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Audio (magazine)
Encyclopedia
Audio magazine was a periodical published from 1947 to 2000, and was America's longest-running audio magazine. 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. Audio claimed to be the successor of Radio magazine which was established in 1917.
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. 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, Audios headquarters were moved to Philadelphia and the periodical was printed by North American Publishing Company.
In 1979, 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 October 1987, Peter Diamandis
led a management buyout of the CBS magazine division with 19 magazines with $650 million of financing from Prudential Insurance
. Diamandis Communications Inc. soon sold seven magazines for $243 million and in April 1988 sold Audio and the rest of the magazines to Hachette Filipacchi Médias for $712 million. Peter Diamandis remained in control of the magazine group and in 1989 bought competing audio magazine High Fidelity and merged its subscription and advertiser lists with those of Stereo Review, firing High Fidelitys staff and shutting down its printing.
Audios final appearance was the combined February/March issue in 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 reviews of home audio equipment.
around New York City.
Audio magazine was known for its equipment reviews, which 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 spectrometry, wrote articles for Audio in the 1980s including his column Audio's Rosetta Stone. He often reviewed loudspeaker
s during his short tenure. Don Keele followed Heyser, using TEF analysis in his loudspeaker reviews. Don Davis, founder of Syn-Aud-Con, wrote occasional articles and letters to the editor. Ken Pohlmann, digital audio author and educator, and David Clark, founder of the David Clark company and expert in unbiased double-blind test procedures and originator of the ABX test
, wrote articles for Audio.
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.
In 1984, a column called Auricles appeared, providing purely subjective equipment reviews that did not include performance measurements or emphasize 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".
Acoustics
Acoustics is the interdisciplinary science that deals with the study of all mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician while someone working in the field of acoustics...
, psychoacoustics
Psychoacoustics
Psychoacoustics is the scientific study of sound perception. More specifically, it is the branch of science studying the psychological and physiological responses associated with sound...
and the art of listening. Audio claimed to be the successor of Radio magazine which was established in 1917.
History
Audio began life in Mineola, New YorkMineola, New York
Mineola is a village in Nassau County, New York, USA. The population was 18,799 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from a Native American word meaning a "pleasant place"....
in 1947 as Audio Engineering for the purpose of publishing new developments in audio engineering. In 1948, the Audio Engineering Society
Audio Engineering Society
Established in 1948, the Audio Engineering Society draws its membership from amongst engineers, scientists, other individuals with an interest or involvement in the professional audio industry. The membership largely comprises engineers developing devices or products for audio, and persons working...
(AES) was established and in 1953 they began publishing their definitive, scholarly periodical, the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society. 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, Audios headquarters were moved to Philadelphia and the periodical was printed by North American Publishing Company.
In 1979, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
bought Audio from its Philadelphia publisher
Irvin J. Borowsky
Irvin J. Borowsky is an American publisher and philanthropist.-Early life:Irvin J. Borowsky was born in 1924 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the youngest of the nine children of Emma and Samuel Borowsky. His parents had emigrated from Poland to the United States where Samuel Borowsky became a...
and moved operations to New York. CBS then bought a group of magazines from Ziff-Davis, including sometime competitor Stereo Review
Stereo Review
Stereo Review was an American magazine first published in 1958 by Ziff-Davis with the title HiFi and Music Review. It was one of a handful of magazines then available for the individual interested in high fidelity. Throughout its life it published a blend of record and equipment reviews, articles...
, which soon found itself sharing office space (but not staff) with Audio. In October 1987, Peter Diamandis
Peter Diamandis
Dr. Peter H. Diamandis , of Greek immigrant parents, is considered a key figure in the development of the personal spaceflight industry, having created many space-related businesses or organizations...
led a management buyout of the CBS magazine division with 19 magazines with $650 million of financing from Prudential Insurance
Prudential Financial
The Prudential Insurance Company of America , also known as Prudential Financial, Inc., is a Fortune Global 500 and Fortune 500 company whose subsidiaries provide insurance, investment management, and other financial products and services to both retail and institutional customers throughout the...
. Diamandis Communications Inc. soon sold seven magazines for $243 million and in April 1988 sold Audio and the rest of the magazines to Hachette Filipacchi Médias for $712 million. Peter Diamandis remained in control of the magazine group and in 1989 bought competing audio magazine High Fidelity and merged its subscription and advertiser lists with those of Stereo Review, firing High Fidelitys staff and shutting down its printing.
Audios final appearance was the combined February/March issue in 2000. Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S.
Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S.
Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., Inc. , orgin ally known as CBS Publications, was a subsidiary of Hachette Filipacchi Médias , and was based in New York City.-History:...
group publisher Tony Catalano told reporters that trouble in the high-performance audio sector led to the cancellation of the magazine. Sound & Vision
Sound and Vision (magazine)
Sound & Vision is an American magazine, published by Bonnier Corporation, covering home theater, audio, video and multimedia consumer products....
, the successor to Stereo Review, would become the publishing group's sole magazine containing reviews of home audio equipment.
Contributors and content
Eugene "Gene" Pitts III served for more than 22 years as Audios editor before being replaced in 1995 by Michael Riggs, executive editor of Stereo Review and former editor of High Fidelity, who was then joined in 1999 by Corey Greenberg in an eleventh-hour attempt to revive sagging advertising revenues. Pitts went on to buy The Audiophile Voice in 1995 from The Audiophile Society, a club in the tri-state areaTri-state area
There are a number of areas in the 48 contiguous United States known as tri-state areas where three states either meet at one point or are in proximity to each other. The best known of the latter type is the New York metropolitan area...
around New York City.
Audio magazine was known for its equipment reviews, which were unusual for their concentration on objective measurement and specifications rather than subjective opinion. Audio
Harry F. Olson
Harry Ferdinand Olson was a prominent engineer at RCA Victor.Harry F. Olson, a pioneer in the field of 20th century acoustical engineering, was born in Mount Pleasant, Iowa to Swedish immigrant parents...
, Howard A. Chinn
Howard A. Chinn
Howard Allen Chinn was an American broadcasting engineer who pioneered techniques of analog audio recording as well as radio and television broadcasting practices...
, John K. Hilliard
John Kenneth Hilliard
John Kenneth Hilliard was an American acoustical and electrical engineer who pioneered a number of important loudspeaker concepts and designs. He helped develop the practical use of recording sound for film, and won an Academy Award in 1935...
, Harvey Fletcher
Harvey Fletcher
Harvey Fletcher was an American physicist. Known as the "father of stereophonic sound" he is credited with the invention of the audiometer and hearing aid...
and Hermon Hosmer Scott
Hermon Hosmer Scott
Hermon Hosmer Scott was a pioneer in the Hi-Fi industry and founder of H.H. Scott, Inc., in Somerville, Massachusetts. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Mr. Scott later earned his doctorate from Lowell Institute. In the...
, all AES Gold Medal awardees, were among the pioneering audio experts who took their discoveries to Audio
Loudspeaker
A loudspeaker is an electroacoustic transducer that produces sound in response to an electrical audio signal input. Non-electrical loudspeakers were developed as accessories to telephone systems, but electronic amplification by vacuum tube made loudspeakers more generally useful...
s during his short tenure. Don Keele followed Heyser, using TEF analysis in his loudspeaker reviews. Don Davis, founder of Syn-Aud-Con, wrote occasional articles and letters to the editor. Ken Pohlmann, digital audio author and educator, and David Clark, founder of the David Clark company and expert in unbiased double-blind test procedures and originator of the ABX test
ABX test
An ABX test is a method of comparing two kinds of sensory stimuli to identify detectable differences. A subject is presented with two known samples , and one unknown sample X, for three samples total. X is randomly selected from A and B, and the subject identifies X as being either A or B...
, wrote articles for Audio.
In 1972, Robert W. "Bob" Carver
Bob Carver
Robert W. Carver is an American designer of audio equipment based in the Pacific Northwest.Educated as a physicist and engineer, he found an interest in audio equipment at a very young age. He applied his talent to produce numerous innovative high fidelity designs since the 1970s...
wrote an article about his 700 watt amplifier design, the Phase Linear
Phase Linear
Phase Linear was an audio equipment manufacturer founded by Bob Carver in 1970. While primarily known as a power amplifier company it also produced several innovative preamplifers, tuners and the Andromeda loudspeaker.-History:...
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.
In 1984, a column called Auricles appeared, providing purely subjective equipment reviews that did not include performance measurements or emphasize 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".