Absolute Sound

f r o m t h e e d i t o r
There’s a certain cynicism among a minority of audio-magazine readers
regarding the integrity of the review process. This view, sometimes
expressed on Internet forums, goes something like this: because
reviewers enjoy the use of expensive equipment without paying for it,
there’s a quid pro quo with the manufacturer that guarantees a favorable
review. Those holding this belief mention this alleged arrangement casually, as
though corruption were an automatic and integral aspect of magazine reviewing
that everyone knows about and tacitly accepts.
When I come across such comments, I don’t know whether to laugh or be outraged.
Those holding such views have absolutely no basis for their position except
an a priori assumption that something untoward must be going on. As someone who
has written more than 350 product reviews, and presided as editor over the publication
of another 400 or so, I’d like to share my experience, as well as outline The
Absolute Sound’s policies regarding equipment loans.
In my eleven years as a full-time reviewer and four years as Editor (two-and-ahalf
years at TAS), I have never been approached by a manufacturer offering equipment,
long-term loans of equipment, or any other compensation for favorable coverage.
It just doesn’t happen. If such a practice existed, I think I’d be aware of it considering
the large number of products I’ve reviewed over the past fifteen years. Of
course, I can’t speak for other reviewers or publications, but this is my experience.
The cynics may respond that even if there’s no overt quid pro quo, a favorable review
makes the manufacturer amenable to a long-term loan of the product, and thus influences
the reviewer. The reality is that I could spend an afternoon on the phone and
assemble a reference-quality system of components on long-term loan—components
entirely of my choosing, before a word was written, and with no promise of a favorable
review. If virtually all products are available on long-term loan, how can there be any
coercion by a single manufacturer to write a favorable review?
But are long-term loans ethical? Absolutely. Reviewers need reference-quality
equipment with which to judge other reference-quality components—equipment
they could never hope to afford. Moreover, equipment changes and is updated, and
reviewers need to use the latest gear. Manufacturers see the value in lending equipment
to reviewers after the review period has ended; not only is the product mentioned
in subsequent issues, but the reviewer’s use of the product is an endorsement
far more powerful than the review. Because reviewers can have virtually any products
they want on a long-term basis, the ones they choose to live with are special
indeed. Everyone wins: the manufacturer gets the exposure; the reviewer has the best
tools available; and the reader is alerted to those products so good that the reviewer
has chosen to live with them.
There are two prerequisites that make this policy work. First, the magazine’s official
stated policy must specify a time period from when the reviewer acquires the product
to when the review appears in print and the product is ready for return to the manufacturer.
At TAS, that period is six months. Second, when the manufacturer makes the
inevitable call for the component’s return, the product goes back immediately.
Products receive favorable reviews in TAS (and The Perfect Vision) for one reason—they
deliver exceptional performance, value, or both. Anyone who says otherwise
simply doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
Robert Harley
founder; chairman, editorial advisory board
Harry Pearson
editor-in-chief Robert Harley
editor Wayne Garcia
associate editor Jonathan Valin
managing & music editor Bob Gendron
acquisitions manager Neil Gader
& associate editor
copy editor Mark Lehman
classical music Andrew Quint
sub-editor
equipment setup Michael Mercer
editorial advisory board Sallie Reynolds
advisor, cutting edge Atul Kanagat
senior writers
John W. Cooledge, Anthony H. Cordesman,
Gary Giddins, Robert E. Greene, J. Gordon Holt,
Fred Kaplan, Greg Kot, John Nork, Arthur S. Pfeffer,
Paul Seydor, Kevin Whitehead, Roman Zajcew
reviewers and contributing writers
Soren Baker, Shane Buettner, Dan Davis, Frank Doris,
Roy Gregory, Stephan Harrell, John Higgins, Sue Kraft,
Mark Lehman, Arthur B. Lintgen, Anna Logg, David
Morrell, Aric Press, Derk Richardson, Dan Schwartz,
Gene Seymour, Aaron M. Shatzman, Alan Taffel
design/production Design Farm, Inc.
publisher/editor, AVGuide
Chris Martens
web producer Jerry Sommers
Absolute Multimedia, Inc.
chairman and ceo Thomas B. Martin, Jr.
vice president/publisher Mark Fisher
advertising reps Cheryl Smith
(512) 439-6951
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copyright© Absolute Multimedia, Inc., Issue 148, June/July 2004.The Absolute Sound
(ISSN #0097-1138) is published bi-monthly, $42 per year for U.S. residents, Absolute
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4 THE ABSOLUTE SOUND ■ JUNE/JULY 2004