[SoundStage!]

Hello,

Someone directed me to this thread. Normally I answer things in our "Letters" section, but I thought it worthwhile to confirm a few things here.

It is true that I've always ran the SoundStage! Network. I founded it in 1995. I believe "tima" might be a gentleman who wrote a few reviews for us at one time. My own experience in audio, though, dates back far longer than the 17 years I've been running this. I've been an audiophile since 1981. But this 17 years running the SoundStage! Network full-time has been the most rewarding as I've gotten to experience products not everyone gets to, and I've gotten to know the audio industry inside and out.

It's also true that I have interests that extend past audio -- I have a fairly strong reputation in my country for actively promoting women's and men's fitness, which I think is an important thing, particularly as I approach 50 years of age (man, it's tough getting older).

But 99% of my time is taken up with audio, and a lot of that is with speakers, my biggest passion in this whole thing and which the SoundStage! Network has made a huge investment in terms of the measurements we do and publish. People can obviously choose to discount measurements, but I can say that there's a lot that can be learned from them, which is why our investment in them is so high.

Insofar as my opinions go, they might offend some, but I'm not here to protect certain manufacturers or some audiophiles who might not like what I say. I write about audio -- good and bad -- and it's there for the readers to take and do with as they please. Some might not like the comments, and some might try to guess what my motives are, but I can tell you they come as a result of one thing: I'm really into speakers and what I write is a result of that. In fact, I'm so into speakers that I don't review one type or one price category. I just polished up a review of some $1000 GoldenEar Aon 3s and I'm currently working on a review of some PMC Twenty.24s, which I believe to be about $7000, but I have to check on that. Early the year I reviewed Vivid's Giya G2, which I found to be the best speaker I've ever heard -- and they're $50,000 per pair.

So I hope that gives some perspective, and I'm always available by e-mail.

Thanks,
Doug Schneider