Collective letter s to Stereophile

Upgrade, MANY of those "loaner" components are never returned or returned WAY, WAY later. I've read reviews where a reviewer broke out an amp for comparison to what he was currently writing about. As it turns out, the amp that he "took out of storage" was a unit that he had reviewed WELL OVER A YEAR PRIOR !!! As such, who is going to "badmouth" a product or manufacturer that basically gives you "free" gear to use "indefinitely" ??? Besides that, what manufacturer is going to have the guts to "burn bridges" and literally demand a product back from a reviewer that might just "fix them" next time around ???

There is a lot of "complimentary hand washing" take place in this field and it's not only taking place at Stereophile ( believe me, TAS has MORE than its fair share too ). So long as one hand keeps the other clean and neither one of them "rats" on the other, you'll RARELY see anything but a complimentary review. Between that and the "advertising revenue game", most of the glossy mags are nothing more than entertainment at this point in time.

While i have little respect for many "reviewers" ( on a business level, nothing personal ), i will publicly state that i think that John Marks is "ethical". Whether or not you or i agree with his opinions and preferences may be a whole 'nother ball of wax. I also think that John Atkinson is "trying", but is kind of stuck between a rock and hard place. Fremer should stick to vinyl based products as that is what he does best. Sean
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I'm not for or against here, but it is important to remember that Stereophile is in BUSINESS. Their goal is to make money. People buy their magazines and they make cash that way. They influence because readers let them. As far as them reviewing only certain products, this may be true, but it is also important to point out that they wouldn't want to review a piece of equipment that is only available at 2 or 3 dealers in the US. They want their readers to be able to hear the components they review. Which is why most of their stuff reviewed has more than 10 dealers. I think most people just want to point blame. The fact is, if you yourself (speaking to everyone) start a magazine not everyone will like what you are doing either. You can't please everyone, nor should you try. I have come a long way since five years ago when I started, and I will continue to read stereophile because I can learn about new products that way. Sure the internet is great, but I also want something physical to look at. If you don't like it, cancel your subscription. Obviously someone likes it or Stereophile wouldn't keep arriving in our mailboxes each month. LIke I said, I'm not for or against. Just pointing out things I believe to be true.

I know the subject is like "beating the dead horse", but i will correct myself in mentioning Thiel, Dunlavy as one of the favorite reviewed products. I will also include Vandersteen, that also had lukewarm reception, not just from the Stereophile, but from TAS also. On the another hand, does anybody truly believe that Meadowlark, Coincident or Silverline i forgot to mention, would shot their doors if hundreds of customers swarm them with the orders to purchase their products? I do not think so.

Who cares what Stereophile reviews the magazine is a joke now.

I wouldn't call the magazine a joke just because they don't cater to you Meby. For a show of hands, I care what stereophile reviews. I'm interested in the hobby so anyone that writes about it, I want to read it.