Stereo Review

Stereo Review was a magazine first published in 1958 by Ziff-Davis with the title HiFi and Music Review. It was one of a number of magazines then available for the individual interested in high fidelity. Throughout its life it published a blend of record and equipment reviews, articles on music and musicians and articles on technical issues and advice. The name changed to HiFi Review in 1959. It became HiFi/Stereo Review in 1961 to reflect the growing use of stereophonic technology in recordings and broadcasts. In 1968 it became, simply, Stereo Review to show that stereo and hi-fi had come to mean the same thing in the eye of the public. In the late 1980s, the magazine was acquired by Hachette Filipacchi and absorbed the staff of the defunct High Fidelity magazine. During the 1990s, consumer trends began to branch out into home theater matters and the magazine contents followed in kind. Finally, in 1999, the magazine was renamed Stereo Review's Sound & Vision and later simply Sound and Vision to reflect how dominant home theater had become in consumer purchases.

One of the key features of the magazine was the permanence of its staff. Some staffers stayed for decades. One of them, a woman, rose from the ranks to become the magazine's editor from the late 1980s into the '90s. Another, Julian Hirsch, was known for his technical reviews of equipment and his opinion that only what was audible truly mattered. He was involved with the magazine from 1961 until his retirement in 1998, nearly 40 years.