Man, I'm still waiting for mine!

I'll try some telepathy...

Far left...hmmmm...I'm seeing the name Dudley....Art Dudley.

It's a given.

I'm center left, but I wish we'd see some right leaning rants to set a balance. I'm starting to wonder if Hi-Fi publishing really is part of "liberal media."

How about a "Point, Counterpoint" column...Art, you ignorant slut...

Isn't Hi-Fi really all about striking an optimum balnce? Any reviewers who vote red? Good audio journalism points out the flaws in a system, and good journalism, in general, shouldn't tolerate a solely liberal writing staff. What are ya, the New York Times?

Art! If you only vent to the left, your room placement will become problematic!

Plus, if we only see left leaning diatribes, it makes us wonder just how critical and analytical you really are. It begins to skew your credibility as someone who is supposed to be open mided and critical.

Oh, a Musical Fidelity review?

Quelle surprise!

We should be getting those MF reviews down to industry updates..."Great Britain: Musical Fidelity released a new product, everyone go buy it."

Actually, this should do:

"MF kw DM25: IBID."

(Disclaimer: Just sitting here without my June issue, thought I'd try and rile up Art.)

Where occasional digressions into liberal politics is concerned, JA is the tough one for me. Almost everything he writes is worth reading and thinking about and most of it has practical value to an audiophile. Art Dudley is, on the other hand, pretty easy to deal with. I can't block his contributions automatically as I do DUP's postings to the forum, but I simply read the byline and skip the review. This approach came out of a comparison over time of the number of his reviews including whining left wing rambling with the number that offered information of some usefulness to me. The dominance of the former left no choice but to write him off. I keep wondering why JA doesn't do the same. If you want left-wing raving, the internet is full of it and it costs nothing - which is the right price.

So you're "center left" eh Buddha, better watch out. Seems that's the segment Hillary is after for 2008.

As for right-leaning rants, don't hold your breath - rants are, after all, just emotional outbursts and the liberals have a corner on emotions. They seem short on solutions to problems, but they alone are capable of "feeling your pain" and your pleasure too, I suppose.

Time to go play a record. See you around.

Perhaps liberalism is a religion of sorts. Just as the true believers feel compelled to spread the Gospels and save us heathens from eternal damnation, many liberals are compelled to preach the gospels of collectivism.

This sort of stuff injected without relevance used to bother me, but with the rise of the alternative media and internet providing substantial balance of political opinion and ideals, I don't feel like a captive audience being propagandized to death.

It wasn't long ago when the only version of an event or story was the editorial slant of the New York Times. This was always presented through the leftist filters before being picked up across the various media outlets through-out the country. Now, no sooner does the New York Times push their agenda with a hit piece than the alternative media picks it apart with a more compelling arguement supported by persuasive evidence.

If a publication has no desire for balance, they invite competition. I'll toss my hat in for competition every time.

Yo, Cheapskate and Buddha -- I think much of Art Dudley's liberal rant is a pose, just to piss off those who get irritated by the stereotypical "liberal" (if there is such a thing these days, with so many issues crossing more in the center). My guess is, he really does care about environmental issues, a traditional liberal shibboleth. But shouldn't we all? Even diehard conservatives have to admit that we're screwing up the planet to a faretheewell. Literally. I think he refers to himself as a liberal overtly only when he's having a slow day and wants to scare a few stereotypical conservatives out of hiding. The black turtleneck, conspiratorial mutterings over a cable spool table, while smoking grass and reading beat poetry...that stuff can be pretty funny if you enjoy caricature, as I do. I enjoy reading Art for the humor, and much of the humor lies in his political banter, intended to be serious or otherwise.

I just got July in the mail today. Sorry, all you postally-challenged outsiders. Hey, I'm usually the last one in this crowd to get his, so allow me to gloat. I enjoyed Art's review of the Musical Fidelity CD separates. It seems to me that, if a component is good, one ought to be able to say so, no matter who makes it. And, I guess I'll have to hear the new Quads, since I am in the market for a new pair of speakers to complete the system in my second place. Overall, an entertaining issue, in spite of its svelte appearance on the shelf. Cheers to all, Clifton.

OK, I got my issue!

Well, dang. I

Quote:
Mr. Dudley infers, that in light of the world situation, those readers were fools who need to direct their attention toward more appropriate problems. But it's OK for him to sit in his air conditioned sound room with a full belly and direct his efforts at writing about said products.

Yeah, I was a bit surprised by the beginning of the article too. It felt like a Bush PR move or something. You know, blame the other guy while you are doing the same thing or worse.

I don't know, Buddha. I offered what I thought was a reasonable suggestion, but you had to go and read the review anyway. Does your left-center position mean that ignoring the piece would have left you with a burden of liberal guilt?

Hi, Cheapskate!

No liberal guilt here, but as a recovering Catholic, I have plenty, anyway.

I enjoyed Michael Fremer's column, as usual, and read the usual "Quad is great, Quad is good, let us thank Quad as we should" by Dudley and Sam.

I'm enthused about the speaker reviews, I'll be getting to them a soon as I can really find time to relax and enjoy them.

Quote:

Art, think of how those first three and one half paragraphs would look riddled with neo-con propaganda. Would you continue to read the review?

Looking forward to next month's Mu Fi review.

I hear Dick Cheney has a Bose Wave radio as his main system. Would you like a review of that, including a few kind words by Art on Junior's pacification of the Middle East, praise for televangelists and a special NRA advertising section? That would give us a more balanced worldview. I'm preparing the "Cancel my subscription!" letter.

Geez. You guys are merciless. I rummaged through some of my old boxes of redneck license plate stickers, and all I could come up with was "Nuke the Gay Whales" and "Save a tree, eat a beaver." Old stuff. But that's what conservatives ARE! C'mon...Art was just trollin' for you guys, and you come out and flame him. You gotta admit, though, it's been a bad 5 years for the Neocons. I just got my .44 out of cosmoline, cleaned 'er up, and if ANYTHING even remotely resembling a Neocon comes over yonder hill, I'm opening up! Shoot first, ask questions later, is what I always say. If they're wearin' turtlenecks and drivin' a Volvo, Saab, or Jetta, I'll let 'em on through. At least you can TALK to a liberal...won't do you any GOOD (all they wanna do is borrow money or raise your taxes), but at least you get a chance to try. Them Neocons are VIOLENT, man, and you only have seconds to react.

OK, I have a bottom line.

Katy read the review and said, "Now THAT is insulting."

If Art can make my non-audiophile wife feel insulted, then he really
HAS accomplished something.

Kudos.

Katy was especially impressed by the "sad day for all" line.

She cracked me up...""A sad day for all?" How would he describe 9/11?"

Definitions are in order. A liberal wants half your money in taxes and wants to borrow the rest. A conservative wants to screw you out of all of it on the floor of the exchange. Any exchange. A Neocon simply wants to shoot you for it.

There is a disconnect here, as you note, since Art spent a year or so appeasing his social conscience by listening to some tunes through some very fancy gear.

Sigh. If only we could get through the next 12 months without an all-out nuclear launch by EVERYBODY, it would be a very good year, indeed. Awhile back, the boys in the back room of the CBOT invented the VIX. Yes, folks, you can now buy and sell "volatility" -- speed and magnitude of change used to be an abstraction, and now you can place your bets on it. When they come up with a futures contract on nuclear targets, the end will be nigh. Which reminds me of a great bumper sticker I saw the other day, in Gutenberg-style Gothic print: "Be Holed, the End Cometh." Now, that's all-inclusive social commentary.

Okay. If Art's gonna do social commentary, he has to be more careful about what he leaves out. I wonder what the melting point of the MF's chassis is.

While its nice to know that the reviews have little tolerance for the right wing ass holes who are running the country (into the ground), politics is something I don't want to read about in Stereophile. I also don't want to see pics of scantilly clad women.

Now don't get me wrong, I have nothing against scw, it's just that I don't want the distraction when I'm reading about hifi.

Well, a "true" audiophile could never be distracted by SCW when reading about Hi-Fi gear!

(Meant as friendly goofing off.)

Did you ever meet a Canadian who didn't take himself entirely too seriously? Do you suppose it's the long winters or the cheap drugs?

I think they take out their frustration by clubbing baby Seals. I guess that's not a year 'round activity.

It's the long lines to get the cheap drugs!!!!!

Quote:
Did you ever meet a Canadian who didn't take himself entirely too seriously?

Well, let's see...Dan Aykroyd, Jim Carrey, Mike Myers, Martin Short, Eugene Levy, John Candy, Andrea Martin, Catherine O'Hara, Rick Moranis, Rich Little, Wayne & Shuster, Leslie Nielsen, David Steinberg, Dave Thomas, Matthew Perry, Michael J. Fox...need I go on?

No fair! They're comedians, and comedians transcend all mere socio-cultural-political boundaries. Besides, they all flew South. For the norm, I give you Doug Casey and David Petch, each of whom has 10,000 Krugerands, a concrete bunker full of canned squid, Uzis, and a couple cases of grenades. This is a dour group, as national groups go, defined by long winters. Kondratieff winters. I say, eat, drink, and...you know the rest. I'm okay with Art's commentary, because I like 3-dimensional figures, not cardboard cutouts or stickmen. As for naked women, I prefer the more rounded version in the flesh to pictures, but I'm certainly not against an occasional pictorial preview. Cheers, Clifton.

One of the major problems in every field of interest:
a) The more choices one has, the more relaxed the debates become in regards to that person

I have a minor raspberry for every Musical Fidelity review since 2000, but a raspberry nonetheless: the UK dialling codes changed then and phone number has repeatedly been listed incorrectly, including AD's review in this issue. And, yes, I've contacted the magazine several times in the meantime. Ah well!

The review of the MF player was well done and most helpful. Like many with an admitted preferance for most things MF, I'm looking forward to give this new player a go. If you're not invested in the analog end of things, and have a large CD collection, this player could in fact be "the one". Much appreciated coverage of an exciting new source.