As We See It

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As We See ItJ. Gordon Holt
High-End Standards
J. Gordon Holt  |  May 08, 2010  |  First Published: Mar 08, 1984  |  0 comments
The American computer industry was a little shaken up to learn recently that the Japanese micro manufacturers had gotten together and standardized their component interconnections so that any Japanese computer will (supposedly) plug into any Japanese printer, modem, or competing computer, and work right off the bat. Anybody who has tried to fire up an Apple computer with a Diablo (Xerox) printer will appreciate what the Japanese move means in terms of compatibility. It means "For no-hassle interconnections, buy Japanese."
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As We See It
High-Fi?
Robert Schryer  |  May 18, 2018  |  27 comments
"No one thing turned more people into audiophiles than the '60s counterculture," said Bruno, arm flung over his cash register. "It opened up the doors of sonic perception. Even the great audio designers of the day were countercultural mavericks!"

Bruno is the lanky, braided-beard, thirtysomething owner of a small, well-stocked record shop in Montreal, and we stood facing each other on either side of a glass case filled with vinyl paraphernalia. Bruno has made the most of his limited space. Every foot of each wall supports a shelf crammed with music-related merchandise: rock and jazz memorabilia, album covers, refurbished turntables. There's even a rack in the back for music and audio magazines, including Stereophile.

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As We See It
Hoisted on your own petard?
Jim Austin  |  Jul 15, 2020  |  231 comments
After completing a PhD in electrical engineering at Imperial College London, Floyd E. Toole joined Canada's National Research Council (NRC), where he would stay for more than 26 years doing audio-related research. He continued his research at Harman International after leaving the NRC in 1991. When Toole left Harman in 2007 (footnote 1), Harman kept the work up under NRC alum Sean Olive—which fact surely has much to do with the excellence of their current loudspeaker lineup.
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As We See It
Home Alone
Steve Guttenberg  |  Dec 22, 2014  |  First Published: Jan 01, 2015  |  12 comments
We all have secrets, and it's about time I came clean with one of mine: I enjoy recorded music more than concerts.

I know, that's a sacrilege—as a lifelong music lover, I'm supposed to relish the live event, with all of the energy and connection between musicians and audience that can happen only when they're all breathing the same air. That may be true for you, but not for me. I've harbored the guilt for years: When I take the plunge and attend a concert, I rarely enjoy the experience enough to justify the effort and expense.

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As We See It
Home Theater vs High-End Audio
Ken Gould  |  Feb 24, 2009  |  First Published: Aug 24, 1993  |  0 comments
A hot topic for discussion in recent issues of Stereophile has been the impact Home Theater has had on the High End. Some of the magazine's contributors—J. Gordon Holt and Corey Greenberg, for example—have written that the advent of Home Theater means that we should expand the audio context of the magazine to include reviews of video components (footnote 1). Others, including Bob Harley, Tom Norton, and myself, feel that we should stick to what we know and love—audio—and enter the new field only to advise Stereophile's readers on how to achieve the best sound from a Home Theater system. However, missing from the debate in our pages so far have been any comments from those in the business of selling and demonstrating high-end products and, increasingly, Home Theater systems. Accordingly, this month I am running a guest editorial from a man who perhaps typifies the high-end, specialist retailer: Ken Gould of Audio Nexus (footnote 2). Please note that Mr. Gould's opinions are his own and do not represent those of the magazine.—John Atkinson
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As We See It
Home Theater, Music, or Both?
Robert Harley  |  Nov 05, 2004  |  First Published: Oct 01, 1993  |  0 comments
I've watched from the sidelines with great interest the recent debate in this column over Home Theater (footnote 1) At one extreme is the suggestion that Stereophile begin reviewing video and Home Theater products. The other end of the spectrum was best expressed by John Atkinson at Stereophile's 1993 High-End Hi-Fi Show in San Francisco. Hearing the booming bass overflow of a Home Theater demonstration blasting down a hallway, he said, "They've brought televisions to our hi-fi show!"
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As We See It
Home Theaters, Music Systems, & the Live Experience
John Atkinson  |  Dec 10, 2007  |  First Published: Dec 01, 1994  |  0 comments
As easy as it is to communicate electronically, some things are still better done in person. At too-infrequent intervals, I visit Stereophile's writers, listen to their systems, and basically get them to show'n'tell the components they're reviewing. In this way, if they describe what I'm hearing, I have the confidence to publish their review, even if its findings run counter to accepted wisdom.
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As We See It
Horses for Courses
John Marks  |  Nov 12, 2006  |  0 comments
The single most enduring controversy in audio is: What method or methods should we use to evaluate the performance of audio equipment?
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As We See It
House Calls & Home Auditions
Jim Austin  |  Sep 09, 2004  |  First Published: Sep 01, 2004  |  0 comments
Conventional wisdom has it that you should listen to an audio component, preferably in your own system, before you decide to buy it. But who, these days, has the opportunity to do this consistently? Even an audition in the store isn't guaranteed; I have to drive two hours to get to the nearest dealer with decent customer service and a good inventory of interesting gear. And though he generally stocks a fairly wide range of components, like any dealer, he carries only a small sample of all the hi-fi gear that's currently, in principle, available.
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As We See It
House Calls: Value-Added Retailing
John Marks  |  May 09, 2004  |  First Published: May 01, 2004  |  0 comments
There's this really awful joke:
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As We See It
How Does the Music Make You Feel?
Jim Austin  |  Jun 18, 2019  |  77 comments
Stereophile's first change in editorial leadership in 33 years calls for a restatement of the magazine's core principles.

Stereophile was founded in 1962 by J. Gordon Holt, on the premise that the best way to review an audio component is to listen to it. Following Holt as editor, John Atkinson turned that premise into a viable concern—a real magazine—and, in 1989, added a regular suite of measurements to Stereophile's otherwise subjective mix.

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As We See It
How high do you want your fi?
Steve Guttenberg  |  Apr 10, 2009  |  0 comments
Would you really want a perfect hi-fi?
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As We See It
How Many Hilary Hahns?
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Apr 11, 2004  |  First Published: Apr 01, 2004  |  0 comments
Hilary Hahn must be a chameleon. At least, that's how it seemed at the 2004 Consumer Electronics Show.
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As We See It
I Am an Audiophile
Henry Rollins  |  Aug 03, 2011  |  21 comments
I was fortunate enough to be raised in an environment where music of many kinds was played often. I lived with my mother in small apartments in Washington, DC, in the 1960s and '70, and most of the time, music was playing. Chopin, Wagner, Beethoven, Coltrane, Miles, Sonny Rollins, Streisand, Baez, Dylan, Miriam Makeba—even the Doors, Hendrix, and Janis Joplin.
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As We See ItHistorical
I Have Heard the Future...(DSP Room Acoustics Correction)
Peter W. Mitchell  |  Oct 03, 2008  |  First Published: Oct 03, 1992  |  0 comments
Dateline—Chicago, May 30, 9:00pm. Exploding fireworks lit up the sky above the Chicago river as 200 leading high-end designers gathered in the Hotel Intercontinental for Stereophile's 30th Anniversary banquet. After a repast of four gourmet courses and five wines, the time came for after-dinner speeches to celebrate Stereophile's past and high-end audio's future. Publisher Larry Archibald described his adventurous transition from the high-end car business to risky publishing. Introducing J. Gordon Holt, he praised JGH's uniquely lucid writing and his unflinching insistence that equipment designed to reproduce music should be judged on its ability to do just that—the unconventional view that launched high-end audio.
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