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And I have a low tolerance for unfounded defences...

what do you really know about the inner workings of Stereophile that disprove it?

At any rate, the issue of payoff reviews is a red herring. The real issue with Stereophile is that it isn't in the reviewing audio components business at all, in fact, it's only in the mag biz in so far as it supports it's other ventures - the shows which must be big money makers and boost the brand immesurably, the vanity recordings, the Reccomended Components spinoffs, and so on - all revenue makers which very well serve to propogate the image of the brand as the major, authoritative voice of high end audio. There is no doubt this has been a very successful strategy and my compliments to Atkinson for his business acumen in building this.

While that all plays well in the Primedia boardroom, it's effects on audio reprodution have been dire. By trying to establish the brand as the all encompassing authority to all things audio, it inevitably developed a standing at the top of the pile that them became an asset to protect - and you can't do that by reviewing risky products, the innovative or out-there ones that break the mould or threaten the industry status quo, and so you play it safe on what you review and make sure the review style if a bit flip, but also folksy enough that people get roped in and don't notice the absence of real critical thought.

Because of this, Stereophile became a lowest common denominator of the industry, playing to the status quo and big players while being unable to take the chance of upsetting the apple cart by giving anything but passing notice of the innovative companies and products poppoing up around them. And because of that, Stereophile became irrelevant - except the impact it had on helping the high end industry offer increasingly outrageous priced products that offered no improvement in quality or sound over what people had - but did encourage people to go on an upgrade cycle that inevitably leads to misery by spending gobs of money on different - but not better - products.

Then came the internet and AA. Recognizing AA's increasing impact on the high end - it's increasing ability to break an innovative product, to supercede the Stereophiles of the world, and the threat it represents - Atkinson has tried to find a way to deal with that. After a period of abrasive confrontation with Atkinson, Sam, and others, a new approach seems to have emerged - this board, with it's heavy hand of censoring, keeping it all nice and bright for the Stereophilers to descend in happiness and harmony.

Problem is - now AA has descended in to bland mediocrity also and means little to few. That's the legacy of the Atkinson Stereophile - brilliant marketing strategy dominating the industry, leading to a general dumbing down, a preservation of the lowest common denominator status quo, a stifling of innovation, and a cycle of preserving self-interest.

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