State of the industry - Roy Gregory Editorial

[microstrip]

Hi Lee,
It’s your company and I haven’t read an issue since late 90’s to offer an opinion but as an example take a look at the grounding box thread and try to figure out why seemingly rational people throw thousands even tens of thousands at literal cat litter boxes and top it off with thousands in wires, maybe start there and address it. What are people really hearing and who are they following and why? Do away with the status quo and bring something new to the table. You might lose some advertisers and you’ll probably gain subscribers. People are in this forum and those like it for a reason .

david

In fact many people are here because they appreciate the effect of using their "grounding" boxes and enjoy presenting and discussing them. It is a challenging subject, particularly for digital, that is extremely sensitive to RF noise. I remember you also wrote extensively about your grounding system years ago in WBF.

BTW, what would you consider something new?

 

[Elliot G.]

Alan can read your remarks and speak for himself, he is more than capable of stating his position. I on the other hand said no such thing. I can't even see where that comes from or why you even would say that. I did not get that from your reply at all other than you basically saying the product didn't work.
Harry was a reviewer. He reviewed the product. I don't get your point . He did his thing just as today's reviewers do theirs. Harry was not a vendor or a distributor or a manufacturer Harry was a writer, a very good one at that, award winning at Newsday on Long Island, a Duke Graduate and reviewed audio gear and started a magazine. I think that's a lot.

 

[Elliot G.]

One last thing since this is not going anywhere
I invite everyone here on WBF who is not really familiar with HP that they go back and read the first 10-20 TAS magazines. The small ones , the quarterly that never had 4 issues, the one with the great covers, the one that took all of us on a journey, the one that started a vocabulary, the one that Harry invented.
Then perhaps people will get who HP was. Do that then make your own decisions. The character assignation is undeserved and that I stand behind.

 

[Lee]

Hi Lee,
It’s your company and I haven’t read an issue since late 90’s to offer an opinion but as an example take a look at the grounding box thread and try to figure out why seemingly rational people throw thousands even tens of thousands at literal cat litter boxes and top it off with thousands in wires, maybe start there and address it. What are people really hearing and who are they following and why? Do away with the status quo and bring something new to the table. You might lose some advertisers and you’ll probably gain subscribers. People are in this forum and those like it for a reason .

david

If your beef is that we are promoting new accessories like grounding boxes, then I think we are doing quite well. The active grounding block in my system noticeably lowered the noise in my system and everybody has heard the difference. If your beef is with better quality cables, then we are also doing well at TAS. Recently I was able to add Shunyata Omega 75 ohm cables into the Rossini. It was again a noticeable improvement in sound quality and three visitors have heard that difference in just the past week.

I like what you are doing in vintage and I have heard good things about your turntable but your comments don’t seem like compelling arguments to me.

The audio industry right now is in another Golden Age period imho. There is no status quo; things are changing too rapidly for that.

 

[Lee]

One last thing since this is not going anywhere
I invite everyone here on WBF who is not really familiar with HP that they go back and read the first 10-20 TAS magazines. The small ones , the quarterly that never had 4 issues, the one with the great covers, the one that took all of us on a journey, the one that started a vocabulary, the one that Harry invented.
Then perhaps people will get who HP was. Do that then make your own decisions. The character assignation is undeserved and that I stand behind.

I joined TAS well after Harry left but I can share one observation…about 20 years ago the Atlanta Audio Society had a huge anniversary dinner at a country club. Harry Pearson came down to speak. It was a buffett and Harry happened to be right next to me in line and we struck up a conversation. He was a genuinely dynamic and interesting fellow and we soon discovered we were both Magnepan fan and he graciously shared some recommendations on setup. This was a thrill for me since I had started my audio journey buying TAS off bodegas in the West Village where I lived in 1989. I loved his way with words to describe sound. Arguably no one has done it better, although I do hold Valin‘s work in very high regard.

As an audiophile and a writer, Harry was one of a kind.

 

[Al M.]

One last thing since this is not going anywhere
I invite everyone here on WBF who is not really familiar with HP that they go back and read the first 10-20 TAS magazines. The small ones , the quarterly that never had 4 issues, the one with the great covers, the one that took all of us on a journey, the one that started a vocabulary, the one that Harry invented.
Then perhaps people will get who HP was. Do that then make your own decisions. The character assignation is undeserved and that I stand behind.

Do you have links to those issues?

 

[andromedaaudio]

These kind of things/ experiments i find interesting to read .

6moons.com - industry features: A special Zanden Audio event In Hong Kong

Regarding magazines they represent mostly subjective views of reviewers , if you have something in common with the reviewer it might be help full .
But in my view not much is happening in the high end , good products that were relevant 10 years ago are still relevant today

 

[Al M.]

The audio industry right now is in another Golden Age period imho.

+1000

 

[Elliot G.]

Do you have links to those issues?

. I m sure the Lee would know how to see or obtain them . He's the main business person there

 

[Elliot G.]

 

[Elliot G.]

 

[Elliot G.]

 

[andromedaaudio]

+1000

Sure thats why everybody is dusting off and recapping those old tape decks

 

[Al M.]

Sure thats why everybody is dusting off and recapping those old tape decks

Well, I don't .

Regardless, now you can hear those wonderful old tape decks through better gear.

 

[rando]

This post was written after the guy read David's previous ones and said...

I value his opinion for being clinical if not impassively analytical. With any luck, next he'll examine the real face of celebrity influence using a highly typical of his complexion, dexterity and balm.

 

[microstrip]

One last thing since this is not going anywhere
I invite everyone here on WBF who is not really familiar with HP that they go back and read the first 10-20 TAS magazines. The small ones , the quarterly that never had 4 issues, the one with the great covers, the one that took all of us on a journey, the one that started a vocabulary, the one that Harry invented.
Then perhaps people will get who HP was. Do that then make your own decisions. The character assignation is undeserved and that I stand behind.

In fact this discussion misses an exact chronology. We are in 2022 addressing someone who created TAS in 1973 - next year we will have the 50 years commemoration!

 

[microstrip]

View attachment 91632

Another fact, our WBF comments on sound quality are soft compared with TAS views on early digital in issue 29 (March 1983)!

 

[PeterA]

Sure thats why everybody is dusting off and recapping those old tape decks

We are in the current age of audio with lots of choices but some are worried. The industry is trying to figure out how to grow. Some enjoy DIY and others are clinging on to 40 year old turntables and huge old wooden speakers from the movie industry. T hey keep re-issuing recordings that were made in the first golden age of audio. Now we want to read old magazines.

It’s not clear to me that we are in another golden age of Audio. I used to listen to music with my family in the living room growing up. I went to the local records store to flip through record bins after school. We talked about the latest Elton John or Beatles or Led Zeppelin record in school the next day.

What once seemed quite popular is now simply a niche hobby with the industry searching for ways to survive. Perhaps in another decade after these new efforts are attempted, we may find ourselves in a better place. I hope so.

 

[Al M.]

Another fact, our WBF comments on sound quality are soft compared with TAS views on early digital in issue 29 (March 1983)!

View attachment 91633

Well, the criticism of early digital was justified.

So is the harsh criticism of [...] which I am not allowed to name .

***

PS: I am wondering why Stereophile was so positive about early digital.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

We are in the current age of audio with lots of choices but some are worried. The industry is trying to figure out how to grow. Some enjoy DIY and others are clinging on to 40 year old turntables and huge old wooden speakers from the movie industry. T hey keep re-issuing recordings that were made in the first golden age of audio. Now we want to read old magazines.

It’s not clear to me that we are in another golden age of Audio. I used to listen to music with my family in the living room growing up. I went to the local records store to flip through record bins after school. We talked about the latest Elton John or Beatles or Led Zeppelin record in school the next day.

What once seemed quite popular is now simply a niche hobby with the industry searching for ways to survive. Perhaps in another decade after these new efforts are attempted, we may find ourselves in a better place. I hope so.

there will never be another '60's' where the period was mostly defined by music. we associate every major 60's event with the music that accompanied it. when many of the most talented among us wrote and made music. music brought us together. never gonna happen again.....and the period that followed carried that relevant music forward. those who lived then still have that music in their bones....hard wired. it's simple, but complicated.

you can't separate the cultural musical aspect from our view of audio in the 60's and 70's. it's connected. i graduated from high school in 1969. that time was my sweet spot. i had K-Horns in college, later Bose 901's.

today it's about access to all music, at very high performance levels easily achieved. streaming now fuels music focus. and hifi focus. analog has it's part to play too. society has changed, and our relationship with music has changed. it is now entertainment, not part of our cultural roots.

serious hifi is a niche hobby, but it's doing just fine. i think the reproduction performance is better than ever right now. at all levels. casual, moderate and serious. limitations of bandwidth and digital conversion 20 years ago are behind us. the vinyl is the best ever.

it's the golden age for listeners.