Art Dudley

NY Audio Show 2014: Saturday afternoon
NY Audio Show 2014
Art Dudley  |  Sep 29, 2014  |  11 comments
Halfway through the show I called home, and my wife informed me that the plumbing in the downstairs bathroom was clogged, and the dog had gone outside and rolled around in something dead. And she wondered: Was I having a nice time? It was time for me to pick up the pace.
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NY Audio Show 2014: Saturday Morning
NY Audio Show 2014
Art Dudley  |  Sep 28, 2014  |  5 comments
Saturday dawned hot and bright—unnaturally so for the end of September—and showgoers showed up well before the 10:00am starting time: So much for my hopes of getting a jump on the crowds. Still I went for an early listen at the room shared by Volti Audio, Raven Audio, and Triode Wire Labs. The price of the three-way, fully-horn-loaded Volti Vittora loudspeaker ($21,500/pair without optional ELF subwoofer) has risen slightly since I wrote about it a year or so ago—yet it still endures as perhaps the best bargain in US-made hi-fi.
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NY Audio Show 2014: Day 1
NY Audio Show 2014
Art Dudley  |  Sep 27, 2014  |  8 comments
The Marriott Brooklyn Bridge—site of this year's edition of Chester Group's New York Audio Show—turned out to be a short, pleasant walk from the Jay Street station. Show registration was just around the corner from the Marriott's main desk, and the show continues through tomorrow (Sunday).
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Sutherland Engineering Insight phono preamplifier
Phono Preamp Reviews
Michael Fremer, Art Dudley  |  Sep 17, 2014  |  First Published: Aug 01, 2013  |  1 comments
Veteran phono-preamplifier designer Ron Sutherland has been partial, of late, to battery power. Getting off the grid can produce superb results, as demonstrated by his Hubble phono preamp ($3800), powered by 16 alkaline batteries.

I favorably reviewed the Hubble in the February 2010 issue, and remember loving most everything about it—particularly its drop-dead-quiet backdrops, its solid, weighty bottom end, and its fully fleshed-out instrumental textures. I was less enthused by its somewhat soft, muted high-frequency transients, though of course tastes and associated gear will differ. I need more grit, particularly for rock; you may not.

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Listening #141
Art Dudley ListeningFM Tuner Reviews
Art Dudley  |  Aug 26, 2014  |  14 comments
Johnny Town-Mouse was born in a cupboard, and Timmie Willie was born in a garden—this according to Beatrix Potter, who modeled both of her hantavirus-carrying protagonists after people of her acquaintance. Transposed to the city, Timmie Willie was chased by a maid and a housecat, while Johnny Town-Mouse's visit to the countryside was spoiled by cows, lawn mowers, and boredom. Both characters enjoyed good mental and physical health only in the settings to which they were accustomed, although Potter made it clear that her far greater sympathies lay with Timmie Willie.
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PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream D/A processor
Digital Processor Reviews
Art Dudley  |  Aug 22, 2014  |  5 comments
It's like hearing the name of an old friend and then seeing him, in your mind's eye, as he was when you were both much younger: Whenever talk turns to Boulder, Colorado–based PS Audio, I can't help picturing that company's Model IV preamplifier, of the early 1980s—most likely because that was the preamp I longed to own at the time. (Tragically, I couldn't afford to buy it, so I struggled on with my NAD 1020.)
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Listening #140
Art Dudley ListeningTurntable Reviews
Art Dudley  |  Jul 30, 2014  |  3 comments
Has it really been 30 years since an engineer named William H. Firebaugh unleashed on the audio world his radical and decidedly affordable Well Tempered Arm? (footnote 1) Indeed it has—and today, at 82, Bill Firebaugh seems busier than ever, with so many irons in the fire that he's been forced to give up the noble game of golf—an irony, as you'll see in a moment.
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Octave Audio V 40 SE integrated amplifier
Integrated Amp Reviews
Art Dudley  |  Jul 25, 2014  |  4 comments
They spoiled all my fun.

When I receive a product sample for review, I look forward to taking photos while I unpack the thing, as a guide to repacking for later on. This company provided an illustrated packing list—it was the first thing I saw on slitting open the carton. I look forward to crafting amusing remarks about poorly written or whimsically translated owner's manuals; this company provided the clearest, most comprehensive manual I've ever seen. I look forward to having some sort of anomalous event—smoke, noise, or smoke and noise—to write about. This product offered nothing of the sort.

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In Living Stereo Celebrates Mono
News
Art Dudley  |  Jul 25, 2014  |  6 comments
In Living Stereo's Steven Mishoe holds an EMT OFD25 pickup head.

On the evening of July 24, the passing of EMT's classic OFD series of pickup heads was noted in singular style: In Living Stereo, the hi-fi and record store that represents EMT in New York City, invited their customers to drop by for drinks, snacks, and the opportunity to hear their favorite mono LPs played with OFD 15 and OFD 25 pickups on an otherwise all-Shindo system.

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Luxman DA-06 D/A processor
Digital Processor Reviews
Art Dudley  |  Jul 03, 2014  |  3 comments
In the summer of 1999, Sony held a press event in New York City to mark the introduction of the Super Audio Compact Disc, then the sole domestic embodiment of the Direct Stream Digital (DSD) technology, jointly developed by Sony and Philips. The new format was hailed, in prepared remarks, by an impressive list of audio and music dignitaries: Nobuyuki Idei, then president of Sony Corporation; Steven Epstein, senior executive producer for Sony Classical; Yo-Yo Ma, appearing in a video created for the event; and Wynton Marsalis, appearing in person. All of the speeches—every single one of them—flattered SACD by likening its sound to that of the analog LP.
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