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I find it very suspicious. Gordon Hold departure of Stereophile coincidented with Mickey Fremer arrival.

Only if you can't read a calendar. Michael Fremer's first writing for Stereophile was published in July 1995. Gordon left our employ in August 1999. His departure had nothing to do with Michael; Gordon wanted Stereophile to move away from covering 2-channel audio and write only about multi-channel and home-theater components, with a small section devoted to professional recording equipment. Such an editorial direction conflicted with my own desires. Gordon also had issues with what he felt was too heavy a workload expected from him by Stereophile's upper managment.

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like in a farce, Gordon left fot TAS.

Sadly, Gordon published very little for TAS, then was summarily dismissed at the end of 2005. He is now retired and living in Boulder, CO.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

Interesting history.

Thanks.

I suppose that in geological terms four plus years is simultaneous.

Early MF 2004, he talks about those "hawking" turntables...hehehehehehehe, what does he do? And he writes about HDTV, hmmmmm, do you think HDTV can be done with ANALOG? Just where does MF deal in? I think as before, he is merely a fiction writer, whatever it need be, he will make it be. http://ultimateavmag.com/michaelfremer/1204mf/

MF word tussle with some other web site, man he sure do get nasty, for someone who don't care who he pisses off...... http://www.high-endaudio.com/RR-FREMER-A.html

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What about The Guide? Gordon was also writing in The Guide. What was the conflict there to write about home-theater components and surround sound processors?

No conflict, except that Gordon's salary came out of Stereophile's budget, not the Guide's. By 1999, the two magazines were being managed independently, with different editors, publishers, and budgets. The Guide didn't want to have that expense transferred to their budget, nor did they want more reviews than Gordon was already supplying them with. Gordon therefore wanted to cover that kind of equipment in Stereophile, to the exclusion of 2-channel products, but with the addition of pro-audio equipment. I had no objection to Gordon reviewing surround-sound components for Stereophile, but I had no wish to publish reviews of home-theater or pro-audio products, neither did I have any intention of ceasing our coverage of 2-channel products. Gordon, however, felt that 2-channel was dead, and he had no inclination to write about it.

We did discuss Gordon contributing a Stereophile column on surround music, but Gordon didn't want to do that if we were still to cover 2-channel products and recordings in the rest of the magazine. He therefore took that idea to TAS, but it withered on the vine. Kalman Rubinson eventually agreed to start writing the column in Stereophile as Music in the Round.

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What happened to Gordon and MF was no exactly time and person related...

That is correct, as I pointed out. Any other interpretation is a figment of your imagination, I am afraid.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

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What about The Guide? Gordon was also writing in The Guide. What was the conflict there to write about home-theater components and surround sound processors?

No conflict, except that Gordon's salary came out of Stereophile's budget, not the Guide's. By 1999, the two magazines were being managed independently, with different editors, publishers, and budgets. The Guide didn't want to have that expense transferred to their budget, nor did they want more reviews than Gordon was already supplying them with. Gordon therefore wanted to cover that kind of equipment in Stereophile, to the exclusion of 2-channel products, but with the addition of pro-audio equipment. I had no objection to Gordon reviewing surround-sound components for Stereophile, but I had no wish to publish reviews of home-theater or pro-audio products, neither did I have any intention of ceasing our coverage of 2-channel products. Gordon, however, felt that 2-channel was dead, and he had no inclination to write about it.

We did discuss Gordon contributing a Stereophile column on surround music, but Gordon didn't want to do that if we were still to cover 2-channel products and recordings in the rest of the magazine. He therefore took that idea to TAS, but it withered on the vine. Kalman Rubinson eventually agreed to start writing the column in Stereophile as Music in the Round.

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What happened to Gordon and MF was no exactly time and person related...

That is correct, as I pointed out. Any other interpretation is a figment of your imagination, I am afraid.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

If he wanted you to drop 2ch audio, then he was smoking something. The funny thing is that, after all that stand up about surround sound, he did not understand a break through product like the Meridian 565. Surround sound processors had to have the look and the feel of a 2ch audio preamp to him, not of a computer like the Meridian. I think he was great with the CD though. Then Robert Harley went further and really established Stereophile as the magazine to read for CD playback. That's why I thought that the hiring of MF might have upset Gordon or other reviewers at stereophile. As of now I have myself two completely separate system one for audio and one for video. I feel that a third system (placement of the speakers, type of speakers, no sub) is needed if one is serious about 5ch audio.

Gordon thought two channel was dead? I missed the obituary. Out of curiosity, did Gordon ever provide a date of death? And does that date coincide with his lack of interest?

I've been buying the rag since it had staples in it. Gordon has always headed for surround, a long standing desire/direction of his. Sadly, for him, the real idea of 'multi-channel audio' (IE, audio only) never went anywhere. Call him prescient, if you will, and the rest of us 'without imagination'. Not that far from the truth, in the end. We seem to have picked up surround for video enhancement, though.

Call it a result of having two eyes out front and a genetic desire to put the audio portion of that on the same level of prominence in the overall design of the system.

Perhaps..if we were a race of giant, intelligent spiders, we'd likely have 'surround audio'. But no.