Julian Hirsch dies

Rob Babcock · « **on:** 30 Nov 2003, 08:56 pm »

I know most people here probably weren't fans, Hirsch was the first audio writer I ever read. When the stereo bug bit me, back in high school, Stereo Reveiw was the one audio mag that my HS library carried. That proved to be the spark for me, and I later discoved AUDIO Magazine (my fave to this day), TAS & Stereophile.

Hirsch may have never heard a piece of gear he didn't like, but he did a lot to demystify the subject for a lot of people. His pioneering work in measurements was responsible in great part for all the objective metrics we use now.

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/article.asp?section_id=7&article_id=521&page_number=1

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #1 on:** 1 Dec 2003, 04:05 am »

Yep, one of my early reads too. Never knew he went to Cooper Union(NYC). Tough college to get into - they have their own tests, plus interviews necessary.Once accepted, it's all free.

IanATC · « **Reply #2 on:** 1 Dec 2003, 05:47 am »

It is true that SR heaped praise on products, that paid the rent. J Hirsch tried to write poor reviews, but they did get shut down before getting published.
He is a smart guy however, and he has done a bit of "read between the lines"

One I remember seeing was a review of a Klipsch speaker. It was obvious to me that it was his version of a negative review when he stated something to the effect of:

"Some music thrives on bold and forward dynamics, others do not"

Let me deconstruct that.

"Some music thrives on bold and forward dynamics, others do not"

In Hirsch speak, the Klipsch are too bright and shouty, and really ruin certain types of music.

The same can be said if you really read the JBL-L-100t review. He alludes to the tinniness in the tweeter...you just have to look for it.

I am not kidding.

His last reviews of Bose products were his giving into the financial growth of S&V. Even Bose afficianados were safe from the truth. He did, at one time write his scathing review of Bose in the 70's. Bose threatened to sue, his boss threatened to fire him, so Bose ended up with the "polite" review.

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #3 on:** 1 Dec 2003, 05:53 am »

Yeah, I always thought that his omissions spoke as loudly as his words. Of course, he came from a more polite and civil era- a time when "sucks" and "sounds like ass" wouldn't appear in any printed peice.

I admired him a lot and learned a lot from his writings. As a young kid with a lust for knowledge living in the a backwater in the midwest, his articles in Stereo Review were precious to me.

He had a very long life lived doing the thing he loved. I can only hope the same can be said for me when I'm gone.

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #4 on:** 1 Dec 2003, 05:58 am »

Its too bad we can never get "tell it like it is" real reviews. Now a days its all about "whose paying the rent"! !

michael w · « **Reply #5 on:** 1 Dec 2003, 07:08 am »

Are you guys for real ???

Hirsch and his cronies like Larry Klein, at Stereo Review were total tin ears !!!

If he was anything approaching a good writer you wouldn't have to go reading between the lines.

These guys went out of their way to keep advertisers happy.

Demystify ?
More like heap ridicule on audiophile thought that didn't toe the line.

IanATC · « **Reply #6 on:** 1 Dec 2003, 08:02 am »

Removed out of respect for Mr. Hirsch

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #7 on:** 1 Dec 2003, 09:18 am »

I guess you could start a mag that "tells it like it is." You could have fun running it for a couple months til it folded due to lack of advertiser revenue. Or maybe it would succeed on word of mouth and reputation. Are you well known and widely respected enough for that to work?

What Hirsch did was to help invent the lexicon we use now and standardize the way gear is tested and measured. In that sense I think he was a pioneer.

Back in the day, before they became Sound and Vision, Stereo Review was a bit more of a "serious" stereo mag. And even though they never pandered to the Lunatic Fringe, they did whet a lot of peoples appetites for nice sound. Many of those guys moved on to more upscale mags/web sites, as I have. But I wonder how many folks' first exposure to even mid-fi was SR?

Just noting his passing and reflecting on his lifes body of work. YMMV.

-R-

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #8 on:** 1 Dec 2003, 09:24 am »

IanATC expands on an idea that came to mind reading his bio: those were much simpler times. The $100K speakers, $5k ICs and other tomfoolery is a relatively recent 'innovation.' I can remember the day when just about anyone could own the best or nearly the best if they scrimped and saved their pennies. Twenty years ago a few grand would get a pretty nice system, and ten thou' would get you pretty much the top of the line. Now that amount won't even buy your speakers- hell, it won't buy your cables, if you can believe the Lunatic Fringe.

I think the technology has improved for the better, but the marketing and economics of it have gotten out of hand.

Jay S · « **Reply #9 on:** 1 Dec 2003, 10:15 am »

I used to read SR and Julian Hirsch's columns with a lot of respect. It was for me as well my first intro to audio. I really did appreciate that he reviewed a lot of affordable gear, stuff that I could aspire to even on a student's budget.

I agree that it is shameful that it is nearly impossible today to get an honest review from a magazine. Then again, I am skeptical of the objectivity of the media in general. Too many people know about spin and marketing and how to influence publishers as well as readers. Its too bad that magazines can't survive on subscription revenue alone.

If you look at every single piece of gear in my system, none of them are made by traditional audio firms that advertise in mainstream media. I have learned about all of them through the internet, and have relied heavily on posts of users and other audiophiles, as well as my own 2 ears. I will not go so far as to claim that my system is better than a store-bought system of equivalent retail price (that's a whole can of worms...) but I guess that given the state today of audio magazines, I feel better about the pieces of gear that I have ended up buying.

In closing, I'd like to offer a moment of silence for a man who made audio accessible and fun for thousands if not millions of readers, and who helped start me down a path that, while costing large sums of money, has also brought me tremendous personal satisfaction.

michael w · « **Reply #10 on:** 1 Dec 2003, 11:42 am »

Yes, Stereo Review and Hirsch et al WERE evil !

These were the people who told the public that everything sounded the same.

The same crowd who ignored the problems in the early days of CD and pushed the coporate line of "perfect sound forever".

The same magazine that obfuscated empirical evidence to push their own agenda during their infamous Monster Cable fiasco.

It was their inability or unwillingness to write the truth about audio products that prompted J Gordon Holt to start Stereophile and Harry Pearson to start The Absolute Sound.

You blame these magazines for high end excesses, well they only came into existence because of Stereo Review's inadequacies so the circles completes itself by leading back to Stereo Review...

Once again you trot out the trite implication that graft and corruption thrive at all these magazines and that more money = better
..what a load of BS !!!

Such accusations have been directed at magazines for years but no one has ever fronted up with proof.

Neither of the magazines mentioned have ever touted more money= always better.

The real comtempt for the consumer was from JH/SR.

This was the magazine was a promotional tool rather than a reviewing one.
Every product reviewed "tested just good as anything I've had on my bench".
You never saw a test on a product that wasn't advertised in it's pages...something you can never accuse Stereophile or TAS of.

Someone mentioned he was pioneering in measurements ?
Maybe in the early days but he was also highly critical of new measurements like TIM etc. that audio manufacturers were beginning to use.

So while JH will be lamented amongst his fans here, his crowning achievement was not as a great writer in the field but as the catalyst for the birth of critical audio writing.

cheerio

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #11 on:** 1 Dec 2003, 11:53 am »

You win, Micheal. He was a monster. Now that he's gone no one will write reviews just to please advertisers, and maybe you can sleep at night.

I'll try to find a map to his burial site so you can piss on his grave.

IanATC · « **Reply #12 on:** 1 Dec 2003, 01:32 pm »

Removed out of respect for Mr. Hirsch

byteme · « **Reply #13 on:** 1 Dec 2003, 03:57 pm »

Wow. Julian Hirsch. A name from the past. Like Rob I got hooked on audio by reading SR in the library while in high school. Seems like forever ago. But that's what piqued my interest. Ya, so he "never met a piece of equipment he didn't like". There's nothing to be learned from that? He wrote well about how things worked, turned me on to new technologies and if nothing else made me realize that while the mags may just spew on about how good EVERYTHING is, you still need to listen and make up your own mind!

michael w · « **Reply #14 on:** 1 Dec 2003, 11:27 pm »

IanATC;

Axe to grind ?

LOL

From your writings it's you who appears to hold the axe.
Pot-kettle-black ???.

SR's infamous abx tests have been debunked for years by both pro and anti-abx supporters as being flawed in methodology and execution.

True SR was not the only supporter of "Pefect Sound Forever" but they were one of the most vocal.

Yes, the Sony SCD-1 was flawed at Redbook playback.
SACD was OK but given the speed at which digital technology advances it was no surprise to see it "trounced " by the Phillips, a machine which BTW had it's own set of problems.

You really need to read those ProAc/ Alon reviews again if you think they were praised solely on price or some technical quirk.

Stereophile's review policy to only review products for which there are at least five US dealers has nothing to do with ad dollars.

Why should they review product that have no established dealer network ?
Imagine the outcry if they recommended a one-off product with no support or which no one could buy.

Guys like you would have a field day !

I do agree with you on one aspect; anyone who sees the mags as a bible is going down the wrong path.

It's ironic that most of your posts on this thread have been against the big dollar aspects of audio and yet you use the name ATC in your moniker, a company whose products are exclusively in the sector you so decry.

:p

regards,

warnerwh · « **Reply #15 on:** 1 Dec 2003, 11:44 pm »

I may be wrong but didn't Hirsch come up with the FFT to analyze speakers. Seems like it was something that measured it extremely fast so as the room or anything else wouldn't affect it. Read that magazine for twenty years and don't regret it. I can honestly say that my last subscription to Stereophile was a waste of money, even at a buck a copy.

SWG255 · « **Reply #16 on:** 2 Dec 2003, 02:47 am »

Good evening,

I'm going to show my age here and state that while much of what has been said about Julian Hirsch and his over-emphasis on the empirical side of audio reviewing has lead to many misconceptions, particularly among those who would rather measure than listen, he also performed a great service to hi-fi and to the hobby we love.

Please remember that at the time he began to write for Stereo Review the industry was in need of standard measurements. His work as a proponent of RMS amplifier power measurements and of FM tuner performance went a long way to weed out much bad equipment from good in the 1960's and early 1970's. Many "average" people bought receivers, turntables, phono cartridges and loudspeakers based on his advice with confidence. This directly lead to the explosion of the audio industry in the late 1960's. True, JH doesn't deserve all the credit, and his over-reliance on the "measure it, don't hear it" drove many to audiophile publications like TAS, but his writings allowed the hi-fi industry to grow and diversify in ways I think might not have happened so readily without his monthly lab reports, columns etc. in Stereo Review. It is also ludicrous to state the audiophile press sprung up as a result of the "everything's great" reviews in Stereo Review. J. Gordon Holt had been writing Stereophile since the early 1960's, and other small publications had been long targeting the home audio enthusiast with DIY electronics and speaker articles.

So, while it is true he was guilty of many accesses, he also contributed to the growth of the home audio industry.

BTW, he did have a way of sayijng things between the lines, particularly in his loudspeaker reviews in the early 1970's. Brave and ground-breaking, no, but as with so many of us, he wasn't just a one-dimensional figure as an audio writer. he was certainly a product of his time and education. As are we all.

IanATC · « **Reply #17 on:** 2 Dec 2003, 06:10 am »

Removed out of respect for Mr. Hirsch

Sa-dono · « **Reply #18 on:** 2 Dec 2003, 07:26 am »

Okay guys, enough of the bickering.

Like him or not, he's dead now. RIP Julian Hirsch.

Sa-dono
2-channel Audio facilitator

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #19 on:** 2 Dec 2003, 07:29 am »

Sorry, SD. This started out as sort of an obit, but it's about one post away from fight club.

I think RIP is more or less what I was going for.

-R-