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Legal fund for Reviewers/Erin?

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amirm

amirm

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My condolences to both Erin and @amirm for the crap they've had to put up with. I cannot imagine what it is like to work with/for Mr. Alexander :(.
It has been the darkest time since I started this site.
 

markus

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It has been the darkest time since I started this site.
It's the old "subjective vs objective" discussion just on an unnecessarily damaging level. Looks like a fund for legal threats coming from manufacturers indeed is necessary to protect objective reviews and ultimately the truth. Sounds pathetic but that's what it has come to due to the actions of @Eric Alexander . He has done a big disservice to the community and anyone who wants to enjoy high-quality audio.
 
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DrDardis

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FWIW, Eric has deleted his youtube video and locked comments on the other 'I am not sueing' one.

There was an account arguing vorciferously on his behalf before he pulled the pin. I am not saying it was a sock puppet, but...

Hopefully we, and more importantly Erin and Amir, can go back to a quieter life. Was a soap opera for sure though.
 

Grotti

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It's the old "subjective vs objective" discussion just on an unnecessarily damaging level. Looks like a fund for legal threats coming from manufacturers indeed is necessary to protect objective reviews and ultimately the truth. Sounds pathetic but that's what it has come to due to the actions of @Eric Alexander . He has done a big disservice to the community and anybody seeking for pleasure in high quality audio reproduction.
Indeed: get this legal fund starting. I (and I am sure, many members feel the same) want to see this installed as a strong statement for the freedom of speech and our solidarity with people like our host Amir, Erin and other reviewers out there, who spread the truth on the basis of science. And I really would appreciate manufacturers contributing as well, since this is also a threat for companies, which follow science for good reasons: the likes of Genelec, Neumann, Kef, Revel, Dutch & Dutch, Kii, Sigberg Audio, Fink Audio (just examples of loudspeaker companies, add other companies and manufacturers of electronics.....)...They all profit to some extent from the reviews here, at EAC and some other places, where they shine because of their superior measurements. They wouldn't profit from a world, where subjective audiofoolery reigns.

I will renew my status as a forum donor this weekend for a start. And I hope, I can contribute to a legal fund soon...
 

Axo1989

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You know, this is the kind of crap that behavior like Mr. Alexander's imposes on other people. This is beyond business, economic concerns, social awkwardness or a "passionate small businessman trying to protect his livelihood". All of those things are simply human even when they get unpleasant. Mr. Alexander, on the other hand, is trying to make himself and his "problems" the focus of Erin's life and insinuate himself into it. Who the f@#€k does that? Remember that in his last messages here he was being complimentary to Erin and saying he was a "decent guy and would happily send him more speakers, yada yada", while making Amirm his target du jour. Now it's apparent that he was continuing to try and manipulate Erin, too.

I just think it's important to recognize his actions for what they are and not lose sight of how really bizzare and disfuncional they are. If you haven't had the "pleasure" of dealing with people like this before it can be hard to see just how manipulative they are being. My condolences to both Erin and @amirm for the crap they've had to put up with. I cannot imagine what it is like to work with/for Mr. Alexander :(.

This is all my personal opinion, of course.

I agree that lay diagnosis via internet is no more than opinion. But I think this an excellent post. Maintaining strict distance and near total incredulity are among the basics of dealing with serious narcissism. I don't think people are usually prepared for it.
 

Lsc

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Erin is not being sued so any talk of a go fund me probably should be halted. For those that feel generous, just go to his patreon site and leave the rest of us out of it .
 

markus

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Erin is not being sued so any talk of a go fund me probably should be halted. For those that feel generous, just go to his patreon site and leave the rest of us out of it .
What do you mean by "leave the rest of us out of it"? The way Tekton tried to threaten Erin and Amir into submission potentially could have led to the end of any contribution of the two, or anybody trying to do objective reviews for the greater good. You are already "in it", @Eric Alexander made sure of that. Obviously we need to set and enforce clear and consistent boundaries. A legal fund could be such a tool.
 
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Gregm

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I am OK for tossing a few buckerooz for legal defense but I want to see some effort on Erin's part before doing that. He should push back and not cave to this hostile man.
Sorry, but I disagree with a gung-ho approach.
IMO Erin's response should be carefully orchestrated and strategically sound, and any action on his part must well prepared in advance.
When a manufacturer goes out of his way to threaten a simple presentation of his product, a presentation that includes measurements (i.e. data, whatever may be the interpretation of said data), there may be something more sinister in play than just difference of opinion. I am just saying: caution is the watch-word here.
Usually, manufacturers respond with something along the lines of "we are sorry you did not like our product; fortunately many others do..." etc
 

SIY

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Are you absolutely certain that your data is 100% bullet-proof with not even a hint of a possible objection?
If I publish it, it's solid and defensible.

"No hint of a possible objection" is a ludicrous standard. When I've been threatened (three or four times), my answer is always the same: "We'll have fun in discovery," and it has always ended there.
 

hyfynut

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As others have no doubt replied in this longish thread, Bose was in fact not successful in their action against Consumer Union. The court ruled that a reviewer's words had to be both false and written with malice before the company could be awarded relief. Malice was not demonstrated and the appeals court therefore denied the Bose claim.

As far as this product? The designer is just being an A#$. The correct response, if any response was indicated at all, would have been to reply that the microphone doesn't lie, but his loudspeakers are designed with a particular customer in mind who is not wedded to the charts and graphs, and instead wants to have whatever they offer apart from all that. After all, Bose loudspeakers were always pretty much a commercial success in spite of their polarizing sonic signature and sometimes 'bad' reviews. The same can be said with other designs.
My bad. Relying on a less than perfect memory
 

CedarX

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So that means Eric still won and got what he wanted: no more unsolicited reviews.
That’s how I see it as well. Erin does not want to hear about Tekton ever, same at Audioholics. Tekton can continue claiming they have the best mids in the world as demonstrated by a few solicited (controlled) reviews……. They won! :(
 

er|κzvio1in

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I’m a practicing engineer I’ve found that I works as much with people as I do with tech .

We deliver a handful of projects every year and the work is to fit and adapt our products and software to the costumer needs . I spend months discovering how the current plant works having meetings with the clients engineering and their process operators discussing everything.

I’m not the project manager we have those to on the project and a sales persons. Before the project starts I have also advised sales in technical matters .

It’s a teamwork if engineering did not had social skills our company would be done for . So yes this is partly a myth that rational thinking people can’t be social ;)

But it’s true to some extent I’ve gladly hand over negotiations to sales and project managers and try not to interfere there :) but I do something initiate changes and extra add on features that the customers then buy extending the scoop of the project.

But engineering on our side a suppliers has a very level and honest dialogue with our clients engineering .
They understand more than our sales people are comfortable to think about :)

So,it’s a multi level thing our sales talk to thier sales our project manager talks to thier project manager. I as an engineer engage with thier engineering.

I would say it’s a different kind of social skill .
It's definitely teamwork, I used to be in BD/sales/contract management of medium-large projects. In my experience, the sales persons will have to have at least some affinity and background with the technical part (the more, the better), while the engineers definitely have to have the social and organisational competences to make a success of the bid & project aligning with their counter parts, suppliers and team members. It's really the drafts(wo)men that are doing the grinding and having less interactions. The project managers control the project w.r.t. schedule, budget, changes, troubleshooting/escalating issues and handling sr. management and client.
 

Rottmannash

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Tekton has done exponentially more damage to their brand from bullying than the review could ever do. I would never buy a product from a purveyor that was capable of that behavior. The impulse lacked any strategic or long term thinking.
...or impulse control by the owner.
 

sq225917

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All I take from this is that I find Eric to be a mealy mouth narcissist. Threatening someone with legal action to modify/withdraw a review, packing that request with a bunch of hoops the reviewer should jump through to remove the threat of litigation and them brazenly claim he is not sueing anyone, while hanging the threat of litigation of them is a grade A asshole tactic in my opinion.

Bully boy tactics and weak semantic backtracking.

And all over a review that is technically unaltered by undertaking the measurement condition changes he requested.
 

Stoutblock

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Man I sure hope this is not a sign of things to come. Expert third party objective reviews of audio equipment combined with open discussion within a highly competent group of passionate individuals has taken the audio hobby to a new level. The hobby and the industry are the better for it.

I sure hope Erin continues as he is one of the very best at what he does. He is always honest and respectful which gives him credibility over many others.

As for Eric, I would highly recommend he takes a month off and deep dives into the works of Tom Peters.

“If a window of opportunity appears, don’t pull down the shade!” Tom Peters

”There is no such thing as a minor lapse of integrity.” Tom Peters
 
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