Stereophile and related sites Sold: Layoffs have begun.

Read the article on Audiostream. Didn't realize it was him. Cool

 

Congratulations. Wait...I thought Jana was going to be the Editor of AudioStream?

 

according to John Aktinson, she declined the job.

 

He didn’t exactly say that.

He said:
Sadly, yes. Jana has left us. She was initially let go by our new owners. However, she was subsequently offered a different full-time position that would have allowed her to continue contributing videos to our sites, but she didn't accept that offer.

Admittedly reading into what he wrote but I took his distinction of saying “contributing videos” that the offer was something other than the full time editor of audiostream since that position would have included a lot more than creating and contributing video content.

Her editorial contributions had diminished severely (at least online) before any of this happened.

 

She turned down the gig. It is not nearly as complicated as you make it.

 

Not making it complicated. Never saw where Atkinson said what the gig she turned down was. Do you have a link? Did you speak directly with him?

 

"....she didn't accept that offer."

 

I can see this won’t go anywhere further.

 

That aside, I think Arnott will do a fine job. He seems very competent.

 

Except for his undying love for MQA …

JK.

 

Paul Miller in Hi-FI News does comprehensive measurements. Usually a seperate section to the main review. Noel Keywood in Hi-Fi World the same.

 

Yep, long time reader of HiFi World here. They probably aren't quite as big as HFN but do test and measure every bit of kit they have in.

It was they who identified a couple of Arcam AV amps that handled SACD/DSD when even Arcam didn't know this. All power to them

 

is that true? if so, he won’t last long IMO...

 

LOL, that was just a playful remark and not at all serious. There is a YouTube video called "MQA: Yes or No" and he said he was a proponent for it, but nothing like I made it out to be.

 

Actually, i was not sure you were serious..lol..he doe snot seem to be the "MQA" type, based on his gear, but who knows...

 

His equipment profile also doesn’t list any headphones or headphone amps but he’s going to be in charge of a headphone site.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

No big surprise there.

 

You do realize that speaker sensitivity is a pretty useless spec, due to nonstandardization plus flat out exaggeration or lies? Unless you were comparing to other reviews done by the same person with the same method; that is OK. (I suppose if you compare within one manufacturer's models, you could probably believe their relative sensitivity. But to compare sensitivity specs across brands is like fool's gold).

 

Aaargh, that's what John Atkinson told me once when I asked why the heck they never tested AVRs, given that so many people use them as their primary amps. Even, I strongly suspect, for Stereo reproduction. I felt that was an evasive excuse for some other agenda, what I don't know. I'm very very curious how the DAC etc performance of AVRs stack up to all the expensive specialized gear that's written about. Is the specialized stuff really better because it's specialized? OR does the mass production scale of AVRs actually deliver better performance for less? Does anyone really test the AVRs (and I don't mean the pretty worthless cursory "measurements" in Sound and Vision and that ilk).

 

Rob Sabin out as editor, Al Griffin in, at sister publication Sound & Vision.

Begin at the Beginning

 

Now that you mention it, I saw/heard less and less from her.

 

I enjoy Rafe’s writing but I do fear for his ability to establish credibility with Inner Fidelity and Audiostream’s core audiences. Rafe is kind of audio poet who is searching for a human connection. His Devore review, for example, was as much about the hunt for meaning as it was about the hunt for a pair of speakers. He’s an urban aesthete who likes vintage cars and Japanese whiskey and mid-century design and eccentric boutique manufacturers. I perceive the hardcore headphone crowd (like the hardcore computer audio crowd) as more interested in a rational/ verifiable approach to audio where some of these more humanistic/ aesthetic elements are perceived as superfluous at best or just marketing b.s. at worst. I’m a fan (and kindred spirit) and wish Rafe success, but IMHO it will be imperative for him to resolve the tension between the two polarities above in order to achieve it. I’d encourage him to embrace the tension and create content from that place—would love to see him review something like the ls50w for example, and compare it to his audio note system. Regardless of what he does, I’m interested to see how it plays out.

 

wow, just seeing this thread. good luck to all the fine folks at Stereophile and thanks for the year long subscription that costs as much as a decent beer.

 

I plan to devote more space to covering music streaming and related gear.

I also plan to add reviews of affordable stereo components to round out the mag’s crack coverage of surround sound.

The Entertainment section will get more in-depth coverage of classic movie and music titles, and the
Features section will see more in-depth coverage of new AV technologies.

Read more at Begin at the Beginning

______________________________________
Why can't S&V be a home theater publication? I may have missed it, but is Audiostream going away? Also, Stereophile should have affordable stereo components covered. I'm definitely not interested in their "in-depth" coverage of music titles.

They've got to figure out that there are plenty of potential consumers at Blu-ray.com and AVS. Those forum members should be champing at the bit for content at S&V!

 

Based on developments at Oppo, how much circulation can be generated from disc player reviews, and there only so many soundbars and video streaming players out there. If the old Home Theater magazine was so strong it wouldn’t have absorbed the old S&V mag in the first place.

While soundbars have improved dramatically, they are a symptom of the same convenience first, SQ second mentality that we’ve seen in the audio area.

If Griffin sees an opportunity to highlight more worthy mid priced gear, and I’m hopeful that they’ve done market studies on this, it can only be a win for the informed consumer.