Dear WHFI AKA 'The Towers'...
...think I know the answer to this question, but I'll ask anyway.
Every January you have a 'All-In-One' test where you go from budget systems from the likes of Marantz, Rotel etc up to the silly money end. Always a fascinating read. However, is there any chance you could do a Mix 'n' match set-up in the not too distant... so for example: Cyrus 8 amp/Roksan Caspian CDP/B&W 805 speakers and see how they stack up against same make systems. Or maybe Naim Nait 5i/Rega/Dynaudio 2/7...
I know when you review individual items the reviewers recommend matches tonally, but rarely mention any other brands by name - would be interesting to se what works together in a test and what doesn't.
Perhaps in January's edition you could combine both.
I'm sure there are others who'd find this test interesting. Or any fussy so-and-sos, like me, that like to use different brands.
Thank you most kindly, pp
No thanks. Please keep it as it is.
I have always liked the one-brand system tests and that particular issue is one of the handful of issues that I buy every year because of it.
Those who like to 'mix things up' get the two page 'Ultimate System Builder' every month where a particular item is asessed in 3 or 4 different configurations with (for example) 'affordable', 'high-end' and 'perfect' partners along with suggestions for cables and stands etc.
No thanks. Please keep it as it is.
I have always liked the one-brand system tests and that particular issue is one of the handful of issues that I buy every year because of it.
Those who like to 'mix things up' get the two page 'Ultimate System Builder' every month where a particular item is asessed in 3 or 4 different configurations with (for example) 'affordable', 'high-end' and 'perfect' partners along with suggestions for cables and stands etc.
Surprised you don't want to see alternatives. Yes there is the 'Ultimate System Builder' and has always been there (in one guise or another). Look at how many combos there could be: maybe even a conventional set-ups at different price brackets and Active set-ups around the same budgets and compare how they stack up. Over the years so many users have set up threads asking (correctly) will this make go with that brand.
If this test comes to fruition it should clarify some peoples questions, and this could be done within the existing one make set-ups, not necessarily in place of...
Exactly.
Mathematically more than the pages of 35 year's worth of WHF magazines could contain just for the possible combinations of equipment available today!
Even if you restricted the combinations to sensible (price and performance relevant) ones, there would be more than the entire magazine could contain.
If there were only ten good budget amps and ten good budget CD players and ten good pairs of budget loudspeakers, then the possible combinations (all valid ones) would number one thousand!
Extend this to every price/performance band and mix the budgets around a bit too (allowing mid-price amps with more expensive speakers for instance) then you could be talking about hundreds of thousands of reviews even if was just restricted to 4 and 5 star rated equipment.
Start including more than one source (other than CD players) or mixing pre and power amps from different manufacturers and it goes completely off the scale.
Exactly.
Mathematically more than the pages of 35 year's worth of WHF magazines could contain just for the possible combinations of equipment available today!
Even if you restricted the combinations to sensible (price and performance relevant) ones, there would be more than the entire magazine could contain.
If there were only ten good budget amps and ten good budget CD players and ten good pairs of budget loudspeakers, then the possible combinations (all valid ones) would number one thousand!
Yes, and if you fold a newspaper in half 10 times mathematically it would reach the moon. You know that ain't going to happen. Likewise if an amp or cdp or DAC is on the bright side and the reviewers say "don't partner it with likeminded electronics or speakers" then this could be put to the test.
I, for one, would love to read about a head-to-head between a conventional system and an active one, and see whether some of the wild claims by active owners does stand up or whether it gives a lie to the claim (Iggle said his AVI betters most systems up to 10k). Wild? we won't know will we?
Or even how does a Uniti compare to Kandy K2/Arcam CD37/EB Acoustics. It won't be conclusive for obvious reasons, but at least it'll help those (some more than others) who are trying to system build.
Where are WHF going to get all the components to satisfy what you have outlined above?
Where will the space (and time) come from for all the other things they need to review like all the AV equipment and digital/streaming kit, and TVs etc?
What if all the AV people want what you have asked for with their reviews too?
Worth interjecting at this point that in our annual systems test we do traditionally recommend alternative products (from other brands) where there's a clear way the suggested one-make system could perform better/offer something different.
But keep the feedback coming - all useful. 
I think the polymerised antipodean flightless bird is onto something.
How often do you see in this forum pairings of Naim/Neat, or Monitor Audio/Arcam etc? It would be interesting if these common combinations were compared to each other and one make systems.
Another example: you only have to mention Rega amps and everyone suggests Rega Speakers. Perhaps other speakers would be a better combo - I think there are a lot of legs in this idea.
Last January (or possibly January 2010 or both, I don't have the issues to hand) a Naim system was paired with Neat loudspeakers.
Sadly group tests and 'one brand' system tests don't get filed in this website's review section. (Now there's my suggestion )
Given that one brand system group tests only take up a few pages of one issue, once per year, I don't see why it is a problem.
There is a demand from people who prefer to buy from one brand for a number of valid reasons. Giving them one group test a year (about 6 pages?) isn't too much to ask surely?
There are 12 other issues - and the remainder of the January issue - in which to satisfy all the mix 'n match folk.
I think the polymerised antipodean flightless bird is onto something.
Good grief AL, I thought you were a "no nonsense, shoot from the hip" Aussie. You really are quite the sesquipedalian.....unless of course you are really a macroverbumsciolist in disguise. 
Having a browse thru the 'Hi-Fi' section there's at least two threads (and various posters) that could benefit from an alternative 'All-in-One' system shoot-off.
I think you'll find that the length of paper required to fold 'n' times is expressed in the equation
where L is length, t is thickness and n is number of folds.
I'll pass on your suggestion to those too busy to read the Forums.
Consulting Editor, What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision/whathifi.com Audio Editor, Gramophone