"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
It would more correct to compare the magazine under JGH's management with
it
under JA's.

Under JGH, the magazine's view was primarily that reproduced sound should
sound like live sound, and it was the magazine's role to determine which
equipment most closely achieved this goal.

Under JA, the magazine gradually moved in the direction of "if it sounds
good, it is good". Any pretense to honoring the original meaning of "high
fidelity" has been lost. Stereophile has no "objective" standards; it
exists
primarily to justify whatever purchase a particular reader wishes to make.

I really agree with this! Thirty years ago, I valued each issue produced by
J. Gordon Holt. I dropped my subscription more than a decade ago. Based on
samples of the magazine since then, I don't regret it.

Ed Presson