🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1993Jan4.043034.2300@fcom.cc.utah.edu> dave@news.ccutah.edu (dave martin) writes:
>
>TAS seems to think they are always right and usually letter writers with
>other points of view get nasty footnotes.

For the >business< they're in, I'd expect that attitude.  It deters 
self-determination in the grand tradition of George Patton or your
local white-smocked doctor.  "Don't try choosing your own components
or doing your own heart transplant."  You're not going to hear,  "I think
I hear a bad valve in your heart,  but hey,  I'm not the greatest
doctor,  and I could be wrong." 

I'm addicted to both my Stereophile and AbSound subscriptions,  though I 
no longer ache for the next tablets to arrive, telling me what to hunger 
for.  A few complaints about AbSound:

	o They push consumerism through endless churning of equipment.
	  Anyone with a two-year-old stuff is likely not playing the
	  game.
	
	o If they're really concerned with the Absolute,  then why
	  are they so focused on the latest products from the
	  manufacturers?  There's a huge market in used,  out of 
	  production equipment, but AbSound turns a deaf ear.  Is it
	  because they live off the nipple of new equipment advertising?
	  Shades of the Mexican press.
	  Just how well does classic McIntosh stack up?  
	
	o Relatedly,  the whole pal'zy wal'zy attitude with the
	  manufacturers create an environment that's bound to
	  corrupt.  "Not only did <fill in the manufacturer> fly out
	  to adjust the speakers,  but he cooked a fabulous Veal Pitata
	  to go with the Vivaldi"
	
	o The recent baiting of the reader with comments like "I've
	  heard the greatest amp ever,  and I'll be revealing it in the
	  one of the next few issues"
	
	o HP is too powerful.  Manufacturers can be devastated by a thumbs
	  down.
	
On the plus side, it was good for HP to take a hiatus when he burned out
from hearing subtle differences on a hundered different amps,  though
the magazine really seemed to drift in his absense.