Art Dudley

My plan was to begin by revealing the highest sum I've paid for a wristwatch. It wasn't very much, and that would have been the point.

<I>"Guitar groups are on the way out, Mr. Epstein."</I>&mdash;Dick Rowe, Decca Records, 1962

I was going through a box of old photographs, lingering over some pictures I'd taken at the Quad loudspeaker factory in Huntingdon, England, a number of years ago. It was my second trip overseas&mdash;1994 or '95&mdash;and while I remember being intrigued by the machinery and the test equipment and all, I know that the real impact of the tour was probably lost on me: I wasn't yet a Quad <I>owner</I>.

Here's something that's difficult to visualize but nonetheless true: If you attempt to isolate from their environment the working bits of a record player&mdash;the main bearing, platter, tonearm, and cartridge&mdash;by means of an elastic drive belt and a suspended subchassis of the usual sort, you'll create almost as many problems as you solve.

People love it when audio reviewers reach for that highest of all compliments: "I enjoyed the thing so much, I decided to keep it" (footnote 1). Manufacturers love it for obvious reasons. Readers love it because nuance is out of style at the moment, and the ambiguities implied by less decisive conclusions can be frustrating to adults who read with their mouths open. Publishers love it because strong, declarative statements have been scientifically proven, in double-blind reading tests, to attract subscribers.

A chancery court in England has issued a ruling that, if left to stand, may have a profound effect on copyright holders throughout popular music.

Anyone who knows me will be happy to tell you: I'm very bad at letting go of anger. I hold grudges. I'm unforgiving.