Earl Weed

Earl is a retired lawyer who handled international and other litigation for Shell Oil, and previously for Cooper Industries (now Eaton). He received his music degree from the University of North Texas, and later a law degree from SMU in Dallas. Earl was a guitarist and sometimes bassist, and played jazz-fusion, rock, classical guitar (for a while) and later played in a Country Swing band part-time for 12 years after moving to Houston in 1981. His first notable hi-fi consisted of a Linn LP12, conrad-johnson electronics, and Dahlquist speakers. Over the years, he cycled through Mark Levinson, Audio Research, BAT, VTL and other electronics, Linn, Wadia, CAT, EAR and other digital front-ends, various Koetsu and Linn/Lyra cartridges, EAR and Einstein phono stages with a Koetsu transformer, KEF, Chapman, Harbeth, Spendor, Vandersteen and Avalon speakers, and a large variety of cables. Ironically, Earl eventually cycled back to conrad-johnson electronics, and until very recently, still had the much-upgraded Linn. He also has developed an interest in low power gear, mainly focusing on Audio Note UK integrated amps, and Audio Note UK and Omega speakers. According to Earl, “From my electric guitar days, I have a prejudice for the “magic” of tubes; however, I am fully aware that tubed gear can sound awful if not handled properly. Similarly, however, I have a great deal of respect for what solid state gear can do, especially from my time playing electric bass. It can be so clean, and accurate, particularly in the bottom end. Or sound awful. It is all up to the designer.” Earl’s audio preferences are greatly affected by having played a great deal of live music in many contexts, and also having listened to an awful lot of live music. Per Earl, “I developed a great fondness for orchestral music in school, and have managed to hear most of the key American orchestras in their own halls in my years traveling for business (many of them multiple times). I have heard some of the great European orchestras as well. I have a preference for the Carnegie Hall/Symphony Hall-Boston sound, although I like Orchestra Hall in Chicago very much as well. The first two are very warm and woody. The hall in Chicago is also fairly warm but also capable of presenting precise articulation.” According to Earl, his beliefs about hi-fi are affected not only by having played a lot of live music but by having been able to record in various studios, and having experienced the surprising effects of different microphones, placements, direct board plugging, etc. on guitars, voices, basses and drums. “The idea of “accuracy” in the context of reproduced sound is up to the beholder. It helps me to recognize that effective musical reproduction is to a very real extent a matter of some very gifted people in the recording and medium-making chain creating a palpable and satisfying illusion. The notion of “perfection” does not really apply to that process, in my view. My notion of well-reproduced sound has no doubt been much influenced by my weekly listening sessions with Fred Crowder, whose Triolon-based system lives just down the street from me.”