SUMMER MUSINGS: True audiophile aspirations; recent events in the audiophile culture - end of Atkinson's Stereophile measurements, YouTube influencer legal drama.

Through my years as an audiophile, I've come across articles in magazines and online talking about hobbyist "aspirations". At audio shows, and seemingly each new issue of magazine we read, we're introduced to the latest and greatest piece or gear, the next "must have" item to consider in this never-ending path of upgrade to satisfy luxury consumeristic appetites.

Given that it's "Summer Musings" season, let's take some time to think about what I think is the most important aspirational item in all of the audiophile hobby - your room. And since in the last month there have been other events happening in audio news, let's also talk about the fact that John Atkinson has retired from doing measurements for Stereophile magazine, and the interesting legal drama around the case of an "influencer" (Michael Gefteas/The Greek Audio Geek) and social media.

I. Primary aspiration of the hardware audiophile: a good sound room

As you can see in the image above, we have a typical older male audiophile, financially secure, contemplating how to fill that room in his home with some objects of his desire to make it into his sonic oasis. He's thinking about some of the best audio toys money can buy - B&W 800-series loudspeakers, a stack of dCS gear, well-regarded McIntosh amplifier, and some fancy cables like those from Nordost.

In total we're looking at something like MSRP: US$65k for B&W 801 D5, $17.5k McIntosh MA12000 hybrid integrated, dCS Vivaldi $52.5k APEX DAC + $25.5k Upsampler + $19.5k Master Clock = $180k even before throwing money at the Nordost cables or source device(s). So he shops around and manages to secure 20% off from MSRP from his local dealer, we're looking at about $145k minimum.

These are brands and models many audiophiles aspire to, they're what the magazines and audio shows highlight. Brand names and "high end" gear that when mentioned among hobbyists, many will respectfully regard. Surely, if that man went to a local audio meet, his list of items would impress most modern audiophiles when asked what he has, and many of us would be intrigued if invited over for a listen! Beyond these headline brand names and fancy claims, what's likely even more important for sound quality is rarely spoken of nor easy to describe.

As discussed a couple of summers ago, make sure we think about the audio system not just as a flat construct, but rather dimensionally, with multiple domains of consideration.

While it might be cool to own nice B&W loudspeakers, the McIntosh amp and dCS boxes, what is the point from a sound quality, high-fidelity perspective if the room looks claustrophobic like that one the fellow in the picture above intends to put all this good stuff in?

Could he buy those components he's dreaming about and put it all in there? Of course he can! Buying expensive stuff isn't exactly a difficult nor impressive exercise so long as one has enough will and credit. The more important, and wiser, question might be, should he buy this stuff given the space he has?

As experienced audiophiles, I think we can recognize that those components in that small space will simply appear mismatched; the space is suboptimal if we are to extract the full value of what these products can provide at this price point. I think many of us have experienced this kind of room-hardware mismatch when attending audio shows listening to $100+k of gear in small hotel bedrooms.

I think the image of the would-be system above still looks impressive. It'd be interesting to poke around and admire the speakers or check out the VU meters on that McIntosh. However, I think that for many of us looking at that squarish small room, we'd also intuitively experience disappointment - lost potential - because the goal of a good sound system is in what we hear, not what we see, and it's very unlikely that this is going to sound "great" in that environment.

IMO, what is most important and what we as audiophiles must foundationally aspire to is actually a home where we have a dedicated space for our gear within which we can optimize the acoustics; the hardware is important but secondary regardless of how luxurious. A US$150k sound system cannot "live" in a low-ceiling 11' x 12' average bedroom! That looks preposterous¹, literally "putting the cart before the horse" as the old saying goes. It's like getting dressed up, Rolex watch on, out on a romantic evening in a fine dining restaurant, and then taking your date home and she sees you live in a small cookie-cutter one-bedroom apartment.

[¹For example, Michael Fremer's Wilson Audio Chronosonic XVX I think looks clearly suboptimal from a physics perspective stuffed in the corner of that short, crammed basement regardless of what he claims - you can't beat physics, even though as a subjective being he has the right to use his imagination that this sounds awesome (discussed previously). 

Here's the latest video of his room 3 years ago. Notice in the video they never take a wide shot of his room showing how close the speakers are and where he sits. Possibly just too tight to even find a place to stand that would show us the full layout without using a highly distorting wide-angle lens! In that room, does it matter if the amplifier or turntable costs $100k? Beyond the expensive bits and pieces, is this kind of system aspirational especially when so much of the "high-end" is catered to the luxury buyer? Does he truly have the ability to hear minute "golden ear" differences through that system, in that space? (As previously discussed, I doubt it.)]

I suspect we intuitively know this as audiophiles. This is also why the perfectionist audiophile hobby with its large and expensive speakers, multi-box components, bits and pieces including upper-tier-priced cables tend to attract mainly middle-aged and older hobbyists. It is only when we're older, having bought a home, kids old enough to not damage gear, and having saved enough to splurge on expensive toys that we can embark on checking out the local hi-end dealerships, catching some audio shows to consider what's available. Sure, an affluent 30-something year old can of course be interested in hi-fi but beyond a few enthusiasts, how many of them would have the space in their starter homes, early on in their careers, maybe with young families to be prioritizing relaxing nights sitting in their sweet spot with lights down, music volume up, sipping fine cognac? 😏

With the price of housing where it stands, and consumer debt levels where it is in the Western world, it is very hard for the younger generations to have the space to build a nice sound system.

[For those curious, check out the gross national savings data here. Click on the "% of GDP" and see where Canada and the United States stands compared to China, Singapore, Japan, S. Korea, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Indonesia, etc. 

Is it any wonder that maybe companies are shifting focus to Asia? Not just because of current political and tariff uncertainties in the USA particularly or that more hi-fi companies are also China-owned these days. Expensive luxury goods seek out disposable savings. Let's be honest, guys like the rich Baby Boomers have been tapped out for years and most are too old to benefit from hi-fi now with the average age around 70 y.o.]

Here's a graph of the average detached house price here in Canada with inflation adjustment since 1975 with the situation even worse in most major cities (see this article for details):

CAGR = Compounded Annual Growth Rate

While home prices recently have continued to drop since 2023 (down to ~2018 levels now supposedly), obviously there's still a way to go before we reach anything like the affordability levels of 2000 when I was starting my career! Maybe we have to wait until living space can be more affordable, then the younger folks might get interested in full-sized audiophile sound systems again. Until then, I'm sure the younger generations are excited about their personal hi-fi systems in the form of excellent headphones, IEMs, very affordable small speakers, and high-performance "Chi-Fi" electronics. I don't think they're in any way missing out on music enjoyment!

Once you have a good sound room that can do justice to showing off the high-end hardware, then you're truly free to splurge on the finest without looking pretentious.

Though I rarely commend The Absolute Sound for their writings or videos, I do want to highlight the "Building/Tuning Listening Rooms" video by Tom Martin from earlier this year. It's refreshing to see TAS engaging in some no-nonsense talk using acoustic science, discussion of optimal room ratios, computer modeling, graphs, etc. He even mentions using REW measurements for optimization - wow, TAS guys actually measure stuff? 🤣 I wonder why they don't apply those same scientific principles to their usual hardware reviews to check even simple but important things like a frequency response out of speakers or consider whether stuff like their audio cable and other accessory reviews even make any sense!

Tom Martin's listening room is IMO superior to this one previously discussed.

One more thing. IMO the path forward as audiophiles is to move into multichannel which makes having access to a dedicated sound room even more convenient if not essential. I know, traditional, old-skool audiophiles might have a thing against multichannel and Atmos setups, but to me that's their loss and a closed-minded attitude (ironic when it comes to typical subjective-leaning 2-channel only guys who tell others to have an open mind around voodoo tweaks!) especially these days with the amount of content available. I think it's a good thing that technology finds ways to progress regardless of whether some in this audiophile culture have the desire or means to go along for the better-fidelity ride.

If artists like Dominique Fils-Aimé can endorse and utilize the technology for her music, demoed recently in High End Vienna 2026 by PMC, if I like her music, why wouldn't I as an audiophile want to experience that "deeper level" she speaks for what the technology can do?

 

II. Terminus of John Atkinson's Stereophile measurements.

It was bound to happen. Back in 2019, John Atkinson retired from being the Editor of Stereophile (also discussed here), and now he's done with doing measurements for Stereophile reviews.

Of the two major audiophile publications in North America we might still run into on magazine stands, I believe Stereophile is the better one compared to The Absolute Sound. While I might not agree with many of the viewpoints, nor consider the subjective portion of reviews meaningful other than seeing if the reviewer mentions some good recordings to try, I have always considered John's measurements highly worthwhile. Other than a few technical articles like those of Keith Howard's, these measurements are the only reason why I might pull up an article from a past issue.

Based on the discussions here, John at 78 years old now and after 50+ years in the career, clearly has done a lot for audiophile publishing.

I only recently ran into this YouTube video showing Atkinson's testing space:

Wow, speaking of room size, that electronics measurement space is tiny! The man must be dedicated to his work to perform under these conditions for 25 years, still using Windows XP even; I can respect that kind of passion in the work.

In 2007, J. Gordon Holt, Atkinson's predecessor as Editor, did a fascinating interview and didn't hold back on his views about the deficiencies of the audiophile industry. By that time, Holt had left the magazine for about 7 years already so I'm guessing he was free to speak his mind. I wonder if one of these days, after some time of reflection, whether Atkinson might have some open words of wisdom to impart for future generations.

The big question now then is what the measurements portion of future reviews will look like in Stereophile. It's no surprise that Hi-Fi News' Paul Miller has been announced to guide the measurements section. Speaker testing now to be done by Listen Inc. and electronics results from Grinalds Solutions. This could be interesting. In the last decade, I think we've seen more audiophiles be interested in objective testing as a way to "separate the wheat from the chaff" or good vs. poor engineering (subjective sound preference is for each of us to consider with our own ears/brain). I suppose soon we will see what the test suites from these folks will look like in the magazine.

There's certainly potential that this works out better than what Atkinson provided with more modern test equipment and graphics, and hopefully much better than the rudimentary lab reports in Hi-Fi News. I wish Stereophile a successful transition.

[We're starting to see the measurement work online now from Grinalds Solutions of the electronics testing such as with the Linn Klimax Solo 500 Mono amplifier just published. Looks like they're following closely to what Atkinson has been doing. Overall looks good. May I suggest a couple of considerations that could make these measurements more informative and 'standard' compared to others that people are doing?

1. For the 1kHz 1W into 8Ω FFT (Figure 3), why don't you use a log scale from say 15Hz to maybe 24kHz to cover infrasound and ultrasound which is what has been common for years on objective websites? Why the linear scale which de-accentuates how humans actually hear and also the value of the 60Hz hum - go log scale? Why stop showing us the harmonics of the 1kHz tone? While I'm not a fan of single-measure objectivism, there's no risk of that here since a suite of measurements are being published. There's nothing wrong with publishing the SINAD/THD+N number at 1kHz as a standard of sorts that allow hobbyists to verify that multiple reviewers are seeing about the same score across test units and methodologies at the common 1kHz, 1W into 4/8Ω for amps.

Looking at these 1kHz graphs over the years from John Atkinson, I've always wondered why he has been seemingly obscuring the harmonics from 2kHz onwards!?

2. I've never been sure about the full intent of Figure 8 with the 50Hz 150W into 8Ω sinewave DC-1kHz FFT given the low resolution and why 50Hz. I assume that's to check cleanliness of low bass output at high power. But again, why not revamp that a bit? Fine to stick with linear scale at the low end like this, but maybe increase FFT length at least to 64k (assuming 48kHz sampling, unsmoothed, but maybe averaged like 4 or 8 for clarity) for resolution. Also, how about moving the signal down to 40Hz which I think many these days would consider as the low-end of frequency response for acoustic performances before dipping into sub-bass territory. Furthermore, moving the signal to 40Hz with a good resolution FFT gives us more space to look for 60Hz hum (in North America) and possibly related power-supply harmonics, different from the 40Hz primary signal and those harmonics (for example, currently a 2nd harmonic at 100Hz would probably be too close to power-supply related 120Hz full-wave ripple given the poor resolution).

In the text they say "no visible contamination from the 60Hz AC mains" - I would suggest making that more visible with better resolution and spacing.

In times of change like this, there are opportunities to look for ways to improve, even if it's just evolutionary, well in the 21st Century. Great to see the use of color for these online graphs especially for the unbalanced and balanced overlays in Fig 3. There are other things but these 2 have been bugging me for awhile.]

III. Recent legal and influencer issues in audiophile-land.

Finally, let's talk about something dramatic, spicy and litigious! 😲

Threats of lawsuits are not new in the audiophile world. For example, we've seen threats against YouTubers like Erin's Audio Corner in 2024 by Tekton/Eric Alexander unhappy with an objective review, there's the GoldenSound vs. dCS debacle highlighting the risk of making subjective claims against objective evidence. Other legal issues include the MoFi-Gate "one-step" with DSD256 intermediate controversy back in 2022 as if hi-res digital somehow ruins the value of supposedly "all analogue" vinyl.

Well, in the last couple weeks we now have the AXISS Audio defamation lawsuit against a number of defendants. They've made it all open and we can see the details of the lawsuit in this 126-page PDF. I found this one interesting mainly because it includes Michael Gefteas as defendant, a YouTube guy who runs The Greek Audio Geek channel and he uses other social media platforms to influence.

I don't remember if I've seen/heard Soulution amplifiers at audio shows so have no opinion on whether they're good products (specifically the Soulution 717 at issue in this lawsuit). However, I certainly have wondered about The Greek Audio Geek's opinions on things that seem fanciful about a year ago when examining the effect of component footers. Looking around his channel, I see that he has a "thing" for footers and equipment platforms for vibration control (maybe his vacuum tubes amp have issues with microphonics?).

[For example, this recent Graphite Audio Ultra infomercial video of a large platform claiming it improves sound remarkably. He even says:

"Spending $15,000 on an amp and then maybe spending $2500 or $3k on vibration control is going to consistently give me better sound than if I spent $25k or $30k on an amp" (here).

Lotsa $$$ on feet and heavy platforms! More visible than magic cables?
BTW dude, vacuum tube amps are "low-resolution gear" in the 21st Century
even if the sound quality is euphonic to you.
LOL, 5 hours and 1/64" placement - this is unhealthy, and head-in-vise BS.
He mentions Marc Cohn's "Paper Walls" - a good hi-fi demo track.
Too bad his dealings with the industry wasn't more of a "Chinese wall"?

Really? Of course if you spent $15k on an amplifier, that's already half the price of a Toyota Corolla so I hope it sounds good against any $30k amp due to diminishing returns (nobody still believes in a direct correlation between price and sound quality, right?!). Suggesting that we need to spend $2.5-3k more on some fancy platforms is great testimony that a platform maker can use, but in reality, I hope audiophiles can easily see through this blatant marketing silliness.]

For years, I've suggested that these purely subjective reviewers - whether more formal reviewers in magazines like Stereophile or TAS, or some guy on YouTube - are nothing more than another, unspoken but understood, advertising arm of the Industry. And within this lawsuit we see this allegedly playing out with Mr. Gefteas. Beyond the claims of bad-mouthing/defamation and conspiracy, we get a behind-the-scenes look at the alleged dealings of a small-time YouTuber making money off (extorting?) the audio Industry - here's a sample starting at page 13:

"Gefteas Demands Compensation for Favorable Reviews

73. At about the same time AXISS contracted with Suncoast, AXISS began to work with Gefteas to seek reviews of AXISS and its products.

74. Michael Gefteas is a full-time professional Hi-Fi product reviewer and promoter who operates as "The Greek Audio Geek" on Facebook and YouTube.

75. Manufacturers and distributors pay Gefteas to review and promote their products and post comments on his Facebook and YouTube channels.

76. AXISS first worked with Gefteas in November of 2023. Gefteas reviewed AGS diffusor products imported and distributed by AXISS that were made by a company named Nihon Onkyo Engineering. After completing the review, Gefteas contacted AXISS, told AXISS that he really liked the AGS products, and asked if AXISS would make it possible for Gefteas to find a way to keep the AGS products.

77. Since Gefteas’s review had been favorable and led to a few new sales, AXISS agreed to sell Gefteas the reviewed products for $5,916.60, which is a 62% discount to the $15,370.00 retail price Gefteas would otherwise have had to pay. AXISS and Gefteas agreed that the nearly $10,000.00 discount was fair compensation for the review and promotion of the AGS products.

78. As agreed, Gefteas paid the first 50% of that amount, $2,958.30, on July 5, 2024 and the remaining balance of $2,958.30 on August 27, 2024.

79. That same August of 2024, Gefteas began a new review for AXISS on an Accuphase E-5000 integrated amplifier. Gefteas published this review on both Facebook and YouTube in October 2024, and it was very positive and favorable for the Accuphase product.

80. After Gefteas completed the Accuphase review, he reached out to TJ Goldsby, an AXISS employee. Although neither AXISS nor Gefteas had discussed any compensation for Gefteas’s Accuphase review, Gefteas told Goldsby that he did not think it was fair for him to not receive additional compensation because Gefteas’s AGS review had led to a number of sales and he deserved to share more in that product’s success. Gefteas then told Goldsby that he did not think it was fair that AXISS had required him to make the final $2,958.30 payment on the AGS products he purchased. Gefteas proposed that AXISS should consider refunding that payment as compensation for the Accuphase E-5000 review and as a thank you for the success of the AGS review.

81. Goldsby agreed to discuss the idea with the AXISS management team and share feedback at a later date, but before Goldsby could finish that consultation, Gefteas emailed and made a new proposal to AXISS. Gefteas proposed that AXISS send him an additional $10,485.00 of AGS products which he would then add to his system. Gefteas said he would do two followup videos about his AGS product experience, post un-boxing pictures on his Facebook page, and make additional postings to promote AGS. In exchange, Gefteas proposed to keep all of the additional AGS product for free as compensation for posting the new videos, pictures, and promotions of AGS products..."

There's more... While these are currently allegations that are yet to be adjudicated, I imagine that for AXISS to be publishing such content openly means they have the witnesses, E-mails and receipts to verify their statements.

To me, what's interesting is that this is probably the first time I have seen in writing what many audiophiles have suspected all along. That there are individuals and YouTube channels who take products from the Industry as pay-to-play to create interest and sales. For whatever reason, it could have just started as a "love" of the gear (perhaps neurotic fetishistic?), but ultimately the allure of financial compensation takes hold and ethically corrupts. In this example, it's about taking possession of multi-thousand-dollar gear (like the AGS room treatment), demanding in-kind compensation for advertising work, and possibly selling the products off later ("82. On information and belief, Gefteas accepts free products he receives for reviews, sometimes keeps these products for his personal use, and sometimes sells them directly or through intermediaries in order to make income for his promotional work.").

We see an example of "industry accommodation" at 62% discount which is a specific number and I think audiophiles who have been in this hobby have known that magazine writers will often get something like a half-off discount (there are also those "long term loans"). Allegations of entitlement, greed, unfair dealings, charged against The Greek Audio Geek abound throughout the lawsuit.

So as a consumer, do we see this as a "one off" example of a guy allegedly milking the system or are we looking at a systemic issue across not just audiophilia but throughout the YouTube/social media landscape? When we see fancy videos and product testimonies, typically without any accompanying objective evidence that a product is capable of having dramatic effects, much less even makes any difference (ie. snake oil), how are we to interpret testimonies like those of Gefteas'?

This is the landscape we're navigating through. As consumers, we've always been warned about "caveat emptor", perhaps relevant now more than ever in the digital social (antisocial?) media Wild West where influence is pushed, sometimes through algorithms, without boundaries or filters to the masses.

With this turn of events, I suspect The Greek Audio Geek's ability to influence might be shamefully coming to an end. Or not, since we see all kinds of people say and do all kinds of indecorous/immoral things these days and many turn a blind eye. 

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The other day a couple of friends came over and I was recommended to have a listen to Anna Lapwood's organ work on Midnight Sessions at the Royal Albert Hall EP (2023, DR10 stereo). Here's "No Time For Caution" from the Interstellar soundtrack. Make sure to have full-range speakers or maybe better yet, subwoofer(s) to catch those lower registers:

I hope you're enjoying the music, dear audiophiles.

Granville St. in Vancouver the other day for one of the FIFA 2026 games.

Time for me to head out and experience the pleasures of the season. Plus this weekend we have the World Cup final between Argentina and Spain which should be a good time with friends! 😁