About me
I have been writing professionally about consumer electronics — high end hi-fi in particular — since the early 1980s, although I had a ten-year break when mainstream magazine publishers decided that the profits on their titles were far more of a concern than the enjoyment and satisfaction of their readers.
As a result we lost several prestigious magazines and the field narrowed to give us the contrasting titles we have today – the tedious, iPod and subwoofer-enamoured mainstream and the impossible-to-take-seriously, uber-geeky titles. There are, thankfully, one or two magazines that manage to cover the high-end with a semblance of sense and credibility, and in a fashion that isn’t likely to frighten off potential purchasers. If that statement makes no sense to you, buy me a beer and I’ll don my ‘Grumpy Old Man’ persona and explain it at great length!
Over the years I have contributed to a great many magazines, not all of which I can remember and not all of which have survived, including: The Flat Response, Hi-Fi Review, Hi-Fi Answers, Audiophile, High Fidelity, What Hi-Fi Sound & Vision?, Home Cinema Magazine, Inside Hi-Fi, Jazz Magazine International, VOX, What Satellite TV, What Video, Hi-Fi World, Hi-Fi Choice, HiFiCritic, CD Review, Classic FM, Computer and Video Games, What Home Entertainment, FHM, Q, Audio Fidelity Review International, The British Audio Journal, Australian Hi-Fi, Stereophile, Enjoy the Music, and Penthouse. My writing for the last title was nothing saucy but a badly subbed feature on car audio. (You can imagine, I’m sure… “Phwoar, look at the size of that knob” as the caption to a photo of a head unit.)
I will be making some of the reviews, features and interviews I’ve written over the past few decades available here on the web for those who are interested. Call by occasionally and see what’s been added since your last visit… Have fun poking around but please realise that these files are solely intended for your reading pleasure: I don’t expect them to turn up on another website or in a magazine. If you really want to use something, please send me an email and we’ll talk.
