The following quote was sent to me via a PM which was published by Jerry on his website.
"Re: Audioholics.com - I cite the fact that they are a store because it speaks to their motives as to why they do what they do. They benefit from selling Oppos (no shipping costs - a good deal) not the Lexicon. I have no beef with Audioholics.com directly its just that they are crossing what I believe to be an important line for a publication. Amazon does reviews but never alleges to be anything other than a store."
I do not know Jerry personally. Until now, I have had no prior dealings with him or his publication. I have no desire to get into a pissing match with him on this forum or my own or even here for that matter. Since he is attacking the credibility of my publication solely on the grounds that we have an E-store, I will address his concerns here with a single post on the topic. I will not continue this discussion in this thread out of respect to the ADMIN's of this site whom are trying to keep this thread on topic rather than slinging mud or making false accusations.
Yes we were fortunate enough to be on the radar of some big investors wanting to launch an E-store using the Audioholics name 2 years ago. Prior to launching the E-store we posted the following article:
http://www.audioholics.com/news/editorials/audioholics-storefront-2013-breaking-the-rules
It's true this has never been done by another publication and I can certainly understand how some critics perceive this as breaking the rules in doing so. However, what some may not realize is that the Audioholics E-store is run completely independent from the Editorial site. We occasionally provide them brand suggestions to integrate into the E-store based on our experiences with products and companies we've worked with in the past. In the case of Oppo, it made a lot of sense to offer their products in the E-store b/c they work well, they support their products, and they are a good value. Because of the slim margins however, nobody gets rich selling their players which is why its understandable for other companies to repackage them at a higher profit margin and sell them through different channels.
If Jerry's argument about our articles bias because of the E-store has any substance, then why would we publish an article on the Oppo that shows many of its design deficiencies?
http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/transports/high-definition-dvd-players-hd-dvd-blu-ray/oppo-bdp-83se
I can assure you we won no points with Oppo publishing this article but they respect our findings and are now working on solutions to fix the issues we noted.
Just like we won no points with Yamaha publishing the following article using them as the primary example of trading amplifier quality for features:
http://www.audioholics.com/education/amplifier-technology/trading
Yamaha is not only an Audioholics E-store partner, but they are one of our biggest advertisers. Although they weren't happy with this article, they respect our opinion and our reporting on the good and the bad about their products.
Less than 5% of the products sold in the Audioholics E-store are actually reviewed by the Audioholics publication. A most recent product we reviewed that the Audioholics E-store sells can be seen here:
http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/speakers/subwoofers/microvee-sub
Notice the review isn't overly glowing or praising the product. Notice how I provide measurable results to allow the reader to decide if the product is right for them.
Regarding Advertising
As of last year nearly 70% of the Advertising on Audioholics is now sold through a 3rd party ad agency and/or Google. It is our goal to one day make this 100% to completely untether us from manufacturers and not have to deal with the pressures resulting from our style of reporting. We have lost numerous advertisers over the years because of this. Sure we could take the easy way out and not measure products we review, or write critically about them, but as an Electrical Engineer, that is not my nature. Some can argue I am not a good business man as a result. They are probably right.
Now one can easily make the argument that Jerry somehow biased his reviewer because Lexicon advertises on his site. I find the following comments someone posted on our forum about him quite interesting:
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showpost.php?p=676206&postcount=112
If we were to assume the above post is true, then we could also assume the up and coming NuForce modded Oppo review on his site will also be biased based on the fact that NuForce is also an advertiser on his site. Since he does no objective measurements or analysis that can further buttress the argument. Personally I'd like to think his reviewers are simply reporting their subjective findings of the products they've been asked to review and are completely out of the advertising/revenue loop of his site.
I do however find it distasteful that Jerry continues to attack the credibility of our site and simply skirts the tough questions that have been asked by either discussing the exotic cars he enjoys driving or discrediting our findings based on the Audioholics E-store.
I won't comment further about this topic on this thread so if anyone has any questions about the Audioholics E-store you can feel free to PM me or better yet contact the E-store directly to discuss with the store principals.
