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Art Dudley: The Art of Being
Jason Davis  |  Jun 16, 2020  |  14 comments
Photo: Sasha Matson

I met Art Dudley twice, and in both instances, he was exceedingly humble and gracious with his time. The first time, I thanked him for hosting the Virtues of Vintage panel at DC's Capital Audiofest, just moments after he was verbally accosted by an unwell man seated in front of me—something about audio-journalism lingo and abstract phrases like "midrange bloom."

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Cable ReviewsHistoricalReference
What a Difference a Wire Makes
Ben Duncan  |  Jun 12, 2020  |  First Published: Dec 01, 1995  |  68 comments
Testing the RF transmission of Kimber Kable, up to 3GHz, at Ben Duncan Research Labs, in 2008. The resulting proof of RF rejection was published on-line by Russ Andrews Accessories in England. (Photo: Naomi Swain).

Editor's Preface: In an article in the October 1995 issue of Stereophile, Professor Malcolm Omar Hawksford used Maxwell's Equations to develop a mathematical model describing the behavior of cables at audio frequencies. Among the predictions of this model were that for good conductors there exists an optimum size of wire for audio signal transmission, and that for a wire larger than this size an energy storage mechanism would exist. In his article Malcolm described a simple experiment, the results of which appeared to confirm his hypothesis.

Then serendipity struck. English engineer Ben Duncan, whose writings have occasionally appeared in Stereophile, sent me an article he had written for the pro-audio magazine Studio Sound. The results of a series of cable measurements he had performed seemed to confirm the Hawksford Hypothesis. We offer them here for your delight and delectation.—John Atkinson

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Solid State Power Amp Reviews
Pass Laboratories Aleph 0 monoblock power amplifier
Dick Olsher  |  Jun 11, 2020  |  First Published: Mar 01, 1995  |  44 comments
The Aleph Null, or 0, represents Nelson Pass's maiden product under the Pass Laboratories banner. When he left Threshold several years ago, Pass had the luxury of starting over with a clean slate, and decided immediately that he wanted to design a single-ended MOSFET amp. The result is aptly named after Georg Cantor's first transfinite number: Aleph Null, the gateway to higher-order infinities. Just as Cantor's transfinite mathematics stretched minds with its novel conceptual view of the infinite, the Pass Aleph 0 tantalizes the imagination with a new dimension in the future of solid-state amplification: a single-ended output stage.
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Miscellaneous
VPI Magic Brick
Allen Edelstein  |  Jun 10, 2020  |  First Published: May 01, 1982  |  38 comments
The VPI Magic Brick is an 8lb block of steel laminations, about 5" by 3" by 2", encased in a nicely-finished oak box for aesthetic appeal and for protecting whatever the brick is sitting on from scratches. Placing the Brick over the power transformer of a piece of electronic gear is supposed to improve the sound of your stereo system.
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Headphone ReviewsJ. Gordon Holt
Koss PRO-4, PRO-4A and Pro/4 AAA Plus headphones
J. Gordon Holt, Bill Sommerwerck  |  Jun 09, 2020  |  First Published: Dec 01, 1963  |  11 comments
Almost a dead-ringer for the early-model Sharpe HA-10, Koss's PRO-4 ($45) is readily distinguishable by a large knurled protuberance sticking out of the lower part of the right-hand phone. This, in case you've wondered, is a mounting for a "boom-type" lip microphone, for use in speech labs and for communication purposes. (Sharpe and Permoflux also provide facilities for attaching a lip-mike.)
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Products of the Year
Stereophile's Products of 1995
John Atkinson, Wes Phillips  |  Jun 05, 2020  |  First Published: Dec 01, 1995  |  61 comments
This is the fourth year Stereophile has named a select few components as "Products of the Year." By doing so, we intend to give recognition to those components that have proved capable of giving pleasure beyond the formal review period.
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Phono Cartridge Reviews
Talisman S MC phono cartridge
Guy Lemcoe  |  Jun 04, 2020  |  First Published: Jul 01, 1989  |  4 comments
The Talisman S represented, ca 1983, the top of Sumiko's moving-coil cartridge line and shared its design philosophy and external appearance with the Talisman A and B, the remaining two cartridges in the Talisman family before the introduction of the Virtuoso line. The three differed only in cantilever material and stylus shape. The A, the least expensive, had an aluminum alloy cantilever and an elliptical diamond stylus.
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Phono Cartridge Reviews
Audio-Technica AT-ML 150/OCC phono cartridge
Michael Fremer  |  Jun 03, 2020  |  First Published: Jul 01, 1999  |  50 comments
How can two meticulously built, high-technology, high-performance, premium-quality moving-magnet cartridges that measure so well (according to their manufacturer-supplied specs) sound so different?
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Gramophone DreamsPhono Cartridge ReviewsTurntable Reviews
Gramophone Dreams #37: JSikora Initial turntable & Grado Aeon3 phono cartridge
Herb Reichert  |  Jun 02, 2020  |  24 comments
My most cherished intangibles—love, beauty, glimpses of higher realms—enter my awareness only after I prepare my psyche to receive them. Extended bathing, lighting candles, making tea, and preparing food are ritual work forms that prepare my senses to accept both pleasure and illumination. In like manner, collecting LPs and storing them properly, setting up turntables, aligning cartridges, and cleaning styli are ritual actions that prepare me for the high moments of focused musical pleasure only a black disc can provide.
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Art Dudley Listening
Listening #210: Guns N' Neuroses, the Life of a Used-Gear Specialist
Art Dudley  |  May 29, 2020  |  48 comments
During the years I lived in New York City and environs, I never learned my way around Brooklyn—something I now regret, given that borough's emergence as a hotbed of audio creativity: our industry's Laurel Canyon, so to speak. Such gone-but-not-forgotten brands as Futterman and Fi were manufactured there, and today Brooklyn is home to DeVore Fidelity, Lamm Industries, Mytek Digital, Grado Labs, Ohm Acoustics, and Oswalds Mill Audio.
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