Stereophile and related sites Sold: Layoffs have begun.

i really like mikey. met him once and corresponded by e-mail several times and he's a straight shooter which i appreciate.

 

i reported earlier in this thread that i ordered a digital subscription and that the link to access the digital issues was missing from the e-mail receipt.
i e-mailed customer service and they said they needed my address. followed up a few times and no response. then I asked to cancel the subscription- still no response after 3 days. not happy.

 

That HAIR was...mighty!

 

More than likely you have no more idea than I do whether Jana's appointment is to edit a downsized AudioStream site as a contract employee, or whether it's a promotion that puts her back on the roll of full-time employees, or whether some other arrangement has been made. I imagine we'll find out more than guesswork soon enough.

I hope her new gig represents something good for her, and for the magazine, however it all ends up shaking out. I'm really going to be happy if Stereophile prospers and improves despite this thread's ongoing interest in riding it down into the dirt of doom.

 

They've been giving away subscriptions for years to try to get the circulation up. I think the last time I subscribed, it was like $15 for 2 years or something. You can't pay the postage for that kind of dough.

 

As a matter of fact, we do have an idea...as I mentioned, John Atkinson posted as such.

I do NOT hope they disappear, unless they continue to defend, promote, and embrace MQA.

As Fremer posted a few pages back, AudioStream was under performing..so the only way it was going to stay is if the new owners can run it on the cheap.

 

I must hasten to add that I didn't agree with Peter on everything; but think that getting audiophiles to read his stuff can have a salutary effect, a point of view that challenges today's conventional wisdom about hifi. And, a fair number of his ideas can save one money!

 

Agree. Nicely said.

 

I subscribe to physical magazines; I rarely visit the websites of print magazines.

I also don’t stream so I have read AudioStream perhaps once; I even rarely remember to visit Analog Planet despite being a fan of Fremer’s.

 

I also subscribe to Stereophile and TAS and never go to their web sites, and never read any emails that they send to my Hotmail account.

 

I prefer to read the print version of new issues for my Stereophile subscription.

Although, I will search their website for previous reviews; it does save time over searching thru a stack of prior print issues.

 

I scaled back on my subscriptions a half dozen years ago and subscribe only to the TAS these days. I just have not bothered with those $7/year offers I receive at least once a year from Stereophile.

 

I did not deliberately go there, but I just wanted to know the sensitivity of Joseph Audio Pulsars and Google took me to the Stereophile review - and that sure is convenient.

 

How are you reading via Zinio for FREE ?

 

Holding steady when print media overall has experienced a precipitous decline is positive. Yes SP buys eyeballs by subsidizing subscriptions, but their model does work.

 

A few observations:

There is very little geographic overlap, thus opportunity to consolidate many visible and back office functions to improve the bottom line. Would not surprise me to see the same or similar content, and ads in SP and HFNRR (and SV and HFC).

The (new) parent audio publications already had respected music editors. In fact HFNRR includes a section where hirez content is verified with results posted in the magazine. Would love to see this in SP... and I suspect there would be more than a few embarrassed distributors of said content. Hate to say it but Mr. Baird may have been redundant.

Audio Stream never really caught on like the other adjunct sites. And the editor was "difficult" which probably did not help his cause.

Initial reports regarding Jana were head scratching. She ticks several boxes. New to the hobby, and chronicling a learning curve. Millennial. Female. Web site editorial and promotion skill set. Would seem to me that her role would be expanded. I understand she is now the editor of Audiostream. Good. Will this reduce her role in other areas such as the company YT pages, video interviews etc ? Too soon to tell. Possibly the YT and web presence will be brought under the "computer" catchall that Audiostream could become ?

US entities view web sites and web presence differently than their UK (and other overseas) counterparts. Most UK online content is behind a paywall.

In the US a robust web presence is viewed as an adjunct to the print version. Overseas a web presence is viewed as a way to drive readers to the print version (or paywall).

I did notice that the web site of Hifi Plus began to offer expanded web content after they were bought by TAS.

What would be interesting is if the HFNRR site were to expanded to more closely resemble the SP site.

Remember that Listener was profitable when purchased, and continued to be profitable after purchase. However it was not profitable *enough* for the new owner, and was subsequently shut down.

There will be changes; what additional changes I know not.

 

Many public libraries use Zinio for their magazines loans.

 

YEAH! Otherwise it is all some kind of daydreaming and mental playing with yourself. I don't believe measurements tell us everything about sound; there has not been enough research to nail that down and I doubt there ever will be. Measurements DO however establish some kind of performance baselines, and can reveal new problems which can lead to sonic improvement.

Who besides Stereophile actually does any kind of in-depth measurement? I'm not aware of any but believe there are, overseas.

 

Afaik HiFi World still measure the equipment reviewed in the magazine.

 

It's through my Ottawa Public Library membership that I use Zinio to access Sound & Vision and Stereophile - amongst a handful of mags that I read online.

Regarding the latter, by far the greatest benefit (for me) in taking the time to read it, is discovering new artists / bands in the record reviews section. There's always at least a couple each month that I've not yet heard of. While I really don't expect it from a mag called Stereophile, I wish the individual reviews would include information / ratings on the multichannel version of an album - where available / applicable. (If they have, I've missed them.)

While I like the "measurements" portion of the gear reviews (and photos), for the most part I find the rest of the gear reviews extremely off-putting.

Jeff

 

So does Hi Fi News & Record Review.

 

Stereophile has been useful online, when I am researching vintage gear that comes up for sale.

But if Michael Fremer goes down, this takeover isn't all bad.

 

Me, too.

 

Congrats to @raferx on being named managing editor to both AudioStream and InnerFidelity!

 

It takes a lot to pan a piece of equipment, let alone a brand that sued Consumer Reports for a bad review. If it is a true story, then my hat is off to Mikey for standing up and reporting his honest opinion, and not just pander to the advertising departments concern of lost add revenue.