Rogier van Bakel
Contributing Editor, Stereophile
A dedicated listening room for two-channel audio, with substantial isolation, acoustic treatment, and dedicated power.
The room replaces a century-old two-car attached garage. Its new shell uses double-thick drywall over Rockwool and mass-loaded vinyl. The hardwood floor sits over a layer of gravel, a 10-inch concrete slab, plywood, and rubber; a large wool rug over a thick felt pad covers about 80 percent of the floor. I wrote a Stereophile piece about what happened before, during, and after construction, and why I feared I’d unleashed some Pet Sematary-style juju after digging up the old foundation.
Acoustic treatments include two eight-foot-tall range-limited soffit bass traps, two skyline diffusers, and more than a dozen wall- and ceiling-mounted absorption panels. Power comes from a dedicated line with 20-amp outlets and 12-gauge wiring to the panel.
Reference components, loans, and equipment currently under review. This list changes frequently.
Roughly 60 percent of the components and speakers listed here are my
personal reference gear, purchased with my own funds. Others are on
extended loan or in for review and remain the property of their manufacturers.
My policies concerning review samples,
industry pricing, hospitality, and potential
conflicts of interest are set out below.
Below are some of the cover articles that I’ve written for Stereophile since I joined the magazine in 2021. Click on the cover image to be taken to the corresponding review.
From time to time, I interview industry luminaries like Andrew Jones, Alon Wolf, and Eelco Grimm, and I’ve also interviewed / profiled musicians such as Lyle Lovett, Astrud Gilberto, the Police’s Andy Summers, Keb’ Mo’, Yello’s Boris Blank, and XTC’s Andy Partridge (coming soon).
Columns are another passion of mine. Some examples:
For more, all my contributions to Stereophile, newest to oldest, are here.
October 2026
April 2026
March 2026
September 2025
April 2025
January 2025
June 2024
November 2023
August 2023
July 2023
The commitments below are my own. I’ve drafted them as an extension of Stereophile’s editorial standards and principles, which you can read here. I also adhere to the guidelines of the Association of International Audiophile Publications (AIAP).
I neither know nor wish to know which brands advertise in Stereophile. I like it when manufacturers never identify themselves to me as current or future advertisers. If they do, it’s highly unlikely to positively influence what I write. Read my lips.
When I recommend something for review to Stereophile’s editorial team, I do so because the product seems interesting. Sometimes I’ve heard it and was impressed. I don’t propose reviews because a company has been generous with me or because I have a good relationship with the people who work there. Final decisions about what Stereophile will cover always rest with the Editor.
Stereophile pays me for my articles. No one else does. I won’t accept compensation or favors in exchange for a review, an interview, show coverage, etc. Likewise, to avoid conflicts of interest, I won’t perform any work (including writing, editing, consulting) for manufacturers, importers, or dealers. However, I may help them carry a heavy amplifier up a flight of stairs, entirely for free. It’s complicated.
I get review samples directly from the manufacturer or distributor, and typically keep a product for two to four months, until my article is finished and ready to go to press. All samples are returned then, unless I’ve made arrangements with the manufacturer for an extended loan. Per Stereophile policy, when a company asks for a product back, I comply promptly and return it in like-new condition. I do not sell review samples.
If I want to buy a product I’ve reviewed, I’ll do so at accommodation pricing if offered. Such pricing is not a special favor to reviewers; it is broadly available to people who work in the industry. Nor is it a gift: the company receives payment much as it would from a dealer sale, and that includes a profit margin. I never discuss a purchase with the manufacturer or importer until after the review is finalized. I honor all resale restrictions on accommodation purchases, whether informal or contractual, including minimum hold periods. What I buy at a discount, I will not sell at a profit.
Once or twice a year, I'm invited to go on a factory tour whose expenses may be covered, in whole or in part, by my hosts. There are no quid pro quos: when I accept such a trip, I make it clear, pleasantly and appreciatively, that I don't guarantee coverage. Yes, I've visited companies I never wrote about, before or after.
I apply the same standards and criteria to each product I review. Admiration for a brand’s history or affection for the people on its team may shape my expectations, but neither entitles a product to leniency. This is my policy, not Stereophile’s: I will not review products from companies whose principals have bullied writers, threatened reviewers over good-faith criticism, or otherwise demonstrated contempt for the people who cover them.
Continued use of borrowed equipment requires an ongoing relationship with the companies or individuals in question. Long-term loans, factory visits, and simple human warmth toward people I've come to know and like: all of these create the conditions for reciprocity bias. I actively guard against it, with the same confidence a man has that he doesn't snore.
Though I love high-end audio, not everything I write is a rave. An unenthusiastic assessment is not a personal attack. I will write critically when the product, in my subjective experience, falls short. Such an opinion is never intended to hurt the manufacturer, though it might; it is meant to serve the reader. I prefer honest praise over plaudits tossed around like confetti. Not every product should be quietly nudged toward “recommended.”
Manufacturers or distributors almost always receive a copy of my Stereophile review before it goes to press, for fact-checking purposes only. We ask them to confirm company history, specs, features, pricing, and similar verifiable details. That’s where their access and influence ends. They’re not entitled to make changes to my subjective assessments.
With affection toward all who make, sell, or report on superior hi-fi,
Rogier van Bakel
Contributing Editor, Stereophile