Stereophile 2023 recommended gear list

[anmpr1]

At ease casting stones.. I may not have expressed it well but we were talking about the 80-s when TAS and S'Phile were basically the only game in town..

It would be better to say those two were the only big game going. During the mid '70s through early '80s many smaller operations made the scene; most turned out to be short lived, really 'newsletters.' None had the staying power of either Stereophile (the first and oldest), or Harry's magazine.

One thing one can certainly point to, is that Gordon Holt (and his staff, for large part) was always gentlemanly, whether or not you agreed with his editorial material. Pearson, on the other hand, brought hi-fi journalism into the gutter. At least in my opinion.

The only other 'underground' that made much of an impression on me, and many others, was the short lived Audio Critic, lasting about two or three years. After an extended hiatus it returned in quite different editorial form. From a literate standpoint, Aczel was a high point. I attribute that to his long career at Madison Ave, and he was well read. Whether you agreed with him or not, you had to admit that he could turn a phrase, and was often downright hilarious.

His reviews were typically, short and concise, with little fluff. He was not afraid to hit hard--Infinity QLS and first Janus sub review (which he later modified his opinion on) were examples. Also, his give and take with Jim Bongiorno (always a character, himself), and a series of letters from some engineer at HP (the computer company, not Harry Pearson) were typical of his informed wit. But his operation was essentially a one man band, and after reaching older age, it was too much for him to keep going.

 

[Axo1989]

Here's a comment that'll piss everybody off:

When I hear from people who are very, very concerned about "civility" and being polite and "not hurting anybody's fwellings," and they are MORE CONCERNED about policing insults than about the subject that is being discussed, I always assume that I have come upon a non-alpha. A person who has spent most of their career being a good little conformist.

If these people are individual contributors -- for example, engineers with no management responsibilities -- then they may do very well in life, making good money and having good careers.

And they may also do well if they have small businesses or work as consultants.

However, if they attempt to rise within the brutal culture that is life in the modern American corporation (and tech companies in particular), they will not last long. Not long at all.

The last person to tone-police my language here was @Sal1950 so I think your theoretics have some holes.

 

[Sal1950]

With this I'm out of this conversation, I'm turning off the notifications on this thread. Better things to do with my Sunday in particular (BBQ!!!) and life in general.

OK, bye. Yea.

Your switching to ad hominem is not attractive either. You can move on or I can block you. Your choice really.

Are you still here ???

 

[Deleted member 21219]

1. I haven't attacked anyone, maybe you want to revisit my comments.
2. I haven't been aggressive one iota and offered no apologies for any rag in existence.

q.v. :

I’m always amazed at the amount of vitriol levelled at publications such as Stereophile. If these people and their reviews are not worth anything, why would they be worth the amount of time spent bashing them? Especially in a forum in which none of the people buying $300k turntables will ever participate.

Thank you, you've made my point and continue to do so quite eloquently. The Grand Anti Stereophile Crusade continues in a place it won't make one iota of difference whatsoever. But hey, it's your breath to waste, who am I to tell you how to waste it?

--------------------------

4. You seem to believe that lobbying vitriol at anything or anyone should be OK. Great, I don't need to know more about you.

That's a misrepresentation of what i said, which is this:

"I have my ideas of civility. You have your ideas of civility. Other people, here and elsewhere, have their ideas of civility. The world is not a monoculture."

Your switching to ad hominem is not attractive either. You can move on or I can block you. Your choice really.

This comment is more difficult to handle, because I admit that my analysis seems to resemble an ad hominem, something I myself find distasteful. However, things may not always be what they seem.

We are constantly visited by trolls, some of whom are more sophisticated than others. When a poster displays rhetorical techniques similar to a troll, it's hard to tell their motivation. If your posts have been in good faith, then you might try to appear less judgemental and less inclined to criticize the members here. It would help, and could be the first step in building a constructive dialogue.

Hopefully, you can enjoy being here and we can enjoy having you here.

Jim

 

[AdamG]

I was overjoyed this lasted as long as it did! Okay, maybe overjoyed is the wrong word? But done or finished works now.