Larry Archibald

Thiel CS1.2 loudspeaker
Floor Loudspeaker Reviews
Larry Archibald  |  Feb 03, 2007  |  First Published: Jan 03, 1989  |  0 comments
Thiel Audio, headed up by Jim Thiel (President and chief designer) and Kathy Gornik (Marketing Director), sets itself apart from other speaker manufacturers not only by making what I feel to be almost uniformly excellent products, but also by serving as a kind of hallmark for the good dealer: Although not all good dealers sell Thiel, just about every Thiel dealer is a good one. This comes about because, in spite of just about uniformly positive reviews and excellent customer relations, Thiel (primarily in the person of Ms. Gornik) has insisted on limited distribution through retailers they know will give their product a good demonstration. There are a few other such companies performing this hallmark function, though only Mark Levinson Audio Systems readily comes to mind. Most other successful companies prefer as wide a geographical distribution as possible, in spite of the occasional necessary compromises in dealer quality.
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Rules of Reviewing
As We See It
Larry Archibald  |  Sep 10, 2006  |  First Published: Nov 10, 1994  |  0 comments
My eyes were inexorably drawn to a surprising headline this morning: "New Studies Say Universe Younger than Objects In It." A study by Indiana University's Michael Pierce has just been published establishing a new value for "Hubble's Constant" (the ratio of velocity to distance for distant, receding galaxies) which suggests that the universe may be as young as 7 billion years old; at the same time, researchers at Harvard are saying that the universe is somewhere between 9 and 14 billion years old. Quite a discrepancy! (A billion here, a billion there—pretty soon you're talking real age.)
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The Waveform Loudspeaker
Floor Loudspeaker ReviewsAudacious Audio
Larry Archibald  |  Aug 12, 2006  |  First Published: Nov 12, 1989  |  0 comments
John Ötvös, the father of Waveform Research Inc. and The Waveform Loudspeaker, hesitates not at inviting ultracritical examination: "The Waveform is the most accurate, the best, forward-firing loudspeaker in the world." Period. Reviewers, of course, welcome such statements, and I'll be examining that one, but I'll also try to answer the inherent reviewing question of whether the Waveform is a good place for you to park $9800 on your way to "the highest of high-end sound" (that was our slogan for the first Santa Monica High End Hi-Fi Show).
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Mirage M-1 loudspeaker
Floor Loudspeaker Reviews
Larry Archibald  |  Mar 05, 2006  |  First Published: Jun 05, 1989  |  0 comments
Mirage /ma-'räzh/ n [F, fr mirer to look at. fr. L mirari] 1: an optical effect that is sometimes seen at sea, in the desert, or over a hot pavement, that may have the appearance of a pool of water or a mirror... 2: something illusory and unattainable, like a mirage.
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The Upside of Negative Reviews
As We See It
Larry Archibald  |  Jan 09, 2006  |  First Published: Nov 09, 1986  |  0 comments
Most readers of Stereophile are in it to read about great products—things that make the hobby and art of home sound reproduction exciting. In this respect, reviewers aren't too different—we love sound reproduction and music in general, and products that help bring this to life are the cat's meow. Reviewers that can't respond with this kind of excitement don't have a place writing for this magazine.
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Infinity IRS Beta loudspeaker
Floor Loudspeaker ReviewsJ. Gordon Holt
Larry Archibald, J. Gordon Holt  |  Dec 31, 2005  |  First Published: Oct 01, 1988  |  0 comments
In 1966, two avid audiophile/music lovers—a nuclear physicist named Arnold Nudell and an airline pilot named Cary Christie—labored over weekends and evenings for 18 months in Nudell's garage to put together the world's first hybrid electrostatic/dynamic loudspeaker system. It cost them $5000 for materials, launched a company (New Technology Enterprises), and helped contribute to the popular myth that all of the really important audiophile manufacturers got started in somebody's basement or garage (footnote 1). The system was marketed as the Servo-Statik I, for the princely sum of $1795. (At the time, the most expensive loudspeaker listed in Stereo Review's "Stereo/Hi-Fi Directory" was JBL's "Metregon," at $1230.)
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When The Music Stops
As We See It
John Atkinson, Larry Archibald  |  Jun 05, 2005  |  First Published: Sep 05, 1997  |  0 comments
An acquaintance in the world of CD distribution recently gave me an astonishing statistic: that the average classical title sells fewer than 2000 copies worldwide in its first year of release; which in turn means that many titles sell only about 500 copies! Given that the cost of producing a classical orchestral album can include up to $100,000 in union-mandated musician fees, such minimal sales guarantee financial disaster.
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The Final Final Word
HistoricalThink Pieces
Larry Archibald  |  Nov 17, 1999  |  0 comments
This is my final "Final Word." Although, combined with the announcement of J. Gordon Holt's resignation, this will undoubtedly cause rumors to swirl about Emap Petersen forcing all the old guys out, I assure you that my departure is of my own volition. It's a process that started back in 1997, when John Atkinson and I first talked about selling Stereophile, and for me it reaches its conclusion here.
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The Final Word: Ethics
Think Pieces
Larry Archibald  |  Feb 07, 1999  |  0 comments
Ethics is a subject always more easily discussed than practiced. There's been a lot of discussion recently about the ethics of retailing—or, more accurately, the ethics of buying retail.
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CD: A Lie Repeated Often Enough Becomes Truth
As We See ItThink PiecesHistorical
Larry Archibald, Doug Sax  |  Dec 23, 1997  |  First Published: Nov 23, 1983  |  0 comments
Larry Archibald on CD:
This article on Compact Discs and CD players is by Doug Sax, president of Sheffield Records and a longtime opponent of digital recording. J. Gordon Holt offers a response elsewhere in this issue, in which he advises readers to buy a Compact Disc player as soon as they can afford it. Gordon in general hails the Compact Disc as the greatest thing to hit audio since the stereophonic LP.
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