I almost forgot about Headfonia.
Ohâand I like Steve Huff.
Yup, just read his Pass Labs XP-12 review. I like his sense of style and writing. BTW, he was impressed with the XP-12, but youâd already know that.
Anthony Cordesman is the guy. He was a good reviewer. Personally Iâve given up on in-print reviewers since so many reviews are positive, not much negative information sneaks through. I recall reading a long time ago that negative reviews were suppressed since they had no value added, really? Iâve since stopped all in print publications, but still have all my back issues of Stereophile and Absolute Sound. HP and several of his early writers were the best, albeit with rather high brow prose. Sure was exciting to read. Now I have trouble with internet reviews and, actually, any kind of personal video. Too many folks looking for attention. Iâm just an old grump. ![]()
One fellow old grump to another, yes Anthony Cordesman. The TAS with HP was a riot, all the drama that went with it. Like you I ceased print subscriptions many years ago. On occasion I pick-up a copy at B&N for curiosityâs sake. After the last TAS, probably wonât pursue their hard copies, Stereophile maybe. as I said earlier, the reviews are more for entertainment purposes. Ultimately I discarded all my old TAS and Stereophile copies, a matter of decluttering. Thanks for sharing and a kind reminder of Anthony Cordesman.
I tend to avoid all the gimmicky folksâprint or video, who act cute, shout, act weird, put down others, and just come across as not to be trusted (dress poorly, spell bad, and so on). Life is too long to spend with them. Most of the folks mentioned above are OK.
I read reviews and the typical mentioned above more for entertainment purposes. When I get serious - no stone is left untouched and I really like hearing from ânormalâ people online. When I start finding similarities in descriptions or people that have compared a product I know to one Iâm thinking about then âbingoâ that helps a lot. It becomes this big pile of info across normal folks here and other forums as well as some famous and not so famous reviewers
As dumb as this sounds - I do like listening to reviewers A/B products on YouTube. It isnât anything that I base a decision on but I can normally hear different characteristics between the two. Itâs nothing to do w the actual sound but more the comparison and deltas I hear between the two products in a crappy standardized listening environment
I did this over the last holiday season. The recycling bin was so heavy I had to ask for help to tilt it back and roll it down to the street. I watched when the recycling truck when it came the next morning to see what was going to happen. The hydraulic arm at first lifted the can and started moving to the truck and then it jerked to a stop mid-air. I thought I was in trouble. The operator did something at his panel and voila! it finished. That was several years of TAS, Stereophile, and Sound & Vision.
Did u have any second thoughts as it was being lifted in the air??? ![]()
At that point I was committed and safely viewing from a spot inside that I am pretty sure the driver wouldnât see me.
(chicken)
Lol. Because Iâve got several piles on my coffee table prob dated 2015 and I just have trouble unloading them.
If this happens again, and I am pretty sure it wonât, I think Iâll do the decent thing and only do a few dozen at a time and stretch it over a few weeks. I didnât think about the weight until I went to move the rolling bin.
âMan sued by ACME Garbage Co over broken bin lifterâ. Haha. Iâve had similar episodes with weighty garbage containers.
I just went outside to look at the bin. Thereâs no weight limit on the sticker or embossed on the bin itself. That being said, I would be super annoyed if my recycling wasnât picked up because some lame dude down the street with loud music dumped several years of magazines into the bin and broke the truck.
Yet another life lesson. I think thatâs number 6,666,666,666,666,666.
I get the print and digital copies. That way I can declutter and still access old copies digitally. I just read the review in the 12/20 issue of Stereophile on the Gryphon Essence Mono block amps. Great review!
I do not miss mine as I had a tendency to skim through them while playing music. They became a distraction as I should be listening to the music. In my case I am glad they are gone, including the very earliest of TAS, which were indeed very special for me.
I had the full series of Granta and The Wire, hung onto those as well. They were harder to part with as the caliber of the writing exceeded anything Iâve read in the audiophile journals. I do maintain an electronic subscription to each. I do recommend each.

Speaking of the big purge, once I got started there was no stopping me. Purged over 1200 hard bound books, to my daughterâs delight as she is with Open Books, a 501(c)3 non-profit, in Chicago. Sales fund youth reading programs in the city. Chicagoans should look for their new used book store on Milwaukee north of Armitage, 2068 Milwaukee Ave. in the Logan Square neighborhood. An opening date has yet to be released, but they are open on Chicagoâs West Loop, Pilsen Neighborhood, and do pop-up book sales around Chicago (typically with a coffee shop tie-in). The latter are announced on FaceBook.
Book donations are always appreciated.
Nice plug Dad! And a great cause!
Yup, shameless plug for a most worthy cause, an investment in our future.

