Reviewing the Reviewers

Djjd, Trelja--well done! What a spirited dialogue! I learned as much from your dispute as your reconciliation. When I saw the title of this thread I knew it would be about Arthur Salvatore's website. What strikes me overall about his project is the "political theological" dimension. I think of him as the "Martin Luther" of the high end world leading the "Audio Reformation," criticizing the corrupting influence of money on the high end scene (just as Luther did with the Church), realigning our notions of faith in the audio gods whether they be designers or reviewers. Occassionally he gets rather passionate, as some of us have pointed out, and there seems to be a limit to what one person can do (even with the help of his friends, all more or less kept in the background), and he clearly has a strong bias for tube amplification of LP recordings, without much interest at all in digital, leading to a certain blindness at times to his insights. The "Reviewing the Reviewers" page is clearly a polemical, critical, passionate dissection of the audio press and the misuse of its power, and this topic easily leads to heated exchange to the extent that it often gets personal. I wish others would share their point-by-point opinions about the recommendations he makes on his "Recommended Components" and "Supreme LP Recordings" pages.

I worked in Las Vegas hotel Golden Nugget, where Stereophile held their
> yearly parties, usually at the end of the CES week. As, a matter of fact i
> was at the 'gates' along with Mr. Thomas Norton who was greeeting the guests
> (i was monitoring the number of guests coming in so 'occupancy' code didn't
> exceed the limit) I can tell you that these guys weren't just on the
> 'cordial' terms. And i am talking about the most of the "heavy weights" in
> the industry and the Stereophile's editorial 'staff'. I agree with Mr. Salvatore 100%. Somebody have to, at least, acknowledge the fact that our passion have been used and taken advantage of by those that we supposed 'trust'.

Well Eldragon I myself am an existentialist when it comes to audio matters. This is a capitalist society we live in. And the way I see it, it kind of works something like this "Never let the whole truth get in the way of making a buck". We HAVE to be responsible for our own decisions. Why should we trust anyone to give us the whole truth. Call me a cynic, I say just pragmatic. Mr. Salvadore offers no surprises on his site. He just hit the hot buttons that we all suspected. One hand always washes the other. The rags are for entertainment. Yes we could expect more from them but my question is, ARE WE WILLING TO PAY WITHOUT THE ADVERTISING? Stereophile is in it for the money. It isn't that they lie to us, I don't see it that way. They just don't provide in their format enough information for us to make the best choices.

All Salvadore did was point out the obvious. My observation is that most audiophiles/music lovers are educated intelligent folks. I can't imagine too many that believe anything he states was a revelation. And just about all would agree with his points. As Slawney so eloquently states above (as usual Slawney, I do enjoy your dialogue and commentary on most matters), Salvadore has his own biases and preferences. The reviewers aren't the problem. They are just the messengers. Why shoot the messenger? They are just agents for the powers that be, the magazines and the BIG manufacturers. The problem is that the magazines do not compare products and attempt to give an unbiased comparison. Products are rated by price/performance not by absolute performance. There are many over achievers out there and the magazines don't point it out. My guess is that half the reviewers wouldn’t recognize it if they heard it anyway. All they need to do well is write and maintain a minimum degree of credibility.

The reason for cheap subscriptions is to boost circulation which increases advertising revenues. We think we are getting a deal when in reality all that is happening is the rags and manufacturers just get closer and cozier. At whose expense? Well hot damn, why would they want to do that? And now here comes Martin Luther Salvadore, the Great Reformationist. And what does he do? He starts shooting the messenger and then goes on to tell us the REAL truth. His intentions may be genuine but in every cult following there is too much absolutism which must be followed. And that is pretty much the way I read him, as Reprince says, a Zealot. If you want honest opinion and truth, you’ll get a better sense of it here on this site than any magazine. We all have a common vested interest. Here there are thousands, the rags only have a handful and remember, most are nothing more than good writers.

JGH “In who’s ears we trust”. Yes indeed Gordon, we certainly did.

Bluntly put, the magazines are whores. But what does that make us? The magazines, like a prostitute, are good at feeding our fantasies.

A question: Honestly, aren't we all a bit infantile, speaking of trusting the magazines and complaining of trust betrayed. For heaven's sake, these guys must make a living like us and how can we be sure ourselves, that we - with conflicting interests - are always able to choose the right path? Audio publications are not there to be trusted. They exist to make interesting and sometimes enlightening reading....and to make money. Besides, in the publications I like to read, I am continuously told something in the way of " this is what I hear in my setup, BUT TRUST YOUR OWN EARS." So lets grow up and forget about Salvatore, who peddles to the childlike, who still like to believe in Father X-mas, hoping to be the great Zampano himself.
Wow, this will get me minus points, but I had to get this off my chest.