Mr. Lowry, I have always respected your opinions and advice on these forums. I saw the same add and it appeared to me be a NYC thing. Other than comic relief for out-of-towners I had no problem with the full page ad. Give the magazine a break. Have you not been keeping track of the parent company's stock prices? Bear with things for a while. If something like an ad looks out-of-place than just trust the editors for the time being. And turn the page. And as I turn the page I notice a great lack of advertisement in general throughout the magazine. The regular customers last year are not appearing in the magazine this year. Especially, and most importantly, the smaller advertisers that make up the bread-and-butter of revenue. The ad in question is so ridiculous that it appears to be a parody of some sort for those of us not in the know. No harm, no foul.

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Lamont-

I didn't say I was canceling my subscription or anything. It's just not the type thing that I like seeing in the magazine. Plus it might anger the manufacturers that they offer to sell even though they are unauthorized causing Stereophile to possibly lose ad revenue from those companies in the future.

. . .and yes it struck me as a very New York thing too.

I understand your point.

I also was wondering about that ad- esp. the aspect of bragging about "not being a dealer, but we get them all the time" which sounds close to saying half the stuff is hot merchandise.

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I also was wondering about that ad- esp. the aspect of bragging about "not being a dealer, but we get them all the time" which sounds close to saying half the stuff is hot merchandise.

I didn't see the MSS ad in the May issue until I received the issue, which was after the June issue had gone to press. And because we are in New York but our ad production department is in Los Angeles and the MSS ad for June was late, no-one on Stereophile's ad side had seen the MSS issue in that issue until they received their printed copies.

They reacted in horror, as did I. I made my feelings known to the publisher, as did many others, and the MSS ad was pulled from the July issue and the MSS ad contract, worth a significant 6-figure sum over a 2-year period, canceled.

So when you read on other forums and in competing magzines and webzines that Stereophile only cares about money, remember that we took the appropriate action regarding this advertiser even in a time of severe economic recession, when every penny of income counts!

I take my hat off to Stereophile's publisher Keith Pray, who is under intense pressure from SIM corporate to maximize Stereophile's gross revenue, for doing the right thing.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

Bravo and well done. You have my support and respect.

Well, you guys should care about a six figure contract. If it was me I don't know if I would be able to put principles before personalities on this one. Good job.

I'm going to miss that slutty ad. God, those so-called models were real skanks!

What I would like to see is more respectable babes wearing bikinis next to these high dollar equipment ads. Babes + equipment = $$$

Maybe for Lamont you could get Larry the cable guy to do some posing ?

Very funny!

Bravo JA, Bravo!

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Maybe for Lamont you could get Larry the cable guy to do some posing ?

hes a phony. freaking yankee bastard with a piss poor accent.

Remember so good audio wars in my home town. Nothing approaching this level! Wow.

Glad Stereophile stepped in. The hobby doesn't need this type of exposure. Good job JA. Think I will go to he newstand and pick up an extra copy as backup to subscription. At least you lose a tiny bit less money.

This does bring up an interesting point. Many companies in this economy are probably tempted to look the other way as their products are transhipped. The companies mentioned in the ads now know its happening - they can't deny it. Seems they must stop it now that other dealers also are aware of it. Could get very interesting.
thanks
barondla
Waiting for that July Stereophile issue with the Ayre C5 update thoughts. Trying to convince myself its not time to buy a new cd player.

Personally, I think that anything that keeps Stereophile afloat at this point is a good thing. If they keep running their ads even after they are declared bogus in the editorial would that be a bad thing?

But I admit that I also find the "white van" speaker systems and the way they are sold to be purely, amazingly appalling.

And I know it seems to be worldwide. I never ran into one of these infamous trucks in the USA, I ran into them in a corner of Erlangen (Tennenlohe) in GERMANY, believe it or not.

And it was absurd, indeed.

I don't have a magic solution. Not running bogus adverts is a good thing. Suriviving as a business is a good thing, too.

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Have you not been keeping track of the parent company's stock prices? Bear with things for a while.

A bit of understatement if there ever was one:

http://delawarebankruptcy.foxrothschild....for-bankruptcy/

AFAIK "Source Interlink and 17 of its affiliates (the "Debtors")" includes Primedia.

Fuck, everytime JJ posts Arnie is not far behind and so forth. They will henceforth be known as Pete and Repete. Who should be Pete?

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Fuck, everytime JJ posts Arnie is not far behind and so forth. They will henceforth be known as Pete and Repete. Who should be Pete?

So many counter-examples of this exist that we'll just log it as one as yet another example of the incredibly weak levels of proof that are required around here. ;-)

Who are you?

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Who are you?

Ain't looked me up on google have you?

Speaks to the poor level of research that seems to be common around here. ;-)

Ah, double entendre. Very risque' I must say.

I would have (and maybe it was!) considered running the adverts and trashing their behavior in the editorials.

However, it then becomes an issue as Andrew Singer (and many others have said) is sometimes quoted as having said,'I don't care what they say about me,as long as they say about me'. Ie, all press is good, negative or otherwise. It's what you do with it.

Now that I've gone and read that advert, I can say that yes indeed, it is VERY offensive. This guy seems like serious dipshit of the worst order. I'm no prude, I can says..but there is no need to wear on other people - like that advert is laid out.

Blowjobs over dinner with a DCS stack? WTF? I can't imagine the clientele. Like flies to shit.

I personally find that it was possible to view it (advert) with the eyes of 'people should be given the room to hang themselves', ie the editorial policy of Stereophile with regards to letters and the content on this forum. Ie, this guy should be seen for what he is. With ads like that I'd be damn sure that if I was manufacturing gear, my policy would be that any gear that has passed through his hands is immediately ineligible for ANY repair, upgrades or work of any kind. Period. No exceptions.

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Have you not been keeping track of the parent company's stock prices? Bear with things for a while.

A bit of understatement if there ever was one:

http://delawarebankruptcy.foxrothschild....for-bankruptcy/

You're a little behind the times, Mr. Krueger. The filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Stereophile's parent company was major news 2 weeks ago.

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 banks holding the debt will take over ownership and Source Interlink will become a privately held corporation. The reason the banks will exchange debt for ownership, rather than foreclosing on the debt, 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.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

There is going to be a direct connection between mass media publishing and banks in the US now? Wow. Before they had to lie through their teeth. ('No, my cousin runs that group', etc) Now it is going to be in the open- and direct. Interesting.

Repete should stick with electronics and stay out of the financial arena.

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Repete should stick with electronics and stay out of the financial arena.

Repete is a disaster with electronics as much as the financial scene. Arnold should really stick to PC audio cards. At least, as Ethan tells us, they all sound the same - so nothing to get these boys agitated about there.

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Who are you?

Ain't looked me up on google have you?

Yea, you're the guy who invented Science and The Absolute Truth.

"It goes in. It must come out."

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I made my feelings known to the publisher, as did many others, and the MSS ad was pulled from the July issue and the MSS ad contract, worth a significant 6-figure sum over a 2-year period, canceled.

WOW, JA I'm glad to hear that the weak economy has not weaken your principles.

If you're talking about good, conservative, self-serving business principles, then yes.

I just saw the ad in the June issue. I didn't think it was bad and I am at a loss as to what all the hoopla is all about.

Such a comment is very Telling, Alex. This is sad, IMO. More sadly - it is not as unusual as it should be.