technology. Besides having actually written an article on the chroma bug, something I do not believe any other print publication has done (and giving credit in the process to hometheaterhifi.com which has done great work on this), I will regularly point out which player has which de-interlacing chip, and whether or not a player is based on another. How many magazines will actually give you technical information that tells you that the Denon 1600 is based on a Panasonic RP56 with the Faroudja engine, and that the Marantz and Onkyo universal players are based on the Pioneer OEM kit?

Bottom line, you can get a listing of features on a website for the manufacturer, but getting a feel for how a product works, looks, and sounds(and when necessary the technology that makes it so) is the most important thing, and also the hardest thing to ascertain when you are making decisions about your equipment.

All I can truly say is

Yes I have been reading the magazine and yes the articles have been quite interesting (i.e. chroma bug). But it seems to me to be less technical and more touchy feely on the reviews then some of the other mags......hard to come up with specific examples of this.

I also understand that most folks would probably prefer touchy feely as opposed to technical based articles.

But hey, I am giving my opinion......

I did not notice the religious refernce on the spine and unfortunately I view that as a negative point now that it has been pointed out to me....not that I am anti religios mind you....just voicing my opinion....

I truly help that some of my opinions have been taken as possibly constructive criticism.

I certainly did not mean to make a post to start a fire,
Bob

Hi Bob,
Sorry to hear that you find our use of a bible verse on the spine as a 'negative', although I have no idea why. Why in the world would this offend you? Actually, the few comments we receive regarding this run about 98% positive to 2% either negative or non-affected/curious. Frankly, if the percentages were reversed, It would still be there.
As for wanting a more technical read, you have a lot of choices out there to do just that. I suggest you stick with them and support them.
If you read some of the comments in this thread you will understand what we are trying to do and who we are trying to serve...DVD ETC.is designed to be educational and entertaining, period.
We do appreciate the feedback. I will add that we are always on the lookout for talented writers, ones that can take a technical product or subject and explain it in a way that is fun and interesting for the reader....interested?

Regards,
Terry Carroll

Terry,
I recently picked up my first issue of your enjoyable magazine. I have been trying to decide whether or not to subscribe. It was laying on the table last night when I happened to look over at the spine and saw the Biblical reference. Please understand [and I say this with great respect] that even though you can not understand why anyone would be bothered by the reference, I definitely am. My religion is a very personal, private part of my life. A reference to a particular Biblical passage which is not part of my belief comes across to me as an attempt at evangelism. Placing it "coyly" on the spine so as to not be immediately visible only makes the matter worse. I would be less offended if an editorial about the staff's religious beliefs were included in the magazine itself. At least it would be stated in a straightforward manner for all to see. If I were reading a religious publication, the reference would not, of course, be a problem. But it does bother me to see this in a home theater magazine. I understand that some may think that I am taking this much too seriously, however this is what I believe. Please do not take my words as any sort of personal attack; I am just trying to give feedback on the contents of your fine publication.

Hi Jay, I wanted to respond quickly so that I don't let my thoughts slip away. Firstly, I know that I speak on behalf of the entire staff when I say we appreciate your feedback and personal religious beliefs. You did not ask for an explanation, but I feel that one is in order because this forum and thread is read by thousands and I don't want to leave too many folks scratching their heads.

When we founded this company Terry and I had the notion to include some sort of inspirational quote on the spine (or somewhere) in each issue that applied directly to us and what we were going thru at that particular time. Understand that we were/are up against incredible challenges launching a new magazine against the publishing conglomerates at a time when many magazines were/are folding.

In the end, we do have strong religious beliefs. And we felt our strength does and has always come from Christ.

Having said that, we did not want to "cram" our religion down anybody's throat, and at the same time we didn't want to appear as though we were trying to "hide" the passage. So we opted to place the passage on the spine.

And at the same time we choose/chose not to include any further reference to religion in the magazine because that is not what we're about.

We're sorry if the reference will inhibit your future purchase or subscription to DVD ETC. Magazine.

Hi Jay,
I always appreciate input to what we are doing with our Magazine.
I have addressed this a couple of times on the forum as you probably know. The only part of your note that I do not quite understand is: "Placing it "coyly" on the spine so as to not be immediately visible only makes the matter worse."
I take exception to this as placing this reference on the spine is anything but 'coy'. Coy would be hiding it or other messages within the body of the magazine. We choose to place a simple verse on the publication that we are so grateful to have an opportunity to have started and as it is a magazine about Consumer Electronics, there is no further mention.
That said, we understand that you have a choice and should you wish to not buy or read because you feel that we are offending you, that is your choice.
Evangelizing is an ancient art of trying to bring people into a particular religion or way of thinking. I am hard pressed to consider this tiny bit of type, evangelizing.

Thank You for your comments.


All The Best,
Terry

Clint and Terry,
Thank you very much for your responses. Please let me repeat that I respect and,indeed, admire your personal religious beliefs. I was just trying to point out that there is a wide diversity of beliefs; and what seems to be a completely harmless religious reference to one person, may be interpereted in a completely different fashion by another. The religious reference will NOT keep me from reading your publication in the future. If I stopped reading, watching or listening to everything that that bothered me, I wouldn't be reading,watching or listening to anything I wish you continued success and I DO look forward to the next issue.
Best Regards,
Jay