Audio (magazine)

Infobox Magazine
title = Audio

| image_size = | image_caption =
editor = Eugene Pitts III
frequency = Monthly
circulation =
category = High end audio
company =
firstdate = 1947
finaldate = 2000
country = United States
language = English
website =
issn =

"Audio" magazine was a periodical published from 1947 to 2000, and was America's longest-running audio magazine. [ [http://www.rane.com/par-a.html Rane. Pro Audio Reference. "Audio magazine (1947-2000)"] ] "Audio" published reviews of audio products and audio technology as well as informational articles on topics such as acoustics, psychoacoustics and the art of listening.

History

"Audio" began life in 1947 as "Audio Engineering" for the purpose of publishing new developments in audio engineering. In 1948, the Audio Engineering Society (AES) was established and in 1953 they began publishing their definitive, scholarly periodical, the "Journal of the Audio Engineering Society". [ [http://www.aes.org/journal/search.cfm AES Journal Article Database Search] ] "Audio Engineering" magazine dropped the word "engineering" in 1954 and shifted to a more consumer- and hobbyist-oriented focus while retaining a serious scientific viewpoint. In 1966, "Audio"'s headquarters were moved to Philadelphia and the periodical was printed by North American Publishing Company. [ [http://www.roger-russell.com/magrevaudio.htm Roger Russell. "Audio magazine history"] ]

In the 1980s, CBS bought "Audio" from its Philadelphia publisher and moved operations to New York. CBS then bought a group of magazines from Ziff-Davis, including sometime competitor "Stereo Review", which soon found itself sharing office space (but not staff) with "Audio". In 1987, Peter Diamandis bought the magazines from CBS, then quickly turned a profit by selling for a higher price to Hachette Filipacchi Médias while retaining operational control. In 1989, Diamandis Communications bought competing audio magazine "High Fidelity" and merged its subscription and advertiser lists with "Stereo Review", firing "High Fidelity"'s staff and shutting down its printing. [ [http://www.stereophile.com/asweseeit/489/index3.html Stereophile magazine. August 1989, Volume 12, Number 8. "High Fidelity Is Dead".] ]

"Audio"'s final appearance was the combined February/March issue in 2000. [ [http://www.roger-russell.com/magrevaudio2.htm Roger Russell. Collection of equipment reviews from past issues of "Audio Engineering" and "Audio", 1981-2000] ] Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. group publisher Tony Catalano told reporters that trouble in the high-performance audio sector led to the cancellation of the magazine. "Sound & Vision", the successor to "Stereo Review" would become the publishing group's sole magazine containing audio reviews. [ [http://www.stereophile.com/news/10654/ Stereophile. January 18, 2000. Audio "magazine throws in the towel".] ]

Contributors and content

Eugene "Gene" Pitts III served for more than 22 years as "Audio"'s editor [ [http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/reviewers/genepitts.htm Enjoy The Music. Reviewer's Bio. "Gene Pitts: Music Lover Extraordinaire"] ] before being replaced in the late 1990s by Michael Riggs, former editor of "High Fidelity", who was then joined in 1999 by Corey Greenberg in an eleventh-hour attempt to revive sagging circulation and advertising revenues. [ [http://www.stereophile.com/news/10393/ Stereophile. March 3, 1999. John Atkinson. "Corey Greenberg New Editor of" Audio.] ] Pitts went on to buy "The Audiophile Voice" in 1995 from The Audiophile Society, a club in the tri-state area around New York City. [ [http://www.enjoythemusic.com/tav/ Enjoy The Music. "The Audiophile Voice"] ]

"Audio" magazine was known for its equipment reviews that were unusual for their concentration on objective measurement and specifications rather than subjective opinion. "Audio"'s contributors included respected audio engineers, many active in AES. Harry F. Olson, Howard A. Chinn, John K. Hilliard, Harvey Fletcher and Hermon Hosmer Scott, all AES Gold Medal awardees, were among the pioneering audio experts who took their discoveries to "Audio"'s pages. Richard Heyser, inventor of time delay spectometry, wrote articles for "Audio" in the 1980s including his column "Audio's Rosetta Stone". He often reviewed loudspeakers during his short tenure. [http://www.xlrtechs.com/dbkeele.com/ Don Keele] followed Heyser, using TEF analysis in his loudspeaker reviews. Don Davis, founder of [http://www.synaudcon.com/ Syn-Aud-Con] , wrote occasional articles and letters to the editor. Ken Pohlmann, digital audio author and educator, [ [http://www.music.miami.edu/faculty/mue/pohlmann/pohlmann.html University of Miami, Frost School of Music. "Ken Pohlmann"] ] and David Clark, founder of the [http://www.davidclark.com/ David Clark company] and expert in unbiased double-blind test procedures and originator of the ABX test, wrote articles for "Audio". [http://www.theaudiocritic.com/back_issues/The_Audio_Critic_23_r.pdf The Audio Critic. Issue No. 23. Winter 1995-1996 "Audio" magazine.] ]

In 1972, Robert W. "Bob" Carver wrote an article about his 700 watt amplifier design, the Phase Linear PL-700. Thereafter, Carver products were often reviewed in the magazine. Bob Carver wrote an article about his development of sonic holography, an experiment in psychoacoustics as applied to loudspeaker physics. [ [http://www.analogaudio.narod.ru/audio.pdf "Audio" and "Audio Engineering" magazine. Subject Index. May 1947 through December 1999] ]

In 1984, a column called "Auricles" appeared, involving equipment reviews that no longer placed importance on performance measurements and specifications. New contributors who were not engineers were invited to review audio products. After a decade of "Auricles", at least one observer characterized the change in editorial content as an indulgence in "fantasy".

References