Critic's Corner: Pathetic and Cowardly by Arthur Salvatore

The above post is pathetic. It even uses "lol" as a heading!? A sad reminder: The discussion concerns a man who has just recently DIED, Charles Hansen. Hansen confessed his highly critical thoughts about Stereophile, and its reviewers, just before he died. Hansen's final thoughts confirmed mine, which is the only relevant fact, with anything else being a distraction. However, the above member shamefully considers all of these events to be simply hilarious. This member then goes on to further expose his true character, ignorance and duplicity...

This member's post is filled with blatant lies, which has sadly become normal for many Stereophile defenders. Yes "lies", because the historical facts of the "Ayre Digital Shoot-Out Incident" are now well known and documented, and this member has deliberately ignored and misrepresented them in the above post.

1. The Ayre Shoot-Out was a GROUP effort of 4 or more people, and not just Blume. In fact, the listener who was the most critical of the Ayre was NOT Blume, but instead another associate who even directly contacted Ayre because he felt that their player actually sounded "defective" (by comparison).

2. It was I who initiated the "2007 Digital Shoot-Out" article, and again NOT ("agenda-filled") Blume. In truth, Blume was originally even reluctant to take the extensive time and effort to organize all the findings and then write the original draft, but I talked him into it, thus repudiating this member's "quid-pro-quo" Blume/Hansen revenge fantasy.

3. My "Bizarre Obsession with Stereophile"? I initiated articles in 1996, 2001, 2004 and 2009, plus some updates and replies. So, in the last 14 years I have initiated only one new article about Stereophile. Meanwhile, during this same period, Stereophile's employees, and a sad group of its dead-end defenders (such as this member), have personally attacked me on COUNTLESS occasions, on Audio Asylum and elsewhere. It's all on the record, so who of us is actually "obsessed"?

Further absurdities: This member freely admits he "only heard a couple of the other players in the shootout and hasn't directly compared any of them". Ergo, any personal opinion this member has about the players' relative merits is meaningless and irrelevant. The member also deeply cares that the Ayre was "widely acclaimed by the press", as if the "audio press" is some sort of authoritative voice. The experiences and observations of numerous serious audiophiles, for many decades, confirm that this belief is total nonsense. In contrast...

The listening group who made the direct comparative tests posted on my website used at least three high-resolution systems. They were all highly experienced listeners. The contemporary "audio press", which this member so highly regards, rarely, IF EVER, conducts similar direct comparative tests, with unambiguous results. Why not? Because they want to avoid all the inevitable consequences when they disappoint and upset "the losers" (confirmed by the raw hatred I have received, in public, for the last decade).

Maybe worst of all is the timing of this member's reply to my post. My post originated on October 6, 2017. This member replied to my post on February 8, 2018, more than FOUR MONTHS LATER! The only reason I even discovered the member's reply is because I updated my original article on Charles Hansen, due to a recent thread, and had to make certain that all of the associated links still worked properly.

From my perspective, only a coward would post such rubbish, knowing the odds of it ever being noticed at this late date were remote, and even then using a moniker for further protection. This member's cowardice is not surprising or unprecedented. It is consistent with the past cowardly actions of Wes Phillips and John Atkinson, which I have previously documented. Even as an extreme audiophile myself, I still confess that I don't understand why these people would feel the small and insular world of audio is so important that they would humiliate themselves, in public, for such minor ego rewards.

In the end, I pity this member. This member appears to be highly insecure, and obviously feels some strong need to hero worship and loyally defend some arbitrary group of chosen "audio heroes". They don't deserve such tribute, period, if anyone in our audio world ever did.

This reply was highly unpleasant for me to compose, but I would like to close on a positive note as always. This member has provided me an opportunity to post a link to the "2018 Addendum" of my earlier article on "Charles Hansen's Final Posts on Audio Asylum". (See below.) So, Thank You!

Charles Hansen's Final Thoughts (Open in New Window)