Sam Telling (Tom Gillett) causing quite a stir for Stereophile

[Andre Marc]

Many of you may know the columnist known as Sam Tellig resigned from Stereophile as of the last issue.

He has been all over forums raising quite a hornet's net for Stereophile, saying freelance writers have not
been paid in a timely manner, and accusing editor John Atkinson of not backing his writers. He also made some
wild, and vague claims of impropriety against Stereophile's parent company.

His latest volley is a prediction Stereophile won't be around in four years.

Juicy!!!

 

[ack]

Any links?

 

[Kal Rubinson]

I've been enjoying it.

 

[Andre Marc]

Any links?

I was pointed to:

www.audioasylum.com

 

[Andre Marc]

I've been enjoying it.

It is like seeing a drunk relative at a family event...I guess you roll your eyes and have a good chuckle.

 

[audioarcher]

I decided to let my Stereophile subscription lapse a few months ago. I got letters from them threatening to send me to collections if I did not renew. Like I owed them money for something? This left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[rockitman]

my stereo is at my desired level...so I am questioning renewing SPhile and A/S. I am finally at the point of no more component desires (save for a 2nd phono stage down the road...doshi gets me hawt)...Really !

 

[Kal Rubinson]

It is like seeing a drunk relative at a family event...I guess you roll your eyes and have a good chuckle.

Yup.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

I decided to let my Stereophile subscription lapse a few months ago. I got letters from them threatening to send me to collections if I did not renew. Like I owed them money for something? This left a bad taste in my mouth.

Really? I have never seen that from any publication, even those with which I have had contentious relationships.

 

[DaveyF]

Looking at some of the drivel that Sam Tellig has been writing for so many years, it's a wonder to me that he wasn't let go years ago. All IMHO of course..

 

[audioarcher]

Really? I have never seen that from any publication, even those with which I have had contentious relationships.

I was surprised myself. I had to read it a couple of times to be sure of what I was reading. Wish I had kept it so I could show you exactly what it said. I blew it off as a sad attempt to get me to renew.

I did not really have anything against Stereophile. I let The Absolute Sound lapse as well. Just got tired of getting mags every month.

 

[caesar]

Obviously it's more than just about getting paid late...due to a supposed accounting snafu...He's been with stereophile for 30+ years!!!....

maybe we should put the guy in a chair and find out what's really bothering him and why he stuck around so long being miserable..

Got to give credit to Atkinson for acting classy on this. Don't always agree with him on his opinions/ tastes, such as the great praise of Pass XA60, which sounds like a very badly colored SS amp with badly designed tubby bass, not to awarding Vivid Giya Speaker of the Year alone and having to share it with wilson, and his assessment of nola. However, his public handling of this is well done.

 

[Joe Galbraith]

His departure won't bother me. His is the only column I never bother with. His credibility took a big hit when his column became a regular advertising feature for all things Music Hall.

As far as reports of nefarious activities at Stereophile being thrown around over at AA, please consider the source..

 

[Mike Lavigne]

His departure won't bother me. His is the only column I never bother with. His credibility took a big hit when his column became a regular advertising feature for all things Music Hall.

As far as reports of nefarious activities at Stereophile being thrown around over at AA, please consider the source..

+1.

cannot remember if his opinions about audio ever had relevance; they have not for me for many years.

 

[slowGEEZR]

+1.

cannot remember if his opinions about audio ever had relevance; they have not for me for many years.

I'm glad someone else said this. I thought I was the only one who thought this.

 

[TheMadMilkman]

I'm glad someone else said this. I thought I was the only one who thought this.

I hadn't read much of what Sam wrote for nearly ten years. I got very tired of reading about whatever new product Music Hall, Triangle, or Musical Fidelity had released. It felt like he was their press agent.

I know that a lot of other people who felt the same way.

 

[dallasjustice]

Fixed the Glitch

Maybe Stereophile "Fixed The Glitch"

 

[rbbert]

+1.

cannot remember if his opinions about audio ever had relevance; they have not for me for many years.

This implies that you do find some reviewers credible, relevant or helpful? If so I'm curious to hear who? Personally (and no offense intended Kal) I don't find any current reviewers "relevant"; quite a few (including Sam) occasionally have useful comments or observations, but I can't imagine using any of their opinions for purchasing decisions. It's really more for entertainment, and Sam often was that IMHO. Something TAS major two reviewers (Hartley and Valin) seem to have a lot of trouble achieving...

 

[Mike Lavigne]

This implies that you do find some reviewers credible, relevant or helpful? If so I'm curious to hear who? Personally (and no offense intended Kal) I don't find any current reviewers "relevant"; quite a few (including Sam) occasionally have useful comments or observations, but I can't imagine using any of their opinions for purchasing decisions. It's really more for entertainment, and Sam often was that IMHO. Something TAS major two reviewers (Hartley and Valin) seem to have a lot of trouble achieving...

not sure this thread is the right place to get deep into an answer to your question.

however; most of the people who are prominent as reviewers (and familiar to me) in the high end are credible to me as consistent to their various biases. which is all anyone can do. it's rare where I will read about an opinion from a particular reviewer and think that their opinion does not make sense considering their history. it's not important whether I agree with their conclusion unless their biases just happen to mirror mine.

I do perceive a bit of politics and pragmatism in reviews of high profile gear regularly. where the prose gets overcooked. but again; I factor that into my take away and usually it all adds up. to me a review is a data point....and little more than that. put enough data points together from various sources that are consistent and you start to get a picture.

likely the most credible, relevant and helpful reviewers to me would start with Fremer for his work with vinyl. beyond that there might be 5-10 people who I also appreciate....but i'm not going down that road. but my personal viewpoint on the whole subject of reviews and reviewers is that i'm at the end point in my gear acquisition process and really have little serious interest in any review other than my own personal one.

Sam (Ken) has not provided me a useful data point 'ever'. but maybe i'm not his audience....so who cares what I think.

I respect people who take the trouble to write reviews. one time I tried to do it and found it's not that easy to put that much effort into explaining your perspective.

 

[rbbert]

Not surprisingly I find it far easier to identify those reviewers who are of no use (to me) than the ones who might be helpful. Most of the former group quickly reveal their inconsistencies over the course of a very few reviews. So in that sense I think Tellig was a useful reviewer in that his opinions were pretty consistent even if often unpopular with the cognoscenti. Even though Sam was no longer "The Audio Cheapskate" almost everything he reviewed was very modestly priced by high end standards, so I would expect little relevance or interest for you (Mike).