As We See It

Stereophile has a new owner. Who is it? It's Stereophile.

For 27 years, Stereophile has been led on the business side by Keith Pray. This spring, Keith formed a new company, Pray Media Holdings, for the express purpose of buying Stereophile and related titles including Analog Planet and Sound & Vision. On June 1, 2026, Pray Media Holdings became Stereophile's new owner.

The deal was amicable and fully supported by the sellers. "We are delighted to have supported the management buyout of Stereophile, which now returns to US ownership," said Paul Miller, Editorial Director of AVTech Media, in a press release. "It was important to us that this revered hi-fi brand retain continuity in both its publishing structure and editorial leadership, ensuring a seamless transition. The natural brotherhood between Stereophile and Hi-Fi News, representing more than 130 years of hi-fi publishing history, will endure." Though under separate ownership, the partnership will continue.

I spoke to Keith Pray about the deal and about his plans for Stereophile.

Jim Austin: Congratulations on becoming Stereophile's owner. How does it feel after 27 years of service to Stereophile?

Keith Pray: I've loved Stereophile since long before I ever worked here. Before joining the company, I sold classified advertising for professional audio publications and always dreamed of owning many of the products Stereophile reviewed. Since joining Stereophile 27 years ago, I've enjoyed working with every owner and learned something from each of them.

But owning the company is different: I now have the opportunity to guide the future of a brand I've been passionate about for decades. My focus is on building on Stereophile's unique credibility and history while enhancing our digital presence, expanding our social media reach, and ensuring that the brand remains relevant for future generations of music lovers.

Austin: What inspired you to move forward now after all this time?

Pray: The timing was just right, for both Owen Davies [the former principal owner] and me. Owen was preparing for retirement, and he has known for years that I was interested in acquiring the company if the opportunity arose. Since I was already running the US operations, the transition made sense. It should be seamless for our readers, our partners, and our team.

Austin: Stereophile is part of a product group, with Analog Planet, Sound & Vision, and so on. Do those other titles come along with the sale?

Pray: Yes. Pray Media Holdings acquired AVTech Media USA through a stock purchase, which includes all the company's brands, domains, and intellectual property. Alongside Stereophile, that includes respected titles such as Analog Planet, Sound & Vision, Shutterbug, Photographic, AudioStream, and InnerFidelity. Each brand has value and opportunity, and I have plans for all of them. That said, Stereophile is my immediate priority and will continue to be the flagship brand of the group.

Austin: Do you anticipate any radical changes, over the short or long term, at Stereophile or beyond?

Pray: Readers shouldn't expect any radical departures from what has made Stereophile successful for more than 60 years.

At the same time, every great brand needs to evolve. You'll see improvements to our digital platforms, increased activity across social media, and a stronger focus on reaching younger music lovers and emerging audio enthusiasts. We have exciting initiatives in development, and I'll be sharing more details over the coming months.

But wait, there's more.

Last month, we announced that John Atkinson had stepped down from his post as Technical Editor and would no longer be doing Stereophile's measurements. Stereophile, however, continues its commitment to measuring the equipment we review; who could possibly fill JA's shoes? We needed to find someone else to do the measuring.

Despite the separation from AVTech Media, which includes Hi-Fi News, Hi-Fi News Editor Paul Miller has agreed to remain on our masthead, taking JA's place as Technical Editor. In addition to being a skilled hi-fi editor, Miller is among the most respected technical people in the industry. In the 1990s, he established Miller Audio Research, to satisfy industry demand for the proprietary test-and-measurement hardware and software he had developed.

In the late 1990s, Miller served as Stereophile's test-and-measurement consultant. John Atkinson started using the Miller Analyzer to measure jitter in 1998, in the measurements accompanying Wes Phillips's review of the Audio Research CD2.

In his capacity as technical editor, Miller will measure some equipment for Stereophile and oversee measurements performed by others.

What others? We have engaged Listen, Inc., a Boston-based manufacturer of transducer (microphone, headphone, loudspeaker) measurement systems—equipment and software—to perform loudspeaker measurements. Listen, Inc., is run by Steve Temme, an experienced industry figure with a BSME from Tufts University. Before founding Listen, Temme worked for many years as an acoustical test-and-measurement engineer at Brüel & Kjær. He designed speakers for Apogee Acoustics. He has lectured all over the world and authored many articles on audio measurements, presented at meetings of the Audio Engineering Society and other organizations—including ALTI, Audio & Loudspeaker Technologies International. (You'll find a list of some of Temme's technical publications here.) In the coming months, we'll present a series of discussions with Temme about the measurements performed by Listen and correlations between those measurements and what listeners hear.

Speaking of ALTI: At an ALTI event at AXPONA, we met ALTI's president of business operations, electrical engineer Peter Grinalds. In his other capaacity, Grinalds is CEO of Grinalds Solutions, an audio-engineering consultancy based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Grinalds Solutions will now measure audio electronics for Stereophile. Future issues will also feature conversations about these measurements and about correlations between measurements and listener impressions.

Here's to new beginnings!