Best Audiophile Journals - Sounds Like....

[wspohn]

I've accumulated a lot of different magazines over the years and have ditched as many others (did a big move last year and tossed out mags like Audio except for specific issues, while keeping others for reference).

One of them that I remember with fondness was Sounds Like... but it is hard to find out much on the net about it. Figured someone here might know how many issues were published - if it was more than the ones I own I might want to add the others to my library.

Tweak Shop owner Elliot Kallen used to review for them and I visited his shop once on my way home from racing old sports cars in Monterey in the early 1980s and was impressed with his enthusiasm and knowledge.

I guess it was Jeff Goggin's brain child and our own Myles used to contribute, so I thought the people here might have some knowledge of just how long it went on.

[Joe Pittman]

Yes, I also threw out all my old magazine collections many years ago now, but kept the first Absolute Sound issues and all of the Sounds Like issues. I have issues 1-9 of Sounds Like and don't think they issued any after #9. Sounds Like was great.

[MylesBAstor]

Yes that's where I published my record cleaning fluid survey.

[wspohn]

I kept all of my Stereophile (Loved J. Gordon Holt) and TAS and Tracking Angle etc., although I fell out of love with the first two earlier this millennium and stopped buying them as they became less and less relevant to my interests. I also enjoy the Canadian magazine UHF, although some of you may not know it.

Thanks for the answer - looks like I was only missing 3 issues and think I just picked them up on Ebay (you never know until something arrives if it is as represented).

[MylesBAstor]

Yes only 9 were printed. A 10th was ready but never went to press.

Sounds Like... magazine was basically the brainchild of Jeff Goggin, Jack English and Robert Reina. All had become dissatisfied with what was going on at TAS and decided to start their own magazine. Jack as I recall was the major investor.

One problem was Jeff/editorial staff was on West Coast and the writers were basically on the East Coast. There wasn't quite the same degree of communication back then as now. Like many mags, SL... was under capitalized and Jeff never let anyone know what was going on until a crisis level was reached. Finally one of the investors went out to West Coast to see what was happening and it wasn't pretty. There was also one writer who was putting the mag in jeopardy and finally the investors simply had enough.

[wspohn]

What a shame!

Too bad they never published #10 - wonder where the manuscript is or if anyone that has it would be prepared to release it or sell it to one of the existing journals to print as a flashback feature.

[MylesBAstor]

What a shame!

Too bad they never published #10 - wonder where the manuscript is or if anyone that has it would be prepared to release it or sell it to one of the existing journals to print as a flashback feature.

The only one who might still have that is Jeff Goggin. And doubt he's kept it after all these years.

[Audioraven]

Found these photos on ebay, tweaked them for better viewing. Hope everyone enjoys.

[MylesBAstor]

That was a pretty good masthead. I didn't realize Glen Hammett wrote for SL.... He later wrote for Audio Adventure and was a huge Dead Can Dance fan back then. He did a ton of article on DCD for Audio Adventure. Sadly most have left the industry save for Art and myself.

[mkuller]

It was the late 1980s and I had been writing for TAS for 3 or 4 years. Jeff Goggin was coming through and asked if he could stay with me at my house in the Oakland, CA hills. We did some listening that night and the next morning he told me about a new magazine he was planning to start and asked if I'd be interested in writing for it. I told him I'd have to give it some thought. I'd met Jack English at a CES and liked him. I'd met Goggin and Rob Reina earlier at the 1986 TAS staff meeting (photohttps://www.audionirvana.org/forum/the-audio-vault/general-audio/17828-some-pictures-from-the-high-end-audio-vaults/page4). After giving it some thought, I decided to stay at TAS since I was far away from Sea Cliff and all of the politics and craziness there. Funny, many of the people who went to Sounds Like and Fi ended up back at TAS.

I think I still have all of the issues of Sounds Like out in my garage - along with Tom Miller's Play, Fi, IAR, High Fidelity Review, The Audio Critic along with one or two others that didn't last long.

[mkuller]

I met Kessler on his trip through the BayArea on his coast to coast audio trip in the mid-1980s. I think he chronicled it in TAS. Then I used to see him at the CES wearing a raincoat - like a flasher he would open it and the inside would be lined with classic watches he was selling. Quite a character.

I met Kallen a few times and listened in his condo/store in Santa Rosa with him. He was a also a character but in the nicest way.

Gindi I met at a staff dinner at a CES (separate checks) and spent some time with him. Always dressed in black. Sometimes very strange. HP said Gindi wanted to be him.

Bob Reina was in banking management and was the most normal - always one of my favorites.

[wspohn]

I always found Gindi's psychology shtick to be a bit tedious, but enjoyed his actual reviews..
Elliot is from California - enough said.
Bob Reina shared my love for the Koetsu Urushi (we exchanged emails - I think he had two, one working and one spare.
Anyone got Jeff Goggin's email? You never know until you ask if paperwork was retained.
Now that you've reminded me of Ultimate Audio I'll have to dig out my issues and reread them as well.

[mkuller]

When the photo of the 1986 staff party (I linked) surfaced on Facebook a couple of years ago a number of people who were there chimed in. Goggin was laying on the floor in front of the group and someone asked if anyone knew how to contact him. No one knew but there suggestion was to try Phoenix.