How did HP lose his power?

[jadis]

HP's list (of top rated recordings) has been and probably will remain a valuable resource for many even if Gramophone's is broader and more up to date. In my opinion he deserves a lot of credit for that.

My sentiments exactly, Jack. When I sold my whole bunch of TAS magazines 7 years ago (mostly the Reader's Digest sized ones), I photocopied the Super Discs List from 2 issues, one in 1987 and another from 1994 and they have served as my reference in my vinyl hunt ever since. He deserves credit for putting the discs (records) to where it should belong, in a very important plateau in the hobby. In those pre-internet days, I would mail order LPs from the list blindly and found out how excellent the recording was despite not necessarily loving the musical content. Such were the Lyrita Maconchy Double Bass & the Malcolm Arnold English Scottish and Cornish Dances. The LIST educated me no end, so much so that to this day, I continue to hunt down those I had never owned, and what I got lately to name a few, Pig's Eye Jass, and Cat Steven's Tea for the Tillerman Pink UK label are astounding recordings like I never heard before. And by his word alone, a copy of Casino Royale commanded something like $200 in the late 80s over here, and that was for a VG copy. I had not subscribed to TAS when they went bigger in magazine size so I would not know about how he lost his power or anything like that. It's a bit sad to hear that.

 

[DaveyF]

HP lose his power? if that is true, then who has stepped into his shoes?
I cannot think of anyone....to me HP is still HP, the best audio writer that i have read over the last
25 years, just IMHO

 

[MarinJim]

I will tell a little story here. I bought a McIntosh C2300 partially based on the rave review that HP gave it in TAS. I absolutely didn't like it. The C2300 sounded very SS to my ears and I felt it to be a backwards step from my Counterpoint SA-5.1. Now, does that make me "right" and HP "wrong?" Hardly. Would it make me question any of his rave reviews and not assume that his word is gospel? Sure, but you're supposed to do that anyway.

Truely, I could not have said it any better. Well put, sir.

 

[caesar]

HP lose his power? if that is true, then who has stepped into his shoes?
I cannot think of anyone....to me HP is still HP, the best audio writer that i have read over the last
25 years, just IMHO

That is the follow-up question. Not sure who runs the place now. Harley and Valin seem to be the front runners, but they are definitely not on the same page. Valin seems to like austere sounding gear, with un-developed bass - Soulution, ML, Magico, ARC (no longer sugar-flavored). Harley, on the other hand, likes the Wilson stuff and Balabo gear that Valin would call "beautiful" or "colored".

There is also another guy in the mix, who may the boss or the guy with the purse strings, Tom Martin, who is not respected by Valin, as Valin seems to take digs at his blog post comments and reviews in Valin's reviews.

Also, Valin seems to have started to attack HP in the Ortofon review and by assigning the Ortofon product of the year a few issues back. So Valin may be winning the power struggle...

But the magazine is still published on nice glossy paper....

 

[Lee]

I have had a few conversations with HP over the years and I gave also talked to his friend John Cooledge. He is polite and a genuine lover of music. Yes he is eccentric but in a polite and charming way. We had an anniversary dinner for a local audio society back as the web was starting and HP showed and talked about audio trends and he could not have been more sharp and interesting. Perhaps we got along because he is also a fan of Magnepan.

It might be easy to Monday morning quarterback the whole digital media revolution but as someone who works in marketing analytics I can tell you many were caught off guard and then lived to invent stories how they were not caught off guard. In the end I think HP recognizes that for all the new media channels and platforms quality writing is still the most important factor over the long haul. Content is king.

Now having said that there are a few webzines, some of which seem to only present positive reviews. It is easy to gain an audience when your product is free. It is also easy to gain a happy manufacturer fanbase to pay for ads when they see nothing but positive reviews.

Does this make for good investigative analysis for audio learning and product comparisons? I don't believe it does.

I don't always agree with HPs take on things but I often find that as I get more audio experience (at it since 89) I find his words mostly on the money. Plus being who he is gives one access. I once sent an email with a slight correction on an SACD question on one of the Living Stereo SACDs. He was intrigued and wanted to double check my view. Who did he call? Wilma Cozart Fine who he knew for a long time. Hard to beat that for an answer. He was really gracious about it as well. A true gentleman.

We need more Harry Pearsons, not less if you ask me..