| Originally posted by markl Here's the most edited version I sent most recently to them: Mr. Atkinson, I am writing to you on behalf of the headphone enthusiast community, in order to bring to your attention what we feel is the incomplete coverage of headphones and headphone-related products in the pages of Stereophile, particularly in its “Recommended Components” issue. We decided as a group to compose this letter to you to see if we can convince Stereophile to increase its coverage of headphones, and I am acting as a delegate on their behalf in this matter. This is an exciting time to be a “headphone geek”. Largely thanks to www.head-fi.org, a discussion board and gathering place for headphone enthusiasts with over 4000 registered members (and thousands more “lurkers”), we’ve seen a real boom in our hobby. Head-Fi is a wonderful community full of some incredibly knowledgeable and obsessive headphone geeks. Thanks to Member contributions, Head-Fi has accumulated one of the largest repositories of headphone information, reviews and discussion on the Web. Industrious Members have also begun holding local meetings for fellow headphone enthusiasts, organized via a special forum at Head-Fi. Local Members bring all of their headphone-related equipment to the meet for others to hear. These meetings are increasing in number and frequency as time passes and the hobby grows. Now that the world has an epicenter for information on headphones in the Head-Fi discussion board, it has become easier for manufacturers to build and market products targeted at the headphone enthusiast. Virtually on a weekly basis, an audio manufacturer announces the availability of another brand new headphone amplifier. So far, we’ve documented at least 60 headphone amps, but our list is by no means complete. There are also a number of hobbyists who have made a side-business of building custom amplifiers for members of Head-Fi, and we also have a very active DIY group that discusses making their own headphone amps. Three separate audiophile cable manufacturers have introduced replacement cables for the famed Sennheiser HD600 that are very popular in geek circles. Of course, there are also a number of newer headphones that have not been reviewed by Stereophile that enjoy a large constituency among headphone enthusiasts, and we’d sure love to see some more attention paid to these outstanding products in your pages. Why should Stereophile take a larger interest in headphones? We urge you to think of headphones as the "gateway drug" into the world of audio. Our membership at Head-Fi, though certainly a diverse group, contains a large concentration of younger, mostly college age folks who are just starting out in the audio hobby. For them, headphones offer a remarkable value for the dollar and an easy and affordable introduction into the world of hi-fi. Often, newbies start small with a sub-$100 headphone recommended by our friendly veterans, are amazed at the quality and then graduate to a top-tier set of cans and more and more expensive headphone amps. Next, they start tweaking their systems with better sources, cables, tubes, isolation devices, power conditioners and on and on. These are people who will become life-long audio enthusiasts as a direct result of hearing high-quality sound reproduction for the first time through headphones. These are the folks that will graduate to bigger and better systems and will form the next generation of Stereophile readers. That said, we believe passionately that headphoning is a serious end unto itself. Today’s top headphones, paired with today’s top amps, are capable of reproducing sound with amazing fidelity. A committed headphone freak listens as intently and passionately to his tunes as any speaker-based audiophile. In many ways headphones can provide an even more intimate interface with the music, an experience that can become quite addicting in its own right. As an integral part of the audio world, we feel strongly that headphones deserve more coverage in the world’s premier audio publication. The membership would also greatly appreciate it if Stereophile’s reviewers were equipped with some of these high-quality cans and were encouraged to rate the performance of the headphone jacks on the equipment they review. We also humbly submit a list of headphones and headphone-related equipment that we would like to see profiled in the pages of Stereophile. This list was generated by a discussion among community members. We realize that Stereophile can’t possibly review every single headphone and amp that are "headphone geek approved", so we decided to focus on some of the top-tier products that are missing from your Recommended Components list and really show what is possible in the world of headphones today. Headphones: 1. AKG K1000 2. Beyerdynamic DT880 3. Sony CD3000 4. Audio-Technica W1000 5. Etymotic Research ER4S Headphone Amplifiers: 1. Sugden Headmaster 2. Earmax Pro 3. Antique Sound Labs Twin Head 4. EAR HP4 5. Berning MicroZOTL Headphone-Related Products: 1. Sonic Horizons Hurricane headphone extension cable 2. DiMarzio Big Red headphone extension cable 3. Clou Cable Red Jaspis replacement cable for the Sennheiser HD600 4. Cardas Cable replacement cable for the Sennheiser HD600 5. Stefan Audio Art Equinox replacement cable for the Sennheiser HD600 On behalf of the headphone community I would like to thank you for your time and consideration in this matter. We also invite Stereophile readers to check out our community and investigate the world of headphones. Mark |
