I might disagree with what you write
but defend to my death your right to write it.
(A liberal paraphrasing of Voltaire by Cierniak.)

Just as important as the editorial page (perhaps even more important) is the letters page of any magazine or newsletter. The letters page is the ultimate expression of freedom of speech, one of the most precious rights we have.

All letters published in Sound Off are published in their entirety without any editing. Disclaimers, including those stating that letters may be edited for clarity and length, are not the editorial policy of Sound Off. Disclaimers may too easily be used for editorial manipulation of the content and thrust of a letter. Furthermore, there will never be any editorial parenthetical insertions into the body of a letter; I don't want to be interrupted while expressing my views and I in turn will pay all correspondents the courtesy of not interrupting.

Two letters follow....one from Bob Pease who writes a column (Pease Porridge) for ELECTRONIC DESIGN. Bob has impeccable technical credentials (both educational and work wise) and posses a rare trait for a writer with such outstanding technical expertise....he's interesting and has a sense-of-humor! He proves that one can write interesting and technically informative articles. He's also taken-up the battle against mysticism and cult worship in the audio arena.

Bob sent me an e-mail with in which he commented on the technical quiz in the last issue of Sound Off. A copy of the e-mail is included in this issue. He politely pointed out one obvious error and one situation that wasn't in error but lacked a real world measurement. My response? I accept full responsibility for the wrong answer; I should have caught it. But if someone is going to bring an error to my attention let it be the best. Sort of like having Pope John Paul listen to my confession!

I must add that just a few days after having been corrected by Bob Pease I received a call from my friend, Dave Donelson, another individual with impeccable technical credentials, both educational and work wise. Interestingly, Dave is the guy who introduced me to Bob's column.

Hey, I'm being corrected by two of the most competent technical guys out there. My nightmare is being corrected by some guy who demagnetizes CDs and believes placing American coins on a speaker makes a difference in the sound!

The second letter is one I sent to the editor of Stereophile, John Atkinson. In the letter I tongue-in-cheek point out that a letter to the editor was not correct in the area of basic statistics. Have I received a reply? The silence is deafening.