Jana Dagdagan

Reviewer Video Profile: Art Dudley

Jana Dagdagan  |  Jul 14, 2017

In this video, we visit Stereophile's Deputy Editor, Art Dudley, in his home in Cherry Valley, NY.

Who is Art Dudley? A devout Listener, a friend to all bunnies—and some humans—John Atkinson's right-hand man, and an invaluable voice, not just within Stereophile, but within the industry as a whole.

Herb Reichert puts it best: "People would love reading Art even if he wrote about lice creams. He thinks he's writing about cartridges and bunnies—he is too humble to realize that he is mentoring a large part of our industry."

That is the allure of Art. And that is the Art we tried to capture in this video.

Please note: When Art says "AR2a-3" toward the end of the video, he actually meant to say "AR2a-x."

COMMENTS
jimtavegia's picture
Submitted by jimtavegia on July 14, 2017 - 10:36am

Great to put the live person with the writing and I hope you do more of these. Next time do some more "picking" as I, for one, would love to hear more as I do trust reviewer(s) who are also musicians and really have a sense of what real music sounds like. Cool.

I do have a man cave (14' x 22' down stairs) with all of my gear and my 3 recording mixing desks for practice singing and recording friends who play and I do not think, like you, that is not fair to take over the house (the upstairs) for my hobby. I only have a small system in the living room for holiday music with some small JBL's and my wife has a decent computer speaker set up in her computer room, but that is it.

Thanks again for sharing.

freejazz00's picture
Submitted by freejazz00 on July 14, 2017 - 11:53am

the mr. rogers of audiophiledom.

donlin's picture
Submitted by donlin on July 14, 2017 - 8:00pm

Absolutely love the reviewer profiles, please keep them coming. I appreciate his simple setup and lack of tweaks. I know I will enjoy Art's writing even more after seeing this.

Axiom05's picture
Submitted by Axiom05 on July 14, 2017 - 2:23pm

I really enjoyed watching this video (loved the bunnies too).

Anton's picture
Submitted by Anton on July 14, 2017 - 2:50pm

Art!

Thank you for promoting ear protection!

_

In audio, it's not sunscreen, it's Electret Cream...same difference

_

Next up - if Thorens had the same rules about modifying and repairing their gear that John Deere does, we'd all be in jail!

_

Do you think you have a pretty lively room there?

I think I can hear pronounced 'slap echo.'

I understand your approach, however!

_

Sounds like audio is a hobby rather than a lifestyle for you.

That was a perfect video and I am grateful for your gracious hospitality.

brenro's picture
Submitted by brenro on July 14, 2017 - 2:56pm

Nothing to do with music or listening but at my thirtieth high school reunion twelve years ago it was the first time I'd seen Upstate New York since the mid-1970's. I was astonished at how much it's been cleaned up. The natural beauty of the area is once again front and center. If it weren't for the winters and the taxes I would seriously consider moving back.

Jim C.'s picture
Submitted by Jim C. on July 14, 2017 - 3:15pm

Wearing white socks with a blue shirt doesn't mark you as an audio reviewer. It marks you as an Upstate New Yorker. Here's more:

http://www.albany.com/aboutalbany/jeff-foxworthy-jokes.cfm

PAR's picture
Submitted by PAR on July 14, 2017 - 5:15pm

What did the rabbit do to be sent down for 12 years?

rschryer's picture
Submitted by rschryer on July 14, 2017 - 5:38pm

Great video. If the opening scene is any indication, AD is so well remunerated at Stereophile that he can afford to own his own mountain in upstate New York. (Along, of course, with all the bunnies on that mountain.) Lucky guy.

tonykaz's picture
Submitted by tonykaz on July 14, 2017 - 7:06pm

And, he's a 1950s era Mono guy, like Phil Spector, a "Monophile" for god's sake. It looks like he even goes back to 78s. I wonder if he's one of the 6 active 78 Collectors that the New York Times lady music critic writes about?

I too like low power and horns, I've made plenty of them. Good sounding tubes are easy to come by & not at all pricy.

Mr. Dudley didn't spend much for his system ( compared to Krell prices ) and he seems to keep his stuff for very long times.

I'm going back to read AD stuff. I wonder if his writings will change in meaning now that I can see his philosophy, he might seem like an Islamic Wine Critic.

Tony in Michigan

rschryer's picture
Submitted by rschryer on July 14, 2017 - 8:09pm

Here I was reading your post (as I often do), just going along for the ride, when you decide at the very end to ram a tree trunk into my spokes. Islamic Wine Critic? Tony, do explain, please.

tonykaz's picture
Submitted by tonykaz on July 14, 2017 - 8:22pm

A monophile evaluating Stereo gear?

What are we to make of this?

Of course, Islamics don't consume spirits, do they?

Tony in Michigan

ps. Tree Trunks are too large to fit between Spokes. Are you riding 32 or 36?

rschryer's picture
Submitted by rschryer on July 14, 2017 - 8:32pm

Ah, an oxymoron. Got it.

Jeffreylee's picture
Submitted by Jeffreylee on July 23, 2017 - 8:25pm

Yes, Tony, because humans are only capable of knowing or doing one thing. Dudley has a turntable with a mono cartridge so he clearly has zero insight or experience with stereo gear or records? Is that what you're saying because that's what it sounds like.

tonykaz's picture
Submitted by tonykaz on July 23, 2017 - 7:07pm

Sure, Mr.Dudley is a good guy. He's a Philosopher, a good writer and an accomplished Editor.

He's even willing to work for a smallish Print Magazine, along side JA and the other Editors.

We're all heading into a world populated with Dragonfly Reds, Smart Phones and the need for everyone young to embrace Code Writing.

I share Mr.Dudley's skill sets ( relating to Audio Gear ).

I'm not gonna have "Useful" opinions about all the new technology being released, so I'll be reading what Stereophile has to say, knowing it's being written by old geezers like me, working from my frame of references.

I'll work to understand what Mr. Dudley has to say and I'll absorb the Comments he'll draw from the Clever folks writing comments. ( like you ).

I didn't see the Chord stuff coming but JA did.

It took Tyll at 2011 RMAF to point out the Schiit stuff. ( thanks Tyll )

I saw JA using the Astel & Kern player at one of the Big Shows.

If a person needs an Audio Magazine ( like me ), Stereophile is the best one to subscribe to.

Tony in Michigan

veentage's picture
Submitted by veentage on July 14, 2017 - 6:17pm

...to this video blog and to ear protection!

domainedujac's picture
Submitted by domainedujac on July 16, 2017 - 2:45am

I do follow Mr. Dudleys articles since the days when he was the publisher of "The Listener".
Today he belongs to a handful of writers still left that refuse to relentlessly promote the "next hot thing" which of course in most cases is just the next installation of roaring meaninglessness.
He is well aware of the fact the music is a metaphysical event, where beauty and musical truth is to be found between the notes and definetely not in measurement proctocols. With full convidence I can only recommend to follow his musical concepts. It might mark the end of a false path that lastest for decades.
kr.meier/Germany

avanti1960's picture
Submitted by avanti1960 on July 15, 2017 - 9:56am

conspicuous by its absence was actually hearing the system in action. it is such a tease!

jjgr's picture
Submitted by jjgr on July 15, 2017 - 9:58am

Mr. Dudley - Your nice looking listening chair caught my eye. Is that a Charles Rennie Mackintosh design?
Thanks for the tour of your home and approach to what you do. Please keep up the good work. Cheers,

Art Dudley's picture
Submitted by Art Dudley on July 15, 2017 - 2:05pm
Hi jjgr—my listening seat is a Harvey Ellis settee by Stickley, which I bought at a Stickley factory sale a couple of years ago (one of the perks of living in this part of upstate New York!). I appreciate your comments—and all of the very kind comments in this thread: thank you!
the audio beatnik's picture
Submitted by the audio beatnik on July 15, 2017 - 10:02am

Art has been one of my favorite reviewers, if not my favorite for many years. He has also been an inspiration to me. Thanks Art.

jack,
the audio beatnik

Geurity's picture
Submitted by Geurity on July 16, 2017 - 12:25am

Art Dudley is a hidden gem I seemed to have missed! So glad that I got a chance to listen to and learn a little about him through this video profile. Thanks for sharing!

Mikeymort's picture
Submitted by Mikeymort on July 17, 2017 - 10:56am

Glad to put a voice to one of my favorite reviewers. I loved what you said about saving your audio money for more recordings. (My collecting has always taken precedence over my playback gear.) Also, I think that I finally learned how to pronounce Garrard after 50 years of of using a soft "g". (The salesman at the audio store at my army base led me astray, and I replaced my Garrard with a Thorens TD-160 decades ago.)

Ortofan's picture
Submitted by Ortofan on July 17, 2017 - 2:59pm

... is the choice to adorn a wall of his listening room with an autographed photo of Valentina Lisitsa.

neogeo's picture
Submitted by neogeo on July 18, 2017 - 7:45am

This reviewer profile was wonderful. Please do one for each member of your staff!

Glotz's picture
Submitted by Glotz on July 21, 2017 - 3:41pm

A true gentleman and an astounding writer.

Much to learn from him on subjects like force, touch and color depth. MY-Fi is never inaccurate; it merely trades one set of qualities for another.

spivechild's picture
Submitted by spivechild on July 21, 2017 - 4:49pm

I queued up Jana's profile video of Art and couldn't just stop at one. I've gone back and watched all the video exposes. They are fabulous... keep of the good work Jana!

madfloyd's picture
Submitted by madfloyd on July 26, 2017 - 3:26pm

I will read AD in a whole new light now, thanks!

bwinlr's picture
Submitted by bwinlr on September 17, 2017 - 11:16am

Like a lot of Stereophile readers, I also subscribe to The Absolute Sound magazine, and I was struck by the contrast between Art Dudley's video of his listening room and the article in TAS (276) by Jacob Heilbrunn with a pic of HIS listening room.

In Heilbrunn's room, there looks to be about $1 million of audio equipment, plus acoustic treatments for the walls and floors. It's very impressive and probably state-of-the-art currently.

Mr. Dudley's listening room, on the other hand, had older equipment that he obviously likes in a comfortable, distinctly "homey" setting. I liked that (and him) because his expressed views (and apparent bank account) seemed to be more like mine than the rarified Mr. Heilbrunn's.

And, that's a reason that I probably pick up my copy of Stereophile first each month, and then look through TAS. There's a friendliness and humor to Stereophile that I don't really find in TAS very often. They're both excellent magazines, but the former is comfy and the latter occasionally stuffy.

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