Currently, I'm taking BBC Music, Gramophone, International Record Review, and American Record Guide. I think they all have their place. It's easy for people to disparage Gramophone and BBC, but I have read reviews there that I haven't seen in IRR! They also have hardware reviews which I do read. And for what it's worth, the British publications are very pricey over here as far as these things go. I've been reading ARG it seems forever. I really like the focus on music. And no one has as many reviews! Sometimes the reviewers get too detailed. They often seem to want to write a composer biography. But sometimes all I want is: is this a good or better performance? is the recorded sound really good, and maybe how it compares to other versions available? If it's music I've never heard of, I want to know if I'd enjoy it. That's one thing the old Ovation magazine had that I miss: a quick ranking.
I read Fanfare, which is expensive, at the nearby library. It's good, too. There used to be other good magazines like Stereo Review and Hi-Fidelity which had great classical reviews, but slowly gave it up. Too bad, but things change.
There are some online reviewers like Classicstoday.com that are useful. Maybe we should start a new thread here of reviews. But, and this is just me preaching, all classical devotees should subscribe to something! We're a small enough population as is, and I'd hate to see another classical mag close down because of lack of interest.
