Art Dudley's column in November Stereophile

Finally read the entire article slowly and with as much interest as I could muster and I think this piece is a waste of space. Atdavid is being too kind in his criticism. 

I did not get a whole lot out of the article....however, reading the responses, a couple of things were mentioned, more than one time, that I am in entire agreement with, and have been stating for years. ( 1 ) A product that measures well, can sound mediocre; A product that measures poorly, can sound quite good ( 2 ) The recordings, are, and have always been, the limiting factor, in recreating that " reality ", that, we all are looking to recreate in our homes. This is why I listen to the musicianship, the performances. The " playing and singing ", is a given, but once the microphone picks this up, and the recording, equalization and mastering process is introduced, we are truly clueless, as to the " reality ", of what things should sound like. So, we buy, this, or that, to get that string instrument to sound a particular way, to get those drums, etc., to move us, like we " were there ". Enjoy ! MrD. 

I have read AD's content since the days of Listener Magazine.   He has a specific preference window for audio equipment and reproduction: Class A SET driving horn loaded, or very efficient reflex loaded speakers.  He also seems to be of independent spirit- he deliberately arrives at his conclusions.  Over the years he has gained a reputation for being "vintage" friendly.  OTOH- I think many people have suggested he review this or that component, or investigate this or that technology.   When he feels pushed in one direction, he often pushes back.    A few years ago he wrote about his (limited) experience with a Marantz 8B.  The unit was freshened by a few new caps, but was largely stock, meaning 55+yrs old.   His comments were very much a case of damning with faint praise.   Other times he brings up vintage alternatives that are outside his narrow window, and again his disdain is palpable.  In this light, AD's opinions did not surprise me.  He is opinionated, and has a specific preference when it comes to equipment.  He just doesn't like anything that challenges his paradigm.  

What was troubling were the factual errors included in his November column:.  

He stated that as efficiency goes down, distortion goes up and uses this "fact" to denigrate AS designs.  Yet he does not address the crucial fact that AR (and most AS) designs have been universally praised for their low distortion deep bass.  Distortion being notably lower than what is delivered by reflex designs, and bass which is deeper and cleaner than what an Altec or Khorn can deliver at equivalent frequencies.  AD states that AR speakers were introduced at the dawn of high power transistor amps...forgetting that the AR 1 was introduced in 1954, about 10yrs before SS amps were market viable.   He advances the notion that the science behind AS designs does not work.   He then uses the fact that there are few true AS designs in the current marketplace as proof that the concept is flawed.  A noted speaker designer stated (in another forum) that it was more expensive to produce a good AS speaker compared to a ported design, and that technology had advanced enough that ported designs could deliver similar performance from a smaller box.  Consider that Acoustic Suspension speakers represent a 180' shift from his beloved Altecs or Devore high efficiency speakers and require something completely different than a SET amp to drive them.  In that light, his comments are almost predictable.  

AD is a senior editor of a high profile publication (within a niche hobby) thus it is regrettable that he sometimes reacts in this way.  One would think he would either refrain from commenting, or have someone more open minded address the issues.   It think it is unreasonable to expect a full suite of Pollyanna reviews, but is an open minded reviewer too much to ask for ? I posted about the inaccuracies to another forum that is frequented by SP authors.  The editor's response was that AD has opinions and can say what he wants.