[cableman]

HiFi News' 22 monopoly of Heathrow London shows looks to be at an end as the rival show-across-the-road at the Park Inn Hotel seems to have won all the plaudits from exhibitors and consumers...but the gossip was all about HFN where Mr KK himself apparently has been sacked for making less than veiled threats to manufacturers for not doing his/HFN show.
Additionally, HFN are know to have pulled reviews from the mag when it became known that certain product was being exhibited at their rivals show!
Oh well, every dog has his day...

[Droogie 2001]

Do you mean it could be the end of the magazine or their Hi-Fi show? Did see KK and he looked relaxed then but that was early Sat morning so maybe he had not been given the news by then...
Out of the 2 shows I preferred the Hi-News show as there were more demos, chats etc and more hi-end gorgeous kit.
Having said that I was nicely surprised by the Park Inn's show. As I have mentioned in another post both of them improved the experience from last year.
Like they say competition is always a good thing

[alexs2]

Originally Posted by cableman

..but the gossip was all about HFN where Mr KK himself apparently has been sacked for making less than veiled threats to manufacturers for not doing his/HFN show.
...

Interesting,as the K has been getting a lot of negative feedback(haha)in that publication recently over his choice of words and what some have seen as a lack of tact.

[cableman]

it certainly could spell the end of the 'News show'. According to most attendees the Park show was their favourite and many of the exhibitors at the News show are getting together to demand their money back!

Hello All,

I'm new around here, so this is probably seen as a bit of a foot in mouth job jumping in on a thread like this for my first post, but given some of the stuff that's been mentioned in this thread so far I just wanted to try and set the record straight.

I was at the show on Friday and Saturday (I have been involved in the AV business so I still get in on trade days) and, for sure, there was a huge buzz surrounding the politics of this show vs the Park Inn (Chestergate) show and, of course, what's happening regarding KK. I hung out at the bar after the show, mostly to overhear what's REALLY going on, and a few conversations with both manufacturers and a few people who I really trust managed to get some information which I believe is very reliable.

First off, Hi Fi News have categorically NOT pulled any reviews because of a manufacturer not attending the show or supporting the Park Inn Show despite what some people have been saying. It was suggested to some of the editorial team at the mag that they should do this by certain parties, but categorically this has been denied and thoroughly refuted. This would truly do the mag (or any magazine which conducted itself in this way) no favours at all, in fact it would be commercial suicide, so there appears to be no substance to this whatsoever.

It has been confirmed by several companies and some people from IPC Media itself that KK had been saying that if a company did not support the HFN show it would not be able to get a review in the magazine. This was something KK did off his own back and was in no way connected with any kind of HFN editorial policy. KK did this himself for god knows what reason, it struck me as being utterly stupid if he wasn't backed by IPC themselves, but then again KK has been saying and doing some pretty crazy things recently and prancing around as though he had some kind of Hi Fi God complex, so I wouldn't put it past him.

Depending on who you spoke to, he either quit or was gently knudged towards the door, apparently he was called into the office of one of the very senior people at IPC (above the editor of HFN, so you know it was serious) and after around five minutes the meeting ensued into a blazing row which had KK marching out of the office, announcing he didn't care if he never saw anyone from the magazine again, and stormed out. He was only at the show because of contractual obligations (though rumour had it that he had already lined himself up a new job at another magazine, if that's true. it's no wonder he was being so cavalier about trashing HFN's reputation in the weeks preceding this show).

KK, and more worryingly the magazine, had been getting a lot of flack for some of his articles, especially the Clearaudio Statement 'review' which was a joke. He flew to Germany for the review, and the notion he boxed up a system which would have weighed the better part of 3/4 of a ton to Germany to listen for a couple of days is laughable, it would have taken that long to get it set up. Then the 'review' was done in a strange listening room (and we all know how different the same system sounds in a different room) and finally spent nearly a page deriding and criticizing the UK importer of Cl;earaudio who has been associated with the company for a decade and is a true gentleman who will (and has) bent ovber backwards to help a customer or a dealer. No wonder virtually everyone I spoke to is glad to see the back of him.

I used to love his articles, but recently they seem to be more about promoting his ego, and less about the equipment, and to be honest HFN has enough outstanding writers to go from strength to strength without KK, in fact I think it will probably improve the magazine overall.

Sorry to have prattled on so long on a first post, but I hope this will go some way to setting the record straight.

Best wishes,

Dave

[cableman]

To : dmyers06
your comments are spot on except HFN DID PULL AT LEAST ONE REVIEW I KNOW OF!!!-thats what a pathetic bunch they are.

oh and the word is KK got to take that Clearaudio Turntable home-all £60K worth-allegedly haha

[Fidelio]

Anyone else notice HFN were not including any free tickets for this years show to those readers who purchase the magazine.

Also noticed that HFN is copying the layout and style of rival hifi press publications. Shame they have had to resort to copying.

[Jules Tohpipi]

I predominantly lurk in these forums; however, I think it's time someone expressed a profound disappointment in the contents of this thread.

I see no proof being offered for any of the allegations, and I feel quite sure that if anyone dared say such things about a fellow forum member, then the thread would have been deleted immediately. However, the forum rules and common decency seems to be swept to one side for KK. Where is the proof for accusations such as: "Additionally, HFN are know to have pulled reviews from the mag when it became known that certain product was being exhibited at their rivals show!" and "your comments are spot on except HFN DID PULL AT LEAST ONE REVIEW I KNOW OF!!!-thats what a pathetic bunch they are."


For me this represents the very worst side of these forums: a sleaze-pit of idle tittle-tattle, containing no substantiation whatsoever - dressed up as fact.

It's threads like this which dis-credit and kill these forums stone dead for me. Clearly any kind of rancid gossip-mungering and mud slinging is fair game here now. Congratulations to all involved !

[Jules Tohpipi]

Here`s a useful link, both for now and the future:

http://www.urban75.com/Action/libel.html

[senu]

Originally Posted by Lost Cause

I predominantly lurk in these forums; however, I think it's time someone expressed a profound disappointment in the contents of this thread.

I see no proof being offered for any of the allegations, and I feel quite sure that if anyone dared say such things about a fellow forum member, then the thread would have been deleted immediately. However, the forum rules and common decency seems to be swept to one side for KK. Where is the proof for accusations such as: "Additionally, HFN are know to have pulled reviews from the mag when it became known that certain product was being exhibited at their rivals show!" and "your comments are spot on except HFN DID PULL AT LEAST ONE REVIEW I KNOW OF!!!-thats what a pathetic bunch they are."


For me this represents the very worst side of these forums: a sleaze-pit of idle tittle-tattle, containing no substantiation whatsoever - dressed up as fact.

It's threads like this which dis-credit and kill these forums stone dead for me. Clearly any kind of rancid gossip-mungering and mud slinging is fair game here now. Congratulations to all involved !

It is a feature of the free world that we can all express ourselves even if our expressions later turn out to be a bit far off the truth. the point is the motive.
I find the post by dmyers06 very balanced and if there is any "idle tittle-tattle" there it seems to me unintended.

You seem to be branding the whole thread distasteful and labelling all the posters :
If you are able to say for sure that any of the posts amounts to libel, Provide proof (or at least something circumstancial) by all means but expressing your displeasure in the way you have without any positive countering facts amounts to throwing away the baby with the bathwater
For myself, a casual visitor to this part of the forums who visits Hifi shows without any preconceptions , I am nonethewiser from having read your post. I too ,dont like banal frivolities but I think the thread has its merits, which you clearly dont.

If you find the whole thing annoying simply skip past it or say why precisely you think its posts are false rather than be the literary police