Stereophile looses Jonathan Scull

I'd be interested to know what happens to J-10's stockpile of mega-buck gear now that he's officially not a Stereophile employee. He's managed to keep seemingly everything that passes through his listening room, regularly using 3-4 different ultra expensive digital front ends in evaluating gear. Maybe he's a corporate lawyer on the side or independently wealthy - if he is, more power to him. But nobody in their right mind would actually buy all that, yet somehow he's managed to hang onto it all. Interesting.... -Kirk

The big question (that can't be answered right now) is what was the real motivation for excusing J-10. This thread contains both condemnation as well as support for his contributions over the years - I find myself definitely on the condemnation side. However, somebody has to approve the content before it's printed, don't they? Did J-10 just get bigger than his own shoes and become uncontrollable? If so, then maybe the intent is to bring in contributors who don't go off on all the tangents, who aren't so flowery and who give more hard-core equipment reviews. Maybe there was no other way to get that space under control.

There have been several letters over the past several years suggesting that Stereophile is "riding the fence" between their hardcore audience and the mainstream and that to survive, they're going to have to choose one or the other. I don't think it's quite that dire, but there are some tough choices that would have to be made if they were to go one way or the other. If it's more mainstream that they choose (and appear to be choosing), this forum will be ranting until apathy completely sets in, because we'll never be satisfied.

As a customer, it would appear that there are several writers for Stereophile who set their own agenda. If the magazine wants to retain their elite status, they're going to have to regain the editorial control. Perhaps the J-10 release is the first of at least a few power struggle outcomes. -Kirk