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Archived Content from Old Magazines

Over the years, I have saved a lot of articles, reviews, and advertising from stereo and sound magazines in file cabinets. Most of this stuff is impossible to find, and I share it out of respect and admiration for those who created it.

Most of this content is from Audio magazine. If you take the time to read it, you will see why I believe it to be the best magazine of its type ever published.

There are other things from other sources, as well. 

I have a lot more. I'll try to get it posted as time goes by.

Some of these are rather large files. Please be patient as they load.

The general order of the links on this page will be as follows: First are the topics most important to professiional musicians. That's why we're doing this, right?

These files will be followed by those more of interest to people who have an interest in sound equipment and loudspeaker design.

After that, the files will lean more toward the general history of sound equipment and the people who were the great innovators. Feel free to have a look. These people and their creations should never be forgotten. A little history won't kill ya!

Then will be some ancient advertising.

Enjoy!

Useful For Musicians:

The Best Place For Your Speakers. Roy Allison. Audio, August, 1992. Roy Allison is another underappreciated giant in the history of sound reproduction. Here are his observations on the effects of louspeaker placement in a room. 

Loud Music and Hearing Loss. Leigh Silverman. Audio, January, 1989. Important infornation for musicians. You will never regret taking simple steps to protect and preserve your most important tools as a musician- your ears.

Cables and the Amp/Speaker Interface. R.A. Greiner. Audio, August, 1989. A deep analysis of the interaction between speaker, amp, and cable. A little nerdy, but good information on a subject of importance to a lot of musicians.

Speaker Cables: Testing for Audibility. Fred E. Davis. Audio, July, 1993. A topic of great to many bass players, examined in some detail.

Power Ratings of Loudspeaker Systems. B. N. Locanthi and G. L. Augspurger. Hi-Fi Stereo Review, August 1968. Always a sticky subject. It's difficult, as a manufacturer, to convey both the need for a lot of power, and the notion that ANY speaker can be damaged. Here are some insights from two very smart guys. 

Speaker Cables: Measurements vs. Psycho-Acoustic Data. Edgar Villchur. Audio, July 1994. A true giant of audio offers what I believe is the definitive piece on the audibility of speaker cables.

For Speaker Enthusiasts and Designers:

Measuring Acoustic Phase, by Don Davis. Audio, February, 1989. Don Davis was an important early influence on me. His book, "How to Build Loudspeaker Enclosures," written with Alexis Badmaieff, got my attention in about 1967. it is still available on Amazon, and has a lot of good information for the vintage equipment enthusiast, and tons of background on early technology. This article describes the fluid nature of the acoustic behavior of a moving-coil loudspeaker, and I believe, planted the seed for my published article on phase testing.

Henry Kloss: Distilling the Elements. The Audio Interview. David Lander. Audio, February, 1992. Henry Kloss was probably the most celebrated designer in the history of the loudspeaker. He also invented the Dolby cassette deck, and the projection TV. Very interesting stuff for the speaker-nerd. I had a personal experience with Henry Kloss in the mid-eighties, which I will eventually write about and post.

George L. Augspurger: Designs by Perception: The Audio Interview. Wendy Duch. Audio, April, 1992. George Augspurger was/is another giant in the history of the loudspeaker. Interesting general information here. In my own life as a designer, one of his early graphic diagrams illustrated a fairly complex concept to me: the operation of the bass reflex/ Helmholtz Resonator enclosure. To this day, I know a great many people in the field who clearly haven't seen his diagram, and who clearly don't understand the characteristics of a vented enclosure.

You Say You Want a Revolution. Ivan Berger, Audio, November, 1997. The great Ivan Berger shares some observations on innovations being created at that time. Take a look at the Hypersonic Transducer, a marvelously innovative concept, which apparently works!

Zobels and All That. Hank Zumbahlen. Audio, June, 1995. Excellent examination of the complex nature of a loudspeaker's impedance, and what a designer can do about it.

A Quest for the Audibility of Polarity. R. A. Greiner and Douglas Melton. Audio, December, 1993. This is more about the ear than about the equipment, and very well done.

The Amazing Shrinking Subwoofer. Matthew Polk, Audio, May, 1996. One famous designer offers his approach to balancing the size/power/extension compromises involved in creating any low-end reproducer.

The Bose Wave Cannon System. A very ingenious creation from some people who knew exactly what they were doing.

Sunfire Subwoofer. D. B. Keele, Audio, November, 1997. The great D. B. Keele offers a detailed examination of Bob Carver's innovative Sunfire Subwoofer.

Tractrix Horns. Roy Delgado, Kerry Geist, and Jim Hunter. Audio. March, 1991. Horn loudspeakers can be built in many shapes, according to needs. The tractrix horn is an interesting shape, which offers unique advantages. Related- see Andy Lewis on Horns.

Loudspeakers CAN be Tested. Roy Allison, Hi-Fi/Stereo Review, August, 1968. Some thoughts from a giant on the art/science, objective/subjective nature of speaker evaluations.

Crossing Over. Ken Kantor, Audio, February, 1997. The esteemed designer of the famous NHT loudspeakers shares his insights and experiences on the trickiest of subjects, the passive crossover.

Review of the Whise Profunder 320 Subwoofer. D. B. Keele, Audio, September, 1999. The great D. B. Keele reviews a very unique and interesting subwoofer.

For Audio Historians:

An Informal History of Solid State Amps, Daniel Sweeney and Steve Mantz. Audio, June, 1988. All these year later, it's interesting to look back at what was condidered a retrospective at the time.

Len Feldman: Mr. Hi-Fi. The Audio Interview. David Lander. Audio, April, 1994. Len Feldman was an important pioneer in the early development of the hi-fi industry. He was insturmental in the creation of some seminal equipment. Very interesting.

Profile of Harry F. Olson. John Eargle. Audio, August, 1992. Harry F. Olson was one of the most important figures in the history of the loudspeaker. Visionary, innovative, and creative. His impact on the science of loudspeaker design cannot be overstated.

Raymond Cooke: The Audio Interview. Ken Kessler, Audio, August, 1995. A very interesting interview with Raymond Cooke, of the famed and innovative company, KEF. Lots of history about the British speaker scene, including Wharfedale.

Tom Stockham: Fidelity vs. Familiarity: The Audio Interview. Daniel Levitin, Audio, November, 1994. This Grammy Award winning technical genius has been an insider on a great many innovative and important projects, and has quite a story to tell.

Sonic Restoration of Historical Recordings. Michael R. Lane. Audio, June, 1991. Very interesting article about the people who are working to preserve our recorded musical heritage, and their techniques.

Tuning in to Yesterday: Atwater-Kent Museum. Vintage Radios. John R. Sank. Audio, January, 1992. Antique radios. There is actually a vibrant collector's marker in old radios. Not for everybody, but a very good overview.

Magazine Advertisement for Allied Radio, Unknown Magazine, October, 1968. The two most important mail-order electronics houses in the '60's were Lafayette Radio Electronics, and Allied Radio. Lafayette went out of business in the '70's and Allied was bought out and dismantled by Tandy-Radio Shack. This is a magazine ad showing some selected equipment from the Allied catalog. My family bought some of this very equipment in 1968.

Magazine Advertisement for Electrovoice Interface A Loudspeaker. Unknown magazine, 1973. This design was considered a little audacious in the day. I've always loved this extreme use of the passive radiator. I believe this system was designed by Don Keele, on of my personal heroes in loudspeaker design, who wrote a great many important articles for Audio, and did some very important theoretical work.

Hirsh-Houck Laboratories Review of Dual 1219 Turntable. Stereo Review, December 1969. This is a sentimental favorite of mine. My brother still has one of these classic turntables.

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