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Ox of our subscribers to this magazine since its inception-and to all the others we have founded: Speaker Builder, Computer Smyth (no longer published) and now Glass Audio, wrote to me recently, concerned about our starting yet another, more specialized publication. He asked why we don't combine the three magazines into one-and lower the price. Interestingly enough, that does not seem to accomplish what separating and sharpening the focus of magazines does. From its inception we published loudspeaker articles in Audio Amateur. When we founded Speaker Builder in 1980 a few readers hinted that we were just trying to get rich.
Others worried that we might sink our whole enterprise by overspecialization.
The separation certainly hasn't made anyone rich. Exploring loudspeaker technology has, however, intensified in a way that apparently only happens when you make the subject specific to a separate publication. It is also true that only one in three (approximately) of those sub scribing to Speaker Builder also subscribe to Audio Amateur. We are also being surprised by the fact that a significant number of those signing up for Glass Audio are SB subscribers, but are not AA subscribers.
I hope and believe Glass Audio will have the same effect on the new interest in tubes that SB has had on speaker technology. Tubes could be improved, in all probability, with manufacturing techniques that have appeared since the transistor began to replace tubes thirty years ago. 1 think all of us are curious to see what may be possible today with tube designs which can have the benefits of toroidal transformers, solid-state voltage regulation, higher quality coupling capacitors and lower noise, higher accuracy resistors.
One of my engineer friends considers that my decision to publish Glass Audio is ‘a step backward. ’ This, to me, assumes some sort of technical ‘orthodoxy ’ which requires that old technologies be left behind or that it is shameful to encourage anyone to return to what the engineering community considers an obsolete way of doing things.
Two questions now seem paramount to me when considering publication of a new magazine; I consider the more important to be whether readers have a genuine interest in the subject. I have been receiving more and more manuscripts on tubed equipment during the past two years. I have also noted a strong interest in tube type products being offered by a number of manufacturers.
One of the major facts of life in this technological age is the fear of change-and the capacity of ordinary mortals to accept it. The rate of change accelerates with each passing year. I believe, without any formal data to justify my supposition, that technology frightens many people.
It makes them feel uneasy and stupid. Those who understand new technologies know there is a lot to be excited about-even though they also know that some developments-like nuclear capabilities-are real causes for fear. But older technologies inevitably seem more friendly, and easier to manage. And within the present older generation who fought in World War II, hundreds of thousands learned their electronics in wartime courses with nary a transistor in sight. So a chance to work with tube technology again naturally seems exciting to many who have never mastered solid state's mysteries.
The second question is whether or not readers are ex cited enough about the subject to spend some money pursuing the avocation. Speaker Builder subscribers have created a significant market for the parts which go into their systems: drivers, crossover components, and cabinet materials. The vendors of those parts are themselves enthusiasts and are offering innovative goods that further inspire readers.
The week we announced Glass Audio, a tube vendor who has used classified ads occasionally in TAA signed up for a two-color full page ad in GA for two years.
Although many readers may suppose that my delight about his decision is the money, that is only a small part of my reason for being pleased. Finding high quality tubes is time consuming and takes special skills. An informed vendor of specialized products is a boon to the enthusiast trying to build superior equipment. The relationship between vendor and the builder is symbiotic-beneficial to both-and it helps make the information channel healthier and capable of doing more for you, the reader.
In 1968, I decided someone should publish a magazine with the reader's interests in mind. I began with a pronounced distrust of the advertising game and its in fluence on publishers. But like most such issues, no black-and-white answers or positions are realistic. Companies which advertise can, like most organizations, be either beneficent, blackguardly or both. Those who offer innovative, quality products and honest dealing can be a great boon to audiophiles with the same motives.
Now, in my twentieth year of publishing magazines dedicated primarily to the interests of readers, I think you may be sure that the dozen people who make up this organization all still keep that purpose firmly in mind. We like good advertising and imaginative, supportive entrepreneurs. I believe we can be trusted to know about the hazards that are not in the best interests of readers. And we really are looking for the best way to explore the byways of audio technology. Any decision you see us make will be for what we believe is the best interests of the reader.
-E.T.D.
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