JIMV wrote:

This comment might be obsolete, but I seem to recall Stereophile has/has a review policy coupled with the product being available from a certain number of dealers...

For products that are distributed in the conventional manner, we require it be available from at least 5 US retailers. See www.stereophile.com/asweseeit/307awsi/index.html.

Quote:

IF (note the 'if') this is a current standard, perhaps it is time to review it. There are fewer and fewer high end dealers out there and more and more folk buying from producers directly or through the internet. I for one would like to read reviews about gear from companies like Emotiva.

Does the current policy still require dealer numbers?

As it says in the linked article, we have always made an exception to the "5-Dealer Rle" for products that are sold direct. However, whether to review such a product involves a more complicated judgment call on our part. (Kal Rubinson is working on an Emotiva review, BTW.)

John Atkinson

Editor, Stereophile