LETTERS

A rock?

Editor: It may not be widely appreciated, but as one gets older, many things become more remote and inaccessible. In this digital age, when everything audio seems to be on the Internet or delivered by it, listening to equipment in the flesh—especially more exotic and expensive items—with a view to purchase is almost impossible.

Stereophile is the rock I have built my hi-fi information existence upon. How does that work, you may ask? As a reader of 20+ years, I have come to know and, I think, understand the reviewers’ likes, dislikes, and idiosyncrasies; their musical tastes and what seems to excite them. Many of my equipment purchases have come from reading Stereophile reviews. Reading a Stereophile reviewer regularly is like having a conversation with a friend. Their enthusiasm and writing skills illuminate the hi-fi equipment they are describing. I have been listening to, using, and building hi-fi equipment since the 1960s, and have read and subscribed to various other hi-fi magazines, but they have all fallen by the wayside; only Stereophile has lasted—it lingers in the mind when all others have evaporated into the ether.

Underpinning ’s subjective reviews is the objective substance that is John Atkinson. His measurements underpin