Sam Telling (Tom Gillett) causing quite a stir for Stereophile

[still-one]

I never really considered Sam's column as full blown reviews. I seldom read them as they rarely covered products I was interested in. So whether he writes for Stereophile that makes no difference to me. It is the same with Fremer's column. Seldom anything I want to read about. Now I will often read his equipment reviews elsewhere in the magazine.

I am not looking to base a purchasing decision on any reviewers conclusions. I read reviews of new products to find out what capabilities are build into the product and to get an idea of the sandbox in which it competes.

 

[BlueFox]

to me a review is a data point....and little more than that. put enough data points together from various sources that are consistent and you start to get a picture.

Exactly. +1

I never understood why anyone gets upset at reviews. It is just an opinion. As you start to find other similar opinions you can make a guess about its accuracy.

 

[Hew]

Don't always agree with him on his opinions/ tastes, such as the great praise of Pass XA60, which sounds like a very badly colored SS amp with badly designed tubby bass, not to awarding Vivid Giya Speaker of the Year alone and having to share it with wilson, and his assessment of nola.

I have to agree. It's all opinion anyway and you just proved the point quite nicely.

 

[patrickd]

I was not aware of the latest tiff involving Mr Tellig but as a long-term subscriber I am not sorry to see the end of his schtick. While there was the occasional chuckle to be found in his pieces, he was a sort of audiophile equivalent of a tabloid hack, tending to adopt a predictable stance and engaging in puff reviews of the same old manufacturers when he wasn't going on about his 'evil laugh' his Russian wife and the cat on the amp.

 

[Joe Whip]

This implies that you do find some reviewers credible, relevant or helpful? If so I'm curious to hear who? Personally (and no offense intended Kal) I don't find any current reviewers "relevant"; quite a few (including Sam) occasionally have useful comments or observations, but I can't imagine using any of their opinions for purchasing decisions. It's really more for entertainment, and Sam often was that IMHO. Something TAS major two reviewers (Hartley and Valin) seem to have a lot of trouble achieving...

I agree completely. I subscribe to Stereophile and TAS mostly for the entertainment that some of the reviews provide me, ie chuckles, and some tips on new music I might not see otherwise. Given the cost of the subscriptions, it is a no brainer. They are almost giving the things away.

 

[c1ferrari]

I decided to let my Stereophile subscription lapse a few months ago. I got letters from them threatening to send me to collections if I did not renew. Like I owed them money for something? This left a bad taste in my mouth.

For not renewing
Preposterous

 

[JackD201]

I hadn't read much of what Sam wrote for nearly ten years. I got very tired of reading about whatever new product Music Hall, Triangle, or Musical Fidelity had released. It felt like he was their press agent.

I know that a lot of other people who felt the same way.

Count me in on this one. I remember over a decade ago thinking oh boy another MF or another "Trian-gol". Whenever I'd get my copy I'd just skip ST. I did miss Jonathan Scull when he left. Didn't get to miss RH much since he continued writing elsewhere.

 

[es347]

Aside from the gear he was assigned to cover, I could never get past the self indulgent writing style...but then I'm an old curmudgeon..

 

[rblnr]

Count me in on this one. I remember over a decade ago thinking oh boy another MF or another "Trian-gol". Whenever I'd get my copy I'd just skip ST. I did miss Jonathan Scull when he left. Didn't get to miss RH much since he continued writing elsewhere.

Me three on this. At some point, he just seemed like PR guy for MH and MF, and his stories of how chummy he was with the owners of those companies only underscored that notion.

 

[Andre Marc]

Here is the juiciest post of all, just as of today...

"Sam Telling" Audio Ayslum:

Usually, non-salaried (Form 1099) writers were paid within a week or so after an issue appeared. This was about 60 days after submitting copy.

("I cannot deal with late copy," snorted Lord Gravitas in an e mail, after years of intermittent late payments and a day after telling writers their payments would be several weeks late. This is what really set me off. Do you want to talk about being callous? rude?)

Payment became more irregular after Source Interlink took over. You can Google Source Interlink and see if the word "unsavory" comes to mind.

Sometimes Lord Atkinson just forgot about approving payments to writes. A piddling matter, that. If you're British why pay promptly?

At one point (during the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy), I was promised payment within a few days ... only to learn that some bigwig had apparently put a hold on all payments to independent contractor writers. For all their magazines, I assumed.

They improved their cash flow at the expense of mine. Thank you and f*** you after 30 years.

This -- ahem, pause -- did not include the salaried executive himself nor the salaried Atkinson and those cronies he put on salary. (I didn't want a salary, by the way.)

Still, I kept my fury bottled up.

I never put up a fuss until payment was at least two weeks late. Then I would phone the underpaid Stephen Meijas, whose responsibility this wasn't, who stood up even as Lord Gravitas evaded and possibly abjured his responsibility.

How many times did this happen? I lost count.

Finally, I found myself paid up and fed up.

By the way, what does Stereophile do about delinquent advertisers?"

 

[DaveyF]

Andre, that's an interesting post. As usual there are two sides to every story. It would be interesting to know what the other side has to say. However, like I said before, IF this guy ( Sam Tellig) was writing that drivel for me, I would have let him go ages ago.

 

[rbbert]

Andre, that's an interesting post. As usual there are two sides to every story. It would be interesting to know what the other side has to say. However, like I said before, IF this guy ( Sam Tellig) was writing that drivel for me, I would have let him go ages ago.

I would say it's not unusual in many industries for independent contractors to be paid later and more irregularly than salaried employees. In most cases it depends on the state of both the economy and the particular company, and I doubt any magazine publishers have been having a very good time of it for a while now.

 

[thedudeabides]

I decided to let my Stereophile subscription lapse a few months ago. I got letters from them threatening to send me to collections if I did not renew. Like I owed them money for something? This left a bad taste in my mouth.

You are kidding, right?

 

[Andre Marc]

Andre, that's an interesting post. As usual there are two sides to every story. It would be interesting to know what the other side has to say. However, like I said before, IF this guy ( Sam Tellig) was writing that drivel for me, I would have let him go ages ago.

Always two sides to every coin!

It seems Stereophile's management saw he had a steady, and loyal audience, otherwise there is no way they would have him
writing a column for 30 years.

Writing for stereophile is no way to get rich. They have lost a lot of talent over the years and more recently because they pay dick.

Many of the writers at Stereophile are independently wealthy or are well heeled maintain there position there as a vanity gig. That is not a jab, but a simple statement of fact. This is aside from the very small group of salaried "cronies" (LOL) that Sam/Tom refers too. I admit there is a bitter tone to his posts!

I can't imagine Sphile turns much of a profit, this is just a guess, so don't quote me, but with 80.000 audited subs plus whatever news stand sales I
don't know how much ad revenue they generate annually.

Interesting questions for sure.

 

[DaveyF]

Andre I remember years ago reading several letters to the editor in one of the issues from fans of ST's. Several of these guys stated that the ONLY reason they continued with their subscription was to read Sam!! I NEVER felt the same way. But like you say, the S'phile staff must have valued that audience to let him continue the way he did. Now, with some luck, maybe they will employ some new and perhaps younger blood ( hopefully leading to a more contemporary perspective on the future of high end audio). I guess one can only hope.....

 

[Stereoeditor]

Writing for stereophile is no way to get rich. They have lost a lot of talent over the years and more recently because they pay dick.

Many of the writers at Stereophile are independently wealthy or are well heeled maintain [their] position there as a vanity gig.

I see you describe yourself as a "Professional Audio Reviewer," Marc. The first rule of reviewing is to restrict yourself to what you actually know. In the case of Stereophile's payments to writers, to the best of my knowledge we pay considerably more than other publications/webzines, and no, none of my team are "independently wealthy."

That is not a jab, but a simple statement of fact.

No, it is uninformed conjecture on your part.

This is aside from the very small group of salaried "cronies" (LOL) that Sam/Tom refers too.

There are no "salaried cronies." Stereophile's editorial department has 3 full-time salaried staff: music editor Robert Baird, art director Jeremy Moyler, and myself. In addition, each of our sister websites - AudioStream.com, InnerFidelity.com, AnalogPlanet.com - has a full-time editor: Michael Lavorgna, Tyll Hertsens, and Michael Fremer, respectively.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

 

[Andre Marc]

I see you describe yourself as a "Professional Audio Reviewer," Marc. The first rule of reviewing is to restrict yourself to what you actually know. In the case of Stereophile's payments to writers, to the best of my knowledge we pay considerably more than other publications/webzines, and no, none of my team are "independently wealthy."



No, it is uninformed conjecture on your part.



There are no "salaried cronies." Stereophile's editorial department has 3 full-time salaried staff: music editor Robert Baird, art director Jeremy Moyler, and myself. In addition, each of our sister websites - AudioStream.com, InnerFidelity.com, AnalogPlanet.com - has a full-time editor: Michael Lavorgna, Tyll Hertsens, and Michael Fremer, respectively.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

John, with all due respect, I made it clear that any of Sam'/Tom's comments were to be taken with a grain of salt, and there was more than a hint of bitterness in his posts.
Please don't confuse his words with mine. I think he crossed the line in some of his posts, but it is out there now.

Other than I also made it clear I was expressing opinions that were not to be quoted as fact. I think that clarifies it.

 

[Andre Marc]

Andre I remember years ago reading several letters to the editor in one of the issues from fans of ST's. Several of these guys stated that the ONLY reason they continued with their subscription was to read Sam!! I NEVER felt the same way. But like you say, the S'phile staff must have valued that audience to let him continue the way he did. Now, with some luck, maybe they will employ some new and perhaps younger blood ( hopefully leading to a more contemporary perspective on the future of high end audio). I guess one can only hope.....

There is no doubt Sam's Space had a long time readership. He would not have lasted 32 years without one. However, as you say, times change.

I don't think it was smart of him to take his grievances online to a public forum in the end.

 

[Andre Marc]

I see you describe yourself as a "Professional Audio Reviewer," Marc. The first rule of reviewing is to restrict yourself to what you actually know. In the case of Stereophile's payments to writers, to the best of my knowledge we pay considerably more than other publications/webzines, and no, none of my team are "independently wealthy."



No, it is uninformed conjecture on your part.



There are no "salaried cronies." Stereophile's editorial department has 3 full-time salaried staff: music editor Robert Baird, art director Jeremy Moyler, and myself. In addition, each of our sister websites - AudioStream.com, InnerFidelity.com, AnalogPlanet.com - has a full-time editor: Michael Lavorgna, Tyll Hertsens, and Michael Fremer, respectively.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

And John, if "the first rule of reviewing is to restrict yourself to what you actually know" then that rule has been violated by a good number
of "tier one" reviewers, a phrase coined by our own Peter B.

 

[Stereoeditor]

I also made it clear I was expressing opinions that were not to be quoted as fact.

With all due respect, Marc, that is not correct. You wrote "Writing for stereophile is no way to get rich. They have lost a lot of talent over the years and more recently because they pay dick...Many of the writers at Stereophile are independently wealthy or are well heeled maintain [their] position there as a vanity gig."

These are not Sam Telig's words, but your own, presented as fact in post306419. As you then went on to write in the same message:

That is not a jab, but a simple statement of fact.

I have no objections to anyone expressing their opinions of Stereophile, of me, or of Sam Tellig's resignation. But i do object to people presenting what they describe as facts when they actually have no way on knowing what they claim to know.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile