As We See It

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As We See It
Return to Recommended Components
John Atkinson  |  Oct 15, 2004  |  First Published: Oct 01, 2004  | 
"Let's face it, we recommend way too many components."
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As We See It
House Calls & Home Auditions
Jim Austin  |  Sep 09, 2004  |  First Published: Sep 01, 2004  | 
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
Music Business—Show Business
John Atkinson  |  Aug 15, 2004  |  First Published: Aug 01, 2004  | 
Stereophile is devoted to getting the best sound from a home audio system. But as I have written before, audiophiles don't have access to an absolute sound, only to what has been captured in the pits or grooves of their discs, which is itself the result of a creative process. The playing back and the making of recordings are therefore two sides of the same coin. This is why I get actively involved in recording projects and why I publish articles about those projects, the most recent of which appears on p.50. "Project K622" describes the making of a new recording of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto (work number 622 in the Köchel catalog of Mozart's compositions, hence the article's title), which is being released both on hybrid SACD and on 180gm vinyl. (You can buy both from our secure "Recordings" page.)
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As We See It
Absolute Values
John Atkinson  |  Jul 10, 2004  |  First Published: Jul 01, 2004  | 
I recently came across a 1998 report, "Explaining the Computer Productivity Paradox," by Kevin Stiroh and Robert H. McGuckin III, that discussed the apparent fact that the widespread use of computers has not resulted in any significant increase in worker productivity. This is indeed a paradox, as my experience in the magazine business has left me with the opposite impression. We all do more, with less, than at any earlier time.
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As We See It
Vinyl Value
Jim Austin  |  Jun 19, 2004  |  First Published: Jun 01, 2004  | 
I recently bought a turntable, the first I've owned in about 15 years. I had sold my vinyl collection—a mix of classic rock, early 1980s pop, and the odd jazz or classical LP—when I was in grad school, for economic reasons: I needed the money for rent, or food, or beer, or something. Nor do I know what happened to my old plastic turntable; more than likely, I left it curbside for anyone strolling by who was able to appreciate its value.
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As We See It
House Calls: Value-Added Retailing
John Marks  |  May 09, 2004  |  First Published: May 01, 2004  | 
There's this really awful joke:
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As We See It
How Many Hilary Hahns?
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Apr 11, 2004  |  First Published: Apr 01, 2004  | 
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
We Get Letters
John Atkinson  |  Mar 07, 2004  |  First Published: Mar 01, 2004  | 
One of my mentors, John Crabbe—my predecessor as editor of the English magazine Hi-Fi News—used to insist that a magazine's soul is its "Letters" column. If a magazine was able to publish a lively collection of readers' letters, said John, it would enjoy a lengthy life. Conversely, if its letters column was dull or nonexistent, then no matter how much advertising it had or how many readers it could boast, it was just a matter of time before it had the lid shut on it. In the 28 years since John told me this, I have not found an exception. The kicker, of course, is that there's no easy way of ensuring that a magazine has lively letters to publish.
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As We See It
Video Actions & Audio Reactions
Barry Willis  |  Feb 08, 2004  |  First Published: Feb 01, 2004  | 
To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction.—Sir Isaac Newton, 1687
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As We See It
The More I Know, the Less I Know
John Atkinson  |  Jan 11, 2004  |  First Published: Jan 01, 2004  | 
Hanging above the expensive desk in my penthouse office atop Manhattan's prestigious Stereophile Tower is a photocopy of a New Yorker cartoon, in which a bewildered-looking guy complains, "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about."
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As We See It
The Angels' Share
Wes Phillips  |  Dec 15, 2003  |  First Published: Dec 01, 2003  | 
It's only a CD-R with a self-adhesive label and computer-generated inserts, but it's what the major record labels are really scared of.
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As We See It
Noise Pollution
Jim Austin  |  Nov 16, 2003  |  First Published: Nov 01, 2003  | 
"Imagine a lake," reads the website of the Noise Pollution Clearinghouse (NPC) , "filled with semi-tractor-trailer trucks, magically skimming across the water.
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As We See It
That Really Sucks
Jon Iverson  |  Oct 12, 2003  | 
Readers are constantly telling us that downloaded audio files suck. I tend to agree with them.
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As We See It
The Passing Parade
John Atkinson  |  Sep 14, 2003  | 
There is one date I dread every year: my wife's birthday. After nearly 16 years of marriage, I have exhausted every last iota of my spousal resources in trying to think of a suitable present. Nothing too ordinary, nothing too out of the ordinary, nothing that will trigger those dreaded words, "You did keep the receipt, right?"
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As We See It
Show Business
John Atkinson  |  Aug 17, 2003  | 
Perhaps it's the air in San Francisco, or more likely the fact that exhibitors and attendees were equally upbeat, but I came back from Home Entertainment 2003, held at the grand old Westin-St. Francis Hotel days before I write this month's column, jazzed. I was one of 15,123 consumer, international press, and trade attendees, according to the official stats, and we were treated to more than 100 exhibit rooms showing and demonstrating 225 brands of audio and home-theater gear. Stereophile's full report on what we saw and heard at the Show will appear in our September and October issues, while our web coverage can be found starting here(footnote 1).
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