Stereophile standards and principles

In an information vacuum, people tend to make stuff up, especially on the internet.

- BY JIM AUSTIN

We try to remain above the fray, but sometimes it makes sense to step in and fill the information vacuum with facts. In that spirit, here are some of the most important principles that Stereophile religiously follows. Stereophile maintains strict separation between its editorial side and its advertising side. Companies cannot buy a Stereophile review. When an advertiser signs an ad contract, what they get in return is... an ad. Buying an ad does not guarantee editorial coverage, to the chagrin of some advertisers and former advertisers.

So, who decides which products get reviewed in Stereophile? I do. How do I decide? I talk to writers. They are the real experts. They tend to know what's new and interesting in their niche. Together, we seek out products that seem especially interesting.

There are other considerations. We prefer new products, for one thing—though we'll review an older product that has proven itself over time. It's necessary to balance the product mix: digital vs analog; sources vs amplifiers vs speakers.

To earn a review, a product must be widely available. If it is sold only through dealers, it must have an appropriately wide dealer network. On the other hand, I have relaxed Stereophile's longstanding "five-dealer rule" because online sales have become more common and the number of US dealers has dwindled.

To get a product reviewed in Stereophile, a company must demonstrate the capacity to provide excellent after-sales service through some well-established mechanism. We prefer it when the service is domestic—when it doesn't require overseas shipping.

If ads don't guarantee reviews, then why are there so many reviews of products put out by advertisers? First, every issue of Stereophile has reviews of products from advertisers and nonadvertisers alike; proportions vary from one issue to the next.