John Atkinson Steps Down As Editor Of Stereophile Magazine
- Thread starter Joe P
- Start date
BlueFox
New member
Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.
Hopefully, he will get Stereophile off it’s analog/turntable obsession. Time to move into the 21st century.
Hopefully, he will get Stereophile off it’s analog/turntable obsession. Time to move into the 21st century.
Jack
Active member
Or the beginning of them becoming more egotistical subjective drivel like TAS.
mep
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2013
- Messages
- 5,106
Care to explain that remark? JA is an electrical engineer who knows how to measure gear and report his findings. Never mind. I just remembered that JA measurements pissed on your DAC and that made you mad. Funny the DAC was revised after that though.
CPP
Active member
Personally I enjoy and rely on JA's measurements. The rest of the mag, well its good material for a snap shot of a product but that's about it for me.. I'm just glad JA will continue to measure and provide a technical examination of a product.
mep
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2013
- Messages
- 5,106
Before Kuoppis bought the Nyquist DAC and yammered about it endlessly, it was reviewed by Stereophile and JA took his usual measurements. This last paragraph of JA's measurements summed up his thoughts:
"Overall, I was disappointed by the Brinkmann Nyquist's measured performance. The higher-than-usual levels of random noise, the increase in distortion at low frequencies, and the supply-related sidebands all bothered me. You shouldn't have to make excuses for a DAC costing $18,000.—John Atkinson"
Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/content...da-processor-measurements#wcO08pwHFww00F4i.99
This explains Kuoppis reaction to JA stepping down. It's just sour grapes because the $18K DAC had technical flaws in the design and JA pointed them out for the world to see. The measurements were in direct contradiction to the long thread Kuoppis started on Dec 13, 2017 about the Nyquist DAC which he titled "Brinkmann Nyquist DAC - technical jewel with marvelous sound."
Kuoppis
New member
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2015
- Messages
- 5,203
Sorry if I don’t like your buddy’s way of conducting his reviews.
The contradiction is with JAs comments and the rest of the reviewer community, i.e. Alan Sircom, Robert Harley, Matthias Böde, Stephan Schmid, etc.
Hifi+: https://www.brinkmann-audio.de/inhalt/en/test/nyquist_hp112017.pdf
TAS: http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/brinkmann-audio-nyquist-dac/
Stereo: https://www.brinkmann-audio.de/inhalt/en/test/nyquist_stereo062017_int.pdf
Stereoplay: Highest ranked DAC ever tested.
Hifi & Records: http://www.gaudios.eu/pdf/brinkmann_nyquist_032017.pdf
Tone Audio: http://www.tonepublications.com/review/the-brinkmann-audio-nyquist-dac/
Stereophile: https://www.stereophile.com/content/brinkmann-audio-nyquist-da-processor
Personally I rarely trust just one source only, and there’s quite a discrepancy between JA and the others. Just in case you know how to read, please have a look. You might be better informed the next time.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
The contradiction is with JAs comments and the rest of the reviewer community, i.e. Alan Sircom, Robert Harley, Matthias Böde, Stephan Schmid, etc.
Hifi+: https://www.brinkmann-audio.de/inhalt/en/test/nyquist_hp112017.pdf
TAS: http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/brinkmann-audio-nyquist-dac/
Stereo: https://www.brinkmann-audio.de/inhalt/en/test/nyquist_stereo062017_int.pdf
Stereoplay: Highest ranked DAC ever tested.
Hifi & Records: http://www.gaudios.eu/pdf/brinkmann_nyquist_032017.pdf
Tone Audio: http://www.tonepublications.com/review/the-brinkmann-audio-nyquist-dac/
Stereophile: https://www.stereophile.com/content/brinkmann-audio-nyquist-da-processor
Personally I rarely trust just one source only, and there’s quite a discrepancy between JA and the others. Just in case you know how to read, please have a look. You might be better informed the next time.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
mep
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2013
- Messages
- 5,106
It doesn't matter if you dredge up a 1000 positive reviews of the Nyquist DAC because Ii doesn't change the fact that JA found engineering flaws in the design. If you want to impress me, show me where another engineer took measurements of the Nyquist DAC and refuted the problems that JA pointed out. Do you think it was a coincidence that Brinkmann revised the Nyquist DAC after JA's review was published? Didn't you pay for the revision?
Speedskater
Member
John Atkinson missed his calling, he should have been a politician. He could work around all the nonsense that the reviewers and writers provided.
On the other hand he was the bit of sanity the magazine had like when J. Gordon Holt was there.
On the other hand he was the bit of sanity the magazine had like when J. Gordon Holt was there.
Kuoppis
New member
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2015
- Messages
- 5,203
Ummm. And why is it, that none of the other six reviewers did discover that “flaw”? Just in case you were not aware, every audio magazine is measuring the products they review. You might want to consider working on your reasoning capability a bit.
As to the mk2 version, it was already in the works when I bought the DAC. And of course I paid, it was not very expensive though. The DAC module was designed to be updated regularly as soon as innovations become available.
Btw, according to dealer info, the DAC is on back order due to high demand [emoji3]. http://www.erni-hifi.ch/contents/de-ch/d332_Brinkmann.html. Sorry.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
a.wayne
Well-known member
How is that , never viewed Stereophile as having an obsession at all ...
a.wayne
Well-known member
a.wayne
Well-known member
No explanation necessary , none would suffice really....
a.wayne
Well-known member
Kuoppis
New member
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2015
- Messages
- 5,203
I understand you are upset because of my critical comments in your Borresen advertising thread. Classy comeback indeed.
JA is known to have been criticizing many great sounding products over the years due to his measurements. I simply think he is sometimes overstating their importance. On occasion this has lead to a difference of opinion between him and the reviewer, and he has been using his editor powers to overrule the actual reviewer.
The Magnepan .7 review is another such case which comes to mind. Herb Reichert liked the product and what it does for the money, but JA ruled it down. From Stereophile recommended components list 2017: “Class B, felt HR; Class C decided JA (Vol.38 No.8 WWW).”
In my view, and maybe that’s just me, the Stereophile recommended components list has also degenerated to mostly an odd collection of rather dated products under JA’s rule. To present the opposite case to the Nyquist, the Ayre KX-5 Twenty which is a product I used to own, was reviewed and added as a Class A component to said list in 2018. I bought mine in early 2015, the reviews and recommendations from e.g. Soundstage came out later that year. I find Stereophile a little late to the party after three years.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
- Thread Author
- #17
When I posted this thread, I thought everyone would be happy to read about the next step in JA’s career, since he’s given so much to our hobby.
Instead, the thread has taken a negative turn.
Mike, as the OP, please delete the thread.
Instead, the thread has taken a negative turn.
Mike, as the OP, please delete the thread.
Rob181
Member
Really - please show me the other reviews complete with measurements presented to the reading public - thanks
I wish John all the best in his new role. He’s always been very helpful to me and generous with his time. I can’t thank him enough.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I am sorry to read this. I also wish him well. I hope they continue the testing along with the subjective parts of reviews. My only dislike of both Stereophile and Absolute Sound is the abundance of annual directories and rehashes of previous material.