Controversy may sell magazines, but it can also cause all sorts of editorial and letter-writing ruckus. In "Where's the Real Magazine," John Atkinson follows the heated trail that began when he decided to put a PC soundcard on the cover of Stereophile back in September, followed by a Denon surround receiver (horrors!) that graced the December issue. Included as a bonus is the hot-off-the-presses March 2001 "As We See It" in response.
After a frustrating late-night duel with evil recording gremlins, JA called it a day. But the next morning he was back at the controls to record Canadian pianist Robert Silverman for what would subsequently become one of Stereophile's popular audiophile recordings: Intermezzo: Works for Piano by Brahms. In Intermezzo: The Santa Barbara Sessions, writer Thomas Norton runs down the key events that finally resulted in a completed analog master tape, with engineering from Water Lily Acoustics' Kavichandran Alexander.
Despite the best efforts of Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan to extend an unprecedented economic boom, the nation's economy is slowing. The slowdown is causing negative repercussions in many sectors—including the music retailing business and consumer electronics manufacturing.
A billion-dollar loss for the parent company may be a big gain for performers under contract to Warner Music Group, who will benefit from cross-promotional efforts aimed at millions of America Online subscribers beginning this month.
Last week, American Technology Corp. (ATC) announced that three additional patents on its loudspeaker technologies have been granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office (see previous story). The company also announced that it has acquired the rights to "strategic" patents from the former Carver Corp. covering a variety of audio reproduction and amplifier technologies.
As Michael Fremer puts it, "In analog, it's the little things that count, and Rega's upgrade of the basic Planar 3 design to the Planar 25 can only be described as visibly 'small.' But the sonic improvements I heard during my first encounter with the $1275 arm/'table combo were audibly big." Fremer takes a close look at and listen to the Rega Planar 25 turntable for Stereophile readers and attempts to reveal all of its secrets. Sam Tellig adds his two cents' worth.
February's the month when Stereophile publishes its coveted "Records To Die For" feature, wherein everybody working for the magazine gets to make like a music critic and add their two cents' worth about what gets them excited (musically speaking). R2D4 2001 is on newsstands right now, in the February issue of Stereophile; to commemorate its publication, we add the 2000 "Records To Die For" to the online archives.
Analog and digital audio technologies should complement rather than oppose each other. That's Rotel's philosophy with its new RDV-1080 DVD-Audio player. Combining the best of Rotel's expertise in both realms, the RDV-1080 offers "stunning audio quality," according to Rotel general manager Michael Bartlett. "The RDV-1080 is Rotel's answer to those who have asked for a DVD-A player that focuses our Balanced Design engineering approach on the unique challenges of this exciting new format," Bartlett said. "Even though it handles the most advanced format today, DVD-A, the RDV-1080 is nonetheless a direct descendant of our world-class CD players." Bartlett says his company is "using everything we've learned to identify and solve problems unique to digital technologies."
Writer Chip Stern has regarded the form-over-function products from "lifestyle" companies, such as Bose and B&O, for years now with great amusement. But can audiophiles find a product that looks as good as it sounds? Stern calls the Linn Classik CD receiver a "sleek, unobtrusive, uncomplicated design that does double duty as a lifestyle system and—for those who don't want the hassle of separate components—a true high-end performer." Too good to be true? Stern expounds.