++++StereoPhile Class A components+++++

Stereophile is in the business of selling (generally) high-priced, many would say highly overpriced, high-end gear. Why? Simple! A magazine's profits come from advertisers, generally, from my experience in the magazine business, in the ratio of 60% ad space to 40% articles. Have you noticed how much thinner Stereophile has gotten since the number and space of ads has declined. Readers, you ask? To magazines readers are a necessary evil. Advertisers pay according to the number of subscribers, which is why you get all those 'bargain' subscription offers.

This brings me to the "A" list and reviews. A magazine can't afford to antagonize advertisers or trash equipment sent for review. Obvious, isn't it! Do that and the magazine goes down the tubes (no pun intended). That's why it appears that Stereophile's reviewers haven't, to paraphrase Will Rogers, met a piece of equipment they didn't like!

Are the reviewers dishonest? Not necessarily! They must certainly be cross-pressured. On the one hand they must serve, and thus maintain, their subscriber base, and, at the same time serve the interests of makers of often overpriced equipment.

Do I read Stereophile? Sure, I do! At the going subscription rate one can't afford not to. I find it fun and sometimes even useful. I jus take their recommendations with more than a grain of salt!

Helcat: My position about Stereophile ratings has not wandered one bit, nor am i "sucking up" to "a famed reviewer".

Having said that, i'm NOT going to put Kal on the spot. I will only say that i've found his reviews to offer moments of critical insight that i've found lacking in the reviews of other Stereophile employees. THAT is why i don't have a problem with Kal or his reviews.

The fact that Kal has very little to do with overall Class Ratings at Stereophile also comes into play. That info can be found in another thread that he, i and JA were involved in over at AA. For that matter, if you had ever read ANY of my public correspondance with members of Stereophile at AA, you would know that i'm not a "brown noser" in the least. I try to call them as i see them, good or bad. As such, i've posted "kudo's" to them when i really enjoyed something and dished out criticism when i thought something was "fishy" or poorly executed. After all, i am one of the bosses there and have the right to voice my opinion. As to how i am one of the "bosses" there, my subscription fees help pay their bills and paychecks : )

As far as cancelling subscriptions go, i'm not going to do that as i'm prepaid for another three years or so. Whether or not i like specific attributes of the magazine is besides the point. It is a great source of info / current trends / occasional technical articles. In that respect, it is worth way more than what we pay for it. As some may recall, i had actually encouraged JA to raise the price of a subscription so as to minimize the dependency of the magazine on advertising revenue. I still have that point of view and would put my money where my mouth is should they decide to go that route. Sean
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Sean, I will try to take some time off to catch up with your prolific postings on multiple sites. Sorry...
My wife forced me to attend AA after a vicious three day bender. I got the chip somewhere. I was under the impression they were a self perpetuating meritocracy without bosses.
The other day me and JA ST and the gang had to call MF onto the carpet over that whole crown jewel reference se/shelter fiasco. Just kidding. I always enjoyed name dropping.
Don't make me taunt you a third time.
Enjoy:)

Helcat: I don't know whether to take your post in jest or not. I wasn't trying to "name-drop", i was trying to point out that my comments / points of view have remained consistent regardless of who i was talking to and where it was said.

For the record, i do enjoy my music, my systems and the correspondance that takes place on forums of this nature. If i didn't, i wouldn't be involved with any of it. Sean
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Helcat, Kal, John Atkinson, "Sam Tellig," John Marks and other Stereophile contributors have participated from time to time at audioasylum.com, where Sean is also a regular. Sean has had some arguments with "Sam" and, in general, is one of the members there who seems to be very interested in audio reviewer "ethics" and Stereophile's policies.

I find most of these discussions rather tedious. Though I have had an argument with Kal regarding speaker frequency response (I like presence dips, he doesn't), I think all of the contributors to the print mags are decent guys, and almost all of the components they review are recommended because most things made and sold by audio manufacturers do what they are supposed to do. My only discomforts are with the increasingly stratospheric prices of the components they review and the proliferation of "Class A" loudspeakers (I think a lot of them belong in a lower class or are too expensive to recommend for the performance offered, but that's just the personal pov of a listener not connected in any way with the industry). It is unrealistic, however, for anyone to expect a component to be trashed in a review. There just aren't that many of them that are so bad.

Just remember that Stereophile is a buff mag published to entertain and to provide a vehicle for advertising. (There isn't anything wrong with advertising.) Unlike Sean, I would not pay more for Stereophile. I have less and less interest in component reviews anyway, but the components they are reviewing are just getting too expensive.