The latest audioXpress is down to 45 pages from 63 and has no speaker features at all.
aX (through the parent magazine Speakerbuilder) was my introduction to the hobby. I still peruse my old issues but no longer subscribe.
Are there still viable audio publications for speaker building in the world market? Unfortunately I am an English only speaker.
aX has apparently concentrated on an increasingly esoteric market.
aX (through the parent magazine Speakerbuilder) was my introduction to the hobby. I still peruse my old issues but no longer subscribe.
Are there still viable audio publications for speaker building in the world market? Unfortunately I am an English only speaker.
aX has apparently concentrated on an increasingly esoteric market.
I just got my March 2009 issue and it has:
"The Reflection Loudspeaker"
"Designing a Midrange Horn"
and a product review of the OCCAM Audio MTM 4 Kit.
I regret the it is hard times for periodicals in general, and the Audio Amateur group in particular.
I have been a subscriber since the first issues in the early 1970's, and watched as it expanded and split into specialty mags, and then had to merge again into AudioXpress.
Being a periodical that operates primarily on subscription fees and not ads sales isn't easy.
If more DIYers subscribed perhaps it could expand again.
I for one will continue to subscribe. The AA family of magazines has provided me with insight into ideas and topics, long before they were integrated into commercial designs and became topics of discussion on the internet.
Some very significant work was first introduced there by the likes of Mr(s) D'Appollito, Linkwitz, Pass etc, etc
I think they are missing a golden opportunity by not selling pdf transcripts of articles.
"The Reflection Loudspeaker"
"Designing a Midrange Horn"
and a product review of the OCCAM Audio MTM 4 Kit.
I regret the it is hard times for periodicals in general, and the Audio Amateur group in particular.
I have been a subscriber since the first issues in the early 1970's, and watched as it expanded and split into specialty mags, and then had to merge again into AudioXpress.
Being a periodical that operates primarily on subscription fees and not ads sales isn't easy.
If more DIYers subscribed perhaps it could expand again.
I for one will continue to subscribe. The AA family of magazines has provided me with insight into ideas and topics, long before they were integrated into commercial designs and became topics of discussion on the internet.
Some very significant work was first introduced there by the likes of Mr(s) D'Appollito, Linkwitz, Pass etc, etc
I think they are missing a golden opportunity by not selling pdf transcripts of articles.
I agree with the sentiment. And also that Ed Dell has done a great service for the audio community.
But I'm jiggered if I ever saw the pieces you mention. I did not note the month on the issue I recently perused at the bookstore.
aX has published a vast array of test studies, projects and reader letters and articles from designers and engineers in the audio world.
It still has projects but they are just perhaps maybe over my head now. I do not know much of electronics and the speaker designs were my reason for getting the subscriptions when I did.
I wonder how much shrinkage the magazine can tolerate as a publication.
But I'm jiggered if I ever saw the pieces you mention. I did not note the month on the issue I recently perused at the bookstore.
aX has published a vast array of test studies, projects and reader letters and articles from designers and engineers in the audio world.
It still has projects but they are just perhaps maybe over my head now. I do not know much of electronics and the speaker designs were my reason for getting the subscriptions when I did.
I wonder how much shrinkage the magazine can tolerate as a publication.
Support AX
Everyone on these forums owes a BIG debt of gratitude to Ed Dell and his family of magazines. I have been a subscriber since early 70's ( with a lapse in late 80's early 90's) Some o0f my issues are barely holding together. Even with a degree in electronics, most of what I've learned has come from those pages.
GET A SUBSCRIPTION!!!
Everyone on these forums owes a BIG debt of gratitude to Ed Dell and his family of magazines. I have been a subscriber since early 70's ( with a lapse in late 80's early 90's) Some o0f my issues are barely holding together. Even with a degree in electronics, most of what I've learned has come from those pages.
GET A SUBSCRIPTION!!!
Re: Support AX
Yes, if we all only would or could and that that would accomplish something.
I do not prefer that all content be web based. I find article reading on screens difficult.
Ed has a service for subscribers of I think it is cdrom based
archives. I'm one who couldn't afford a $50 or whatever magazine sub. to carry forever with only marginal (for my level of usage) content.
Lee35210 said:
Yes, if we all only would or could and that that would accomplish something.
I do not prefer that all content be web based. I find article reading on screens difficult.
Ed has a service for subscribers of I think it is cdrom based
archives. I'm one who couldn't afford a $50 or whatever magazine sub. to carry forever with only marginal (for my level of usage) content.
I share Lee35210 view:
What price do you put on knowledge;
Side benefits: The amount of money I have been able to save, by implementing the tips/techniques/ and ideas from those pages.
If you can and are willing to buy the high price gear that OK, but I saw a whole lot of innovation in those pages before it hit market.
Case in point the MTM. *
I have taken advantage ( on numerous occasions ) to the Yard Sale items and purchased/saved money and found enough parts to keep my equipment/projects functional for decades.
* While Feb 2009 issue only had 1 article related to Speakers "Simulating Inductors and Networks" it did have Joe D'Appolito's yard sale. In the past I have purchased items from him and used the opportunity to ask a couple of questions.
The March issue has an interview with Erno Borbely - he has some interesting comments about this forum.
What price do you put on knowledge;
Side benefits: The amount of money I have been able to save, by implementing the tips/techniques/ and ideas from those pages.
If you can and are willing to buy the high price gear that OK, but I saw a whole lot of innovation in those pages before it hit market.
Case in point the MTM. *
I have taken advantage ( on numerous occasions ) to the Yard Sale items and purchased/saved money and found enough parts to keep my equipment/projects functional for decades.
* While Feb 2009 issue only had 1 article related to Speakers "Simulating Inductors and Networks" it did have Joe D'Appolito's yard sale. In the past I have purchased items from him and used the opportunity to ask a couple of questions.
The March issue has an interview with Erno Borbely - he has some interesting comments about this forum.
Re: Support AX
I have every issue of SpeakerBuilder and audioXpress. In the early days, SpeakerBuilder was a great source of information on speaker design, theory, and hardware. I learned a lot from each issue and studied the articles and even the advertisements.
When they merged the magazines to become audioXpress the technical quality and content dropped significantly. Lately it has got to the point where I spend less than half an hour reading through an issue. I renew my subscription every year, I can afford it and I just can't pull the plug.
But I think the days of printed media are coming to an end. My local newspapers have raised thier price by 50% in the past month and the number of pages has dropped significantly. Younger people I work with don't buy newspapers at all, they read the Internet. The Audio Engineering Society now offers the option of Internet only access to the magazine at a reduced rate. My favorite Jazz magazine (Cadence) dropped from monthly to quarterly, I don't like it but can't seem to pull the plug on that either. I see the day in the near future where audioXpress, my local newspaper, and many of my magazines just stop coming to the house as printed media.
I think that audioXpress is probably doomed. If they do not do something to produce better cutting edge articles that people are interested in reading and can learn from, the number of subscribers will probably continue to drop. The iPod generation (three of them live in my house) does not care about audio, video games and computers are of interest. It was a shame to see SpeakerBuilder stop, I don't see audioXpress bouncing back unless significant changes occur.
There is not much to offer a new subscriber, you can't learn much about speaker design or building from the current issues.
Lee35210 said:
I have every issue of SpeakerBuilder and audioXpress. In the early days, SpeakerBuilder was a great source of information on speaker design, theory, and hardware. I learned a lot from each issue and studied the articles and even the advertisements.
When they merged the magazines to become audioXpress the technical quality and content dropped significantly. Lately it has got to the point where I spend less than half an hour reading through an issue. I renew my subscription every year, I can afford it and I just can't pull the plug.
But I think the days of printed media are coming to an end. My local newspapers have raised thier price by 50% in the past month and the number of pages has dropped significantly. Younger people I work with don't buy newspapers at all, they read the Internet. The Audio Engineering Society now offers the option of Internet only access to the magazine at a reduced rate. My favorite Jazz magazine (Cadence) dropped from monthly to quarterly, I don't like it but can't seem to pull the plug on that either. I see the day in the near future where audioXpress, my local newspaper, and many of my magazines just stop coming to the house as printed media.
I think that audioXpress is probably doomed. If they do not do something to produce better cutting edge articles that people are interested in reading and can learn from, the number of subscribers will probably continue to drop. The iPod generation (three of them live in my house) does not care about audio, video games and computers are of interest. It was a shame to see SpeakerBuilder stop, I don't see audioXpress bouncing back unless significant changes occur.
There is not much to offer a new subscriber, you can't learn much about speaker design or building from the current issues.
I think AX is a great resource that complements the I'net. Take the Feb 09 issue with the Impasse preamp by our own member SY. Yes, there is a thread here about that design, but it is fragmented and fleeting while on paper you have the full monty at your fingertips. Both resources neatly complemeny each other. For me, nothing beats a magazine, in the end.
I haven't seen the March issue yet, but take my Borbely interview. It would not be the same on the screen. And Ed Dell will also bring out a Tube special (later this spring if I'm not mistaken), Speaker specials, and other focussed issues. And how much does it cost, really? Less than a pizza a month? Peanuts.
Get a sub!
Jan Didden
I haven't seen the March issue yet, but take my Borbely interview. It would not be the same on the screen. And Ed Dell will also bring out a Tube special (later this spring if I'm not mistaken), Speaker specials, and other focussed issues. And how much does it cost, really? Less than a pizza a month? Peanuts.
Get a sub!
Jan Didden
janneman said:
I still haven't got my Feb 09 issue...i've been a subsctiber back to the early 70s and 'll be continuing to renew my subscriptions.
I think that aXp's very existence is important to diy. Every issue usyally has at least one interesting aerticle or review.
One thing we can do is to actually write some articles, Nelson, Jan & SY are already doing their bit. Many of the existing threads could easily be made into interesting articles -- for instance, i have much of the material gathered from the big Thor thread, for an article titled, "Revisting the Thor". The one missing piece are some actual measures from ome of the alternate cabinets that have been built (and the time to hammer it into an article)... the idea was, if it came together, was to have the stipend from aXp to be donated staright to the forum.
dave
One common complaint about the internet is that it's like a library where all the books have been thrown on the floor.
The kind of research and measurement normally done for an aX article would be things like Enabl-- even though it looks pretty exotic.
I think that the authors at aX may be overly concerned about control of their content or conversely aX's control of published material. If aX used the Creative Commons model there may be ways of getting good published articles without these forms of content control.
The kind of research and measurement normally done for an aX article would be things like Enabl-- even though it looks pretty exotic.
I think that the authors at aX may be overly concerned about control of their content or conversely aX's control of published material. If aX used the Creative Commons model there may be ways of getting good published articles without these forms of content control.
I renew my subscription for 3 years last month.
Since I´m in Brazil, for sure the cost is higher for me and I think 50 dollars/year is not to much to pay considering the AA history and contribution to DIY community, specially if you consider the contents of the magazine.
Regards and as someone said before: Renew your subscriptions!
Since I´m in Brazil, for sure the cost is higher for me and I think 50 dollars/year is not to much to pay considering the AA history and contribution to DIY community, specially if you consider the contents of the magazine.
Regards and as someone said before: Renew your subscriptions!
My Feb 09 issue arrived yesterday - don't give up hope, Dave.
But HK26147 already has the March issue!? Yikes.
[edit]
BTW, SY, if you're following this thread I enjoyed the Impasse article - it was pretty much at the out limit of my comprehension of these matters, but your writing was very lucid. Thank you.
Regards.
Aengus
But HK26147 already has the March issue!? Yikes.
[edit]
BTW, SY, if you're following this thread I enjoyed the Impasse article - it was pretty much at the out limit of my comprehension of these matters, but your writing was very lucid. Thank you.
Regards.
Aengus
loninappleton said:
The authors have no control over the content once it is published. The copyrights are signed over to the pubplisher and he does what he pleases with it.
What Ed Dell often does these days is publish an article on the web some months after it has been published in the paper magazine. But it is his decision anyway.
If you as author have your own website, and you want to post your own article there, you have to ask AX for authorization.
Jan Didden
" ...For me, nothing beats a magazine, in the end ..."
I agree 100% with Jan . There are ways to look at and ruminate over paper articles that one cannot do with a pictures on one's screen. They complement each other.
So we want more articles. How come more people with 'knowledge' aren't writing artciles for publication on AudioXpess.
You might have missed their advertisement asking for articles. I haven't yet but am planning on writing some ( simple ones).
Many more could do that too ! It doesn't have to be rocket science and it could always cover previous ground if taken from a different point of view. In any case there will always be enough readers who would find new articles useful. Let not the "knowledgeable ones" turn up their noses on older ground. A refresher article never hurts them !
Then there is always the massive ground that can be covered with practical reports on real world tests on all kinds of experiments. That is ALWAYS a welcome article as everyone cannot try out every scenario they would like to look at. But someone who had time to try it out could publish his/her reports .
So many people have tried so many things as we can see on DIYaudio.com . Why not convert some of it into AudioXpress articles ? You might even get paid something for the effort.
There are lots of topics , to mention a few with little coverage..class D amps and SMPS for audio use ! Selecting FET's for class D and SMPS for audio use ...etc ? Eva ....others ? One 'never' knows ( too much ) ... never enough !
Don't complain about less articles. Write some yourself or ask your friends with 'useful knowledge' to write a few.
I have nothing to do with AudioXpress...but I am a subscriber and anxious about the thinner issues. It costs me a lot of money to subscribe ! I'd like to see it fatten up with more interesting articles. So how about some interesting articles ,especially from friends who haven't written anything yet on AudioXpress ?
I agree 100% with Jan . There are ways to look at and ruminate over paper articles that one cannot do with a pictures on one's screen. They complement each other.
So we want more articles. How come more people with 'knowledge' aren't writing artciles for publication on AudioXpess.
You might have missed their advertisement asking for articles. I haven't yet but am planning on writing some ( simple ones).
Many more could do that too ! It doesn't have to be rocket science and it could always cover previous ground if taken from a different point of view. In any case there will always be enough readers who would find new articles useful. Let not the "knowledgeable ones" turn up their noses on older ground. A refresher article never hurts them !
Then there is always the massive ground that can be covered with practical reports on real world tests on all kinds of experiments. That is ALWAYS a welcome article as everyone cannot try out every scenario they would like to look at. But someone who had time to try it out could publish his/her reports .
So many people have tried so many things as we can see on DIYaudio.com . Why not convert some of it into AudioXpress articles ? You might even get paid something for the effort.
There are lots of topics , to mention a few with little coverage..class D amps and SMPS for audio use ! Selecting FET's for class D and SMPS for audio use ...etc ? Eva ....others ? One 'never' knows ( too much ) ... never enough !
Don't complain about less articles. Write some yourself or ask your friends with 'useful knowledge' to write a few.
I have nothing to do with AudioXpress...but I am a subscriber and anxious about the thinner issues. It costs me a lot of money to subscribe ! I'd like to see it fatten up with more interesting articles. So how about some interesting articles ,especially from friends who haven't written anything yet on AudioXpress ?
ashok said:"
So we want more articles. How come more people with 'knowledge' aren't writing artciles for publication on AudioXpess.
Do you know what he pays for articles? It is not worth the time spent (financially) unless you are trying to market yourself, or you are feeling very generous.
Hmmmm.....
I really wasn't looking at it from a financial point of view. That shows you how bad I must be at money matters !
I really had no idea what the financial implication was. I just assumed that it was typically like "industry standard" about which I have no idea also !
I also looked at it from a point of view of sharing some experiences and the monetary aspect wasn't looked at closely. Well some can and some can't and some won't and some don't care ! I guess I covered all types......!
I really wasn't looking at it from a financial point of view. That shows you how bad I must be at money matters !
I really had no idea what the financial implication was. I just assumed that it was typically like "industry standard" about which I have no idea also !
I also looked at it from a point of view of sharing some experiences and the monetary aspect wasn't looked at closely. Well some can and some can't and some won't and some don't care ! I guess I covered all types......!
ashok said:
I submitted my first TL articles to audioXpress when it was still Speaker Builder. I ran into a number of problems.
1. They wanted to change what I had written.
2. They wanted to add references to other people's work that I had not used. This was stated as a requirement.
3. They wanted me to wait six months to a year to have the article appear in the magazine.
I was not looking for anything in return other then exposure. Basically, they really were not very interested since they were already publishing two other TL based articles. I had always intended to make Speaker Builder my prime outlet for that article and future articles if they thought my work had any merit. Granted, I was new and they did not know me so I guess I kind of came out of the blue writing things that contradicted what they had presented in previous articles. So I made the move to the Internet and have never looked back.
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