Julian Hirsch Dies

He didn't contain any vacuum tubes, but he was an antique nonetheless.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/03/arts/03HIRS.html

>>
Julian Hirsch, 81, an Engineer Who Wrote About Audio Gear, Dies

By WOLFGANG SAXON

Published: December 3, 2003

Julian Hirsch, an electrical engineer and writer who was among the
first to help a growing audience of audiophiles sort through the good,
the bad and the indifferent in electronic sound equipment, died on
Nov. 24 in the Bronx. He was 81 and lived in New Rochelle, N.Y.
....

It was his technical approach that at times drew disfavor from other
experts, who asserted that he so admired each new line of speakers or
amplifiers that he ignored the aesthetic quality of the sounds coming
from them. It was, his critics said at the time, like judging a wine
by chemical assays.

Julian Hirsch warmed to the technology at 14 with amateur radio. He
graduated from Cooper Union in 1943 and spent World War II in the Army
Signal Corps. He then worked in the electronics industry on laboratory
instruments for spectrum analysis.

Having adopted hi-fi as a hobby in 1949, he and his engineering
friends started testing products as the commercial audio industry
caught on in the early 50's. They circulated a newsletter to spread
the results, the Audio League Report, and eventually found 4,000
subscribers.
....
<<