Author and television producer Howard J. Blumenthal has completed his Jazz and World Music <I>CD Listener's Guides</I>, the first two volumes in a four-volume series. The publications include brief biographies of the top artists in each genre, arranged alphabetically, and hundreds of short reviews of the discs the author considers essential.
I've never heard a pair of the Italian Sonus Faber speakers I didn't like. What I've never liked was the US price: too high. And then you have to put them on costly stands. Plus, you're paying a premium for the magnificent woodworking and exquisite design—something I wasn't into, since I live with my stereo in a basement office/workshop/listening room some (who shall remain nameless) refer to as the "habitat for inhumanity."
Almost two years ago, Conrad-Johnson's Lew Johnson came to Santa Fe while visiting his western dealers. We were chatting about acquaintances in the industry as I showed him the new house I'd barely moved into when he spread a blueprint across a stack of record boxes and showed me a design for a new product.
Maybe it doesn't really matter how much music you have if you've got those three great albums that do it for you every time, but some folks just can't stop collecting. How about you?
The worldÆs first DVD-Audio single will soon be out from the rock group Full on the Mouth. "People Mover" is a track from the groupÆs forthcoming album, <I>Collide</I>. "We felt a 5.1 surround-sound mix would be a great medium to showcase the capabilities and technology of DVD and the electronic elements of Full on the Mouth,'' said Charlie Lico, chief executive officer of the bandÆs label, Pioneer Music Group, which is a subsidiary of <A HREF="http://www.pioneerusa.com"> Pioneer Electronic Corporation.</A>
On May 5, <A HREF="http://global.ihs.com">Global Engineering Documents</A> (Global) signed an exclusive worldwide agreement with the <A HREF="http://www.aes.org">Audio Engineering Society</A> (AES) to reproduce, market, distribute, and sell AES industry standards worldwide.
Several manufacturers will be demonstrating state-of-the-art audio products at <A HREF="http://www.hifishow.com">HI-FI '98</A>---some of which have never been seen by the public before.
On Tuesday, May 5, beleaguered <A HREF="http://www.carver.com">Carver</A> announced that it had received a financial transfusion of almost $400,000 and that it would make a move into direct marketing in an attempt to bolster flagging sales. The Woodinville, Washingon-based company announced in a press release that it "had closed a sale of 3,000,000 shares of restricted Common Stock of the Company to one of its preferred shareholders, Renwick Special Situations Fund, L.P., for $375,000, or $0.125 per share."
<I>Man</I>, has Balanced Audio Technology come a long way in a short time. I think partners Steve Bednarski and Victor Khomenko have comprehensively put the kibosh on the notion that newcomers can't succeed in high-end audio.
There are some wildly different speaker technologies out there with one common goal: accurate reproduction of music. In your experience, which approach works best?