Why doesn't 'What Hi-Fi?' do half stars?

Because then we might as well give marks out of ten, or percentages, or any other rating system.

Why don't you give marks out of ten then? A lot of companies though do give marks like 9.5 or 4 and half stars.

You could equally ask those other companies why they don't give marks out of 5...

ajharris:

Why don't you give marks out of ten then? A lot of companies though do give marks like 9.5 or 4 and half stars.

Though of course - as you've just proved - even 'marks out of ten' seems insufficiently precise for those companies using such a scoring system, which is why they have to resort to 9.5. So why don't they give marks out of 20?

One of our other titles, Autocar, once tried a 10-star system and dropped it soon afterwards. That number of stars on the printed page just looked confusing.

5 Stars gives a good general guide as to how a component performs/value for money. Anything more accurate is meaningless as what makes "good sound" is extremely subjective. A 4 or even 3 star component in the right set up to the right person might be just the thing... WHF give a guide - the onus is then on potential buyers to use their own ears to choose and buy what hifi (haha) is best for them.

Half stars, marks out of ten... Where do you draw the line? Computer games are often marked out of 100 which is ridiculous - who can honestly say game X is worth 89% against game Y's 92%... Like I say, meaningless.

'Evo' use the 5 star system, and use half stars too.

Never heard any complaints in the 10-odd years I've been reading it.

ajharris:

Why don't you give marks out of ten then? A lot of companies though do give marks like 9.5 or 4 and half stars.

Half stars are more relevant with Ice Skating or Dancing; when it comes to appraisal of hi-fi and AV the current system is fine. If there is a better way to grade products I've yet to see it.

Andy Clough:

One of our other titles, Autocar, once tried a 10-star system and dropped it soon afterwards. That number of stars on the printed page just looked confusing.

I'm quite happy with the current system. But im very worried about readers being "confused" by having 10 stars on the page...Can they not count that far?

And we certainly dont need a system that resorts to decimals! I mean, sometimes review verdicts are decided over very fine details, yet a certain number of (whole) stars is awarded. With a decimal system, id think the reviewer just checked their temperature to decide between a 7.8 and a 7.9.

The better way to grade products is to read the words. The stars are just there as shorthand, and not the be all and end all of the review.