Some of the Worst Offenders in Bad Audio Forum Behavior Are Not Regular Forum Members

Perhaps you should write to Mr. Atkinson and express directly to him the concerns you are raising here. I quit reading magazines long ago so have no sense of the current editorial tone of Stereophile. If the staff is obnoxious on other fora, that doesn’t reflect well on the publication in my estimation. I do believe that disclosure of professional or commercial interests is appropriate, but if you say that Atkinson is not even-handed in imposing such requirements, you should bring that to his attention as well. Do they still publish a "reader" "Letters" section?
PS: I think the real danger in not disclosing industry or commercial interests isn’t necessarily the heavy-handed sales pitch, but the presentation of information, as such, without revealing possible bias (or the appearance of bias). I don't think such bias is a foregone result of an industry or commercial affiliation. Valuable information can be provided by those involved in product development, particularly since I doubt there is much funding available outside of industry applications for such research. It would seem to me that any one in the industry or with commercial ties to it should also use their real names (unless there is some 'whistleblowing' aspect to their activities), but perhaps I'm in the minority. 

" It would seem to me that any one in the industry or with commercial ties to it should also use their real names (unless there is some 'whistleblowing' aspect to their activities) " whart

@whart

Yes, whistleblowing and the fear of reprisal is very much a problem with a lot of industries - not just this tiny segment of the consumer electronics industry. The trade "press" salespeople like those employed by Stereophile are looked upon as a necessary evil. It's no secret that a number of manufacturers avoid them like the plague as much of what is said in reviews bears no relation to any kind of reality. It is and has been a pay to play system for a very long time. It's not difficult for anyone with a technical background to see through most of the ridiculous smoke screens they call "reviews".
Case in point (without mentioning names of people or products). A loudspeaker with an off the shelf 10 inch driver mated to a 1 inch dome tweeter was given high praise a while back. It was clear from the review/write up that a cozy relationship existed between the "manufacturer" and the editors/writers. And it was also clear that the loudspeaker had massive, highly predictable problems, which were born out in the measurements. A faint reference to poor integration between the two drivers was given without acknowledging it was a basic design flaw resulting in very uneven off axis response. The conclusion given was along the lines of "despite design challenges/compromises, the designer achieved what he set out to accomplish and with some careful setup/adjustment, the end result can be good. "  What should have been said is that the designer violated some very basic principles, needlessly crippling performance because of a lack of knowledge/experience, resulting in a product that can't be recommended - especially considering there are many properly designed speakers costing many thousands less that outperform it in just about every category.

When was the last time you heard that kind of a review about anything from the likes of Stereophile or The Absolute Sound? Throughout its history, I can think of only one or two such reviews from Stereophile.

To educated professionals in the business, these trade magazines offer the illusion of integrity and honesty and nothing more. Mr. Atkinson's blatant censorship policy with respect to an unknown who has no industry affiliations - a person like Archimago - is a shining example of just how corrupt the "audiophile trade press" really is. Sadly, this pay to play game has helped decimate what was at one time a much larger market segment. The focus shift to ever more costly "audio jewelry" in recent years has accelerated the demise - to the extent that there really no longer is a presence at the CES. This year was a disaster. And the trade press have no one else to blame. With their greed, they brought it on themselves.

the above was an obviously biased and non factual rant.

I don’t like to ’take sides’ in these internet arguments (but it does not mean that I don’t!), as the best that can be done for a manufacturer..when doing so..is to lose market share, lose potential customers, or lose prior customers.

People bend/shift subconsciously in the face of pain/dislike more than they consciously bend in the face of reason/like. That they emote their way to a narrow path more than they think their way to clear skies. In clever hands, this unrealized (by most) aspect of humanity is a doorway for manipulation. Expect it to be used, and used often. As it is. It is a standard tool in the propaganda toolkit.

In the final analysis, forum anonymity is a backward premise that has to go. Bad actors require loopholes in order to be bad actors, and they will quite logically gravitate to places that allow for the bad acting to take place and be of service to them.

Wordsmiths aren’t automatically innocent nor clear of conscience. They are merely good wordsmiths. And since everyone does not know everything about all subjects, nor is intelligence in perception and scope of view equal in all people... then...the good, intelligent, quick witted ’wordsmith’ can bend the word in order to service an agenda, be the agenda correct and humane --- or not.

This sort of wordsmithing has been the stock and trade of the Machiavellian psychopath for as long as humans have gathered and had societies. Socially, culturally, politically, etc...wordsmithing is at the heart of manipulating, shifting and enthralling groups of people in the given varied directions. the number of wars that have been launched and fought, in the wake of directed wordsmiths are, realistically....nearly uncountable. The aspects of human life that have been manipulated by the same sort of wordsmithing are also..uncountable.

Psychopathology is everywhere and is particularly rampant-and self feeding accelerating and spreading as the methodology of commonality among forums and contentious subjects ---forums where the authors and participants are allowed anonymity.

Essentially, John is right in calling the person out.

Be professional, be real when speaking on subjects that have the fortunes of others attached to it.... be as a known entity, >> or.... shut the heck up<<<, as your words come from behind a curtain, a curtain where any motivation and agenda may be going on. Your value to the conversation must be weighted in it’s full context otherwise the missive is meaningless and/or weighted by hidden motivations and drives. Forums deserve no exemption that public speaking in groups is not entitled to. In public (in person) groups, you receive exactly zero anonymity. And bad behaviour almost never takes place there. No space for it to exist. 

Importantly...Psychopaths have done incredibly well with their faces and names known. Imagine what happens when you give them a curtain to hide behind. Imagine what happens when they program AI bots. (cutting edge technology is generally -at least- a generation beyond your given public perceptions and knowing..that's just the way things are)

Thus, forums are where the psychopathic tendencies will show themselves, as they are one of the only public avenues where it can comfortably thrive..so the forums will be overloaded with such.

A clue for you, is that when you read on forums, you speak the words in your own head, and this involves the ego and the internal voice. Which is a direct doorway to the unconscious in you, the subconscious and drives/motivation system. It’s a form of auto-hypnosis.

There’s a lot more to it, but suffice it to say, when manipulating groups, forums..now that they exist..forums have become excellent tools to systems of oligarchy with respect to manipulating masses. They are difficult to control, these forums and manipulations of them... but the cheddar/opportunity of total manipulation is there in spaces, in taste, feel, and reality.... so expect it (ie, AI bot posting armies from black entities and bad actor government branches, etc) to not improve, but to worsen. Raise your game or lose it all.

@ teo_audio

No one is manipulating or controlling anything here. And John Atkinson, by censoring Archimago, "called no one out" other than himself. I would expect people in the cable industry who have relied very heavily on the whitewash pass they've gotten from Stereophile to come running to Mr. Atkinson's defense....et voila....here they come....

....Welcome to Teo Audio - Welcome to the "new physics of cables"

No offense Mr. Teo_Audio, but this thread is a "BS free zone". You will not get a "free pass" from me - either with respect to the mumbo jumbo garbage you peddle about cables or about a knowledgeable, well intentioned forum member (Archimago) who values his privacy and does not wish to be a big fat target for crooks in the recording industry.

One last thought, your rambling rant of a post above is one of the worst examples I've seen of hundreds of words slung together that say absolutely nothing. "Be professional?" " Be real?" What a joke.

How about hosting a double blind study that backs up any of the myriad of wild claims you have attributed to your products over the years. How about a scintilla of evidentiary proof by way of experiment or some kind of reproducible process that can verify anything you have to say about the products you sell? Professional???
Real???? Seriously? We're now going to get lectured by a cable manufacturer on the subject of reality, authenticity, integrity? Is this supposed to be a lame attempt at humor on your part?

By all means....throw out some more useless rants defending the indefensible. It only serves to draw more deserved attention to who you are and what you represent.

I was not taking sides. I have not the slightest clue what side JA is taking or what side this other person it taking.

I myself want MQA to die. Yesterday. For all the right reasons. I’ve always said that openly.

And, to add, you are indeed ranting. Nearly incoherently, with the added bonus of falsifiable emotionally driven strawman projections out the wazoo.