Thread: An Open Letter to John Atkinson, Editor of Stereophile Magazine

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Post by Cherubino May 17, 2009 (11 of 63)
michi said:

You know, I've been ragged on for my pessimistic posts over on AA; so take it with a grain of salt but i've got to agree with emaidel...

People still go to Stereophile as a source of expertise and knowledge. Whether it's truly accurate or not, there will be folks in decision-making capacities at recording/publishing companies who will state, "No, don't do it on SACD, even Stereophile has said that that's a dead format."

People aren't going to parse words, they're not going to say, "Oh, one of their reviewers said it's a dead format but that's just one of many, and the magazine itself holds no bias towards or against SACD, and what one guy says shouldn't dictate whether or not we publish this music on SACD"...

They'll just say "Stereophile says its dead."

So no matter how you look at it, it *is* another nail in SACD's coffin (far premature, imo..) and, oddly, in my opinion, just when the format has been picking up some steam again in the last year or so.

We're seeing new hardware come out, as if the hardware manufacturers never got the memo that SACD is dead. (Will the XA5400 be Sony's last SACD player? -- probably, at this point.)

Someone over at Stereophile could actually undo any damage done by Tellig and by misleading titles, by one of their reviewers or editors simply writing a "Now wait a minute, don't give up on SACD just yet" sort of article.

But I wouldn't hold my breath on that. We can only hope that whatever rationale record companies have had to release SACDs in the last year, continues, and that they actually take a look at sites like this (doubt it) and realize that there is still demand.

As usual in these cases, I hope I'm wrong. But as emaidel indicated, these magazines do have a lot of sway. That can't be denied.

But it certainly wouldn't hurt them very much to throw us SACD enthusiasts a bone. The format can co-exist with vinyl. But I think they're instrumental in the path that SACD takes at this point - and to that end, I'd say, guys, please, give it a chance.

Mr. Atkinson has tried to put a happy face on it, but, Source Interlink, parent company of Stereophile and others, filing for bankruptcy protection, is not going to have a positive effect on the magazine. I wouldn't be surprised if Stereophile dies long before the SACD format it so half heartedly (I'm being generous here) supported (not really the right word).

Post by audioholik May 17, 2009 (12 of 63)
Sam Tellig has just spoken on audioasylum hi-rez forum

"Hand me another nail, Dr. Van Helsing."
http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/vt.mpl?f=hirez&m=257758

- no comment

Post by Stereo_Editor May 17, 2009 (13 of 63)
Cherubino said:

Mr. Atkinson has tried to put a happy face on it, but, Source Interlink, parent company of Stereophile and others, filing for bankruptcy protection, is not going to have a positive effect on the magazine. I wouldn't be surprised if Stereophile dies long before the SACD format it so half heartedly (I'm being generous here) supported (not really the right word).

The reorganization of the parent company's debts and assets was done _before_ the Chapter 11 filing. The hearing is set for May 28; after that date, the bank will take over ownership and Source Interlink will become a privately held corporation. The reason the bank will exchange debt for ownership is that Source's magazines like Stereophile are efficiently run, are the market leaders in their sectors, and return a healthy profit on investment, even in these recessionary times.

So for you to imply that Stereophile's future is limited because of recent events is plain wrong.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

Post by Stereo_Editor May 17, 2009 (14 of 63)
michi said:
Whether it's truly accurate or not, there will be folks in decision-making capacities at recording/publishing companies who will state, "No, don't do it on SACD, even Stereophile has said that that's a dead format."

Mainstream record companies have already made that decision without any prompting from Stereophile.

>Someone over at Stereophile could actually undo any damage done by Tellig and by misleading titles, by one of their reviewers or editors simply writing a "Now wait a minute, don't give up on SACD just yet" sort of article.<

Michael Fremer will be reviewing the dCS Scarlatti in our August issue. You will have to wait for that review to read his verdict on SACD as a medium for high-quality music reproduction.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

Post by canonical May 17, 2009 (15 of 63)
Stereo_Editor said:

Michael Fremer will be reviewing the dCS Scarlatti in our August issue.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

August: Stereophile's last issue?

Post by Beagle May 17, 2009 (16 of 63)
Stereo_Editor said: Mainstream record companies have already made that decision...
--And how are those major companies doing? Hemorrhaging money, last I heard:

'Sony's profits down 95%' http://www.osnews.com/story/20889/Sony_s_Profits_Down_95_
'Is Warner Music DOOMED?' http://www.zeropaid.com/news/8373/is_warner_music_doomed_profits_plunge_74/

We are all on fiscal alert nowadays, but although the minor companies which continue to embrace SACD tend to be privately held and therefore not post their financial results, I'm betting that they're doing better than Sony or Warner.

Post by rammiepie May 17, 2009 (17 of 63)
Beagle said:

--And how are those major companies doing? Hemorrhaging money, last I heard:

'Sony's profits down 95%' http://www.osnews.com/story/20889/Sony_s_Profits_Down_95_
'Is Warner Music DOOMED?' http://www.zeropaid.com/news/8373/is_warner_music_doomed_profits_plunge_74/

We are all on fiscal alert nowadays, but although the minor companies which continue to embrace SACD tend to be privately held and therefore not post their financial results, I'm betting that they're doing better than Sony or Warner.

What better time for small companies like Mobile Fidelity and the gentlemen who left Concord Music Group to vigorously license the treasures from the likes of Sony, Warner, EMI and Universal and replicate them onto SACD. Whether or not they sell in small quantities, SOMETHING is better than NOTHING! If Sony could find it in their heart to reduce their costs of pressing/mastering SACDs what a great 10th Anniversary (of SACD) gift this would be to the format they nurtured and abandoned! Positive feedback in Audiophile mags like STEREOPHILE and THE ABSOLUTE SOUND could bolster this notion by reinforcing the need for diversity and give a second Wind to the one format that could pry people away from their Ipods. And the pricing would have to be competitive with Blu-Ray discs (which can be had for as low as $9.99 from Amazon) and not the customary $30 a pop that MoFi is now charging for "leased" SACD product {YES, we're still in the midst of a world-wide recession].

Post by Cherubino May 17, 2009 (18 of 63)
Stereo_Editor said:

The reorganization of the parent company's debts and assets was done _before_ the Chapter 11 filing. The hearing is set for May 28; after that date, the bank will take over ownership and Source Interlink will become a privately held corporation. The reason the bank will exchange debt for ownership is that Source's magazines like Stereophile are efficiently run, are the market leaders in their sectors, and return a healthy profit on investment, even in these recessionary times.

So for you to imply that Stereophile's future is limited because of recent events is plain wrong.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

My point is that the future of Stereophile under these circumstances is open to question. I've seen far better magazines than the current (post J. Gordon Holt) Stereophile, disappear.

Post by Aeryn Sun May 17, 2009 (19 of 63)
Read PFO or "Bound for Sound", these people at least seem to have less bias than Stereophile or TAS, mags I gave up on years ago...

Post by pgmdir May 17, 2009 (20 of 63)
I love Classical Music on SACD. I believe in SACD. I also believe Sony and Universal are the largest reasons for SACD being somewhat a niche format, due to their unwillingness to go to single inventory.

While I wish Stereophile could be more supportive of SACD, I would remind you that it is a comercial enterprise, there to relect the interests and tastes of the bulk of its readers--and to make a profit by selling ads. This is a good thing. There is no reason for them to have any agendas, or to plot to destroy SACD. The fact is that SACD is a godsend for acoustic music, and most music being sold today is far from acoustic.

The magazine is meant to be an entertainment as much as a source of information. If more supporters of SACD would let Mr Atkinson know how much they would enjoy seeing more about SACD, perhaps that would have a more positive effect than accusing him of plotting its failure.

Don't like the magazine? Insure its demise by not subscribing. And since John, Kal, and others seem to be reading this forum from time to time, why not make your views known in a more positive way.....

Jeez, do I sound like Polyanna?

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