Thoughts on Arnie Nudell

[Todd Anderson]

This was passed to me by Emotiva, so I thought I’d post it:




Thoughts on Arnie Nudell
By Dan Laufman, President and CEO, Emotiva Audio


Yesterday, I, like all my friends and colleagues in audio was shocked and saddened by the news that Arnie Nudell passed away.

There is no need to give a rundown of his influence on the high-end audio industry – I’ll leave that to the press, but suffice to say that there wouldn’t be a high-end market, or at least one that resembles the one that took hold over 50 years ago, if it weren’t for people like Arnie.

I can also state unequivocally that there may not have been a career path in high-end audio for me if it weren’t for Arnie and his colleagues at Infinity.

Electronics, audio, and music had been an important part of my life as a kid, but it wasn’t until high school when my habit of hanging out at Woodland Stereo Center in Woodland Hills, CA changed everything for me.

It was at Woodland Stereo that I got to meet a lot of guys who are celebrities in the audio business, and nobody impressed me more than Arnie. His work at Infinity was considered the gold standard for both long-time and budding audiophiles like me. I’ll never forget hearing the original Servo-Statik 1 loudspeaker system. It was a transcendent experience, and it changed me. I was, and remain to this day, hooked on the “high end."

That experience led to my becoming fully committed to a career in audio. As life would have it, Arnie and I became friends, and his kindness, support, and belief in me opened many doors in the early stages of my career. Arnie’s endorsement of my first mobile amplifier project for Infinity put me in a different league from that point forward.

Tomorrow, as my family and I celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, Arnie will be on my mind. Any success I enjoy in this business can be traced back in part to his generosity, consideration, and unwavering enthusiasm for high-end audio products that make a difference. His commitment to excellence changed my worldview.
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Godspeed, Arnie.

 

[tesseract]

I am glad Dan shared that, and thanks for posting, Todd.

I had the opportunity to converse with and sit next to Arnie (and Paul McGowan) while listening to a pair of NOS Infinity Beta, found mothballed away and brought to the RMAF 2014 show. A memorable experience for me.

The industry has lost another icon. RIP Mr. Nudell.

 

[Matthew J Poes]

Thank you both for posting.

I was really shocked and saddened at this news as well.

My first truly high end speaker was a pair of Infinity Quantum II's. They changed my views on what good sound is. I fully rebuilt them while in highschool (foam surrounds on woofers, rubber surrounds on midbass, and the crossovers.)

The number of innovations in that speaker alone was amazing. Line array emit tweeters, dual dome midranges, aperiodic loaded midbass drivers.