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Audiogon and the Hi-Fi Mags

As a longtime reader of both TAS and Stereophile, I do not recall ever having seen any discussion in either of those magazines about Audiogon and its impact on the two-channel audio business.

To me, Audiogon is by far the biggest story in high-end audio in the last ten years. If it is in fact the case that the two main hi-fi rags have never discussed the advent of Audiogon and its impact on the industry even casually, let alone do an article or feature piece on it, that is curious, especially because both magazines have columns devoted to developments in the hi-fi industry and regularly run feature pieces about industry developments. Not to cast aspersions, but I know that many manufacturers and retailers do not like Audiogon and believe it to have a pernicious affect on the industry (it has created a huge market for used components and on-line sales of new products that suppress sales of new products sold through traditional dealer networks / the counter argument is that Audiogon has greatly expanded the high-end hi-fi market generally, creating much greater knowledge of and demand for new products and after-sales service from all sources), so could it be that they have exerted pressure on the magazines to keep quiet about Audiogon? It is also the case that the hi-fi rags get taken to task a lot in Audiogon threads (sometime fairly and sometimes unfairly, in my opinion), so this may be a reason why we don't hear about Audiogon in the magazines. Lastly, are the mags incompetent and have just missed the story? For whatever its worth, I know that Audiogon has advertised in one (perhaps both) of those magazines.

I let my subscriptions to TAS and Stereophile lapse last year, so perhaps they have treated the subject and I have missed it? If the subject has not been treated, does anyone know whether any B-school has done a case study of Audiogon's affect on the industry? If yes, I'd love to see it.

Perhaps Kal and others associated with the magazines have some insight that they would care to share?

Please temper your comments so this thread does not get pulled.
raquel
fatparrot
1,314 posts
 
Raquel, your quote:

...I know that many manufacturers and retailers do not like Audiogon and believe it to have a pernicious affect on the industry (it has created a huge market for used components and on-line sales of new products that suppress sales of new products sold through traditional dealer networks...

says it all! The last thing that a business entity (T.A.S & Stereophile and their advertisers) would want to do is give publicity to a direct competitor. And are you one of those rare females who is into the wacky and wonderful world of Auiophilia, or you just an audio guy with an unusual moniker?
timf
237 posts
 
I imagine the biggest difference between audio asylum and Audiogon as far as stereophile and absolute sound are concerned is that Audioasylum is seen as a place where audiophiles primarily gather to discuss audio related topics and Audiogon- although it serves this purpose too), is perhaps better known as a marketplace. The magazines are a sort marketplace too, So they doubtlessly do not want to point to the overwhelming evidence that people may tire of some of the zillion dollar products they advertise and review in their formats, or that these same products may not hold their value down the line. I imagine it is a tricky balance steophile must achieve in acknowledging their association with audiogon- brilliant really. I am sure they are quite proud as well. Still, it could be seen as a conflict of interest
s7horton
1,077 posts
 
Stereophile and TAS are in the market of selling new equipment. If manufacturers aren't selling equipment, they aren't buying ad space in the mags. Audiogon is a used market, primarily. The manufacturers don't want to see their advertising space live next to an ad for used gear. Until companies come up with "certified used" like a Honda, I believe the two will try to stay separate.
stehno
1,453 posts
 
Audiogon should be considered a welcome addition to all but the industry die-hards who would rather preserve their crumbling tower than see the industry grow.

Audiogon being a marketplace primarily for used goods (though that too is changing) is a real benefit. Those who would rather purchase new from brick-and-mortar stores now have a means of getting a better return on their used equipment and thus provide them greater buying power.

And the used equipment allows those of us on more limited budgets to experience this hobby in a way that could have been near impossible prior to Augiogon's existence.

-IMO
kleech
130 posts
 
Hi Raquel, I hope all is well. Whether or not a magazine writes about it, it would be very interesting to learn more about AudiogoN. I'm not sure that they've consciously avoided writing about the goN and if so, we can only speculate as to why that may be.

I'd like to learn more about the prinicipals, Steve and Arnie. Their backgrounds, how they got the idea for this site and how they started it. I'd like to see some stats such as how many how many registered users there are and breakdown by geography. It would be interesting to see
how many unique visitors there are daily, how many ads are posted etc. broken down by day of the week. Why? Just curious as this is my favorite place on the net.

This place may attract a somewhat narrower crowd than on AA; perhaps those with more interest in buying and selling.
How large an influence the commerce end of this site has on the high end marketplace might be overestimated by us denizens but I do suspect it is significant. I think the forums are even more influential as I for one have based buying decisions on info gleamed here whereas I do not recall ever making a purchase decision based on something I read in the mags.

So how about it AudiogoN? Would you be interested in letting us know a little more about yourself? I hope this post is appropriate.
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