It's no secret that the music industry has added watermarking to its arsenal in an effort to restrict how audio content is used. With SACD, DVD-Audio, and <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/11604/">now CD</A>, audio watermarking has been used mainly for digitally stored content. But the music business also has problems with live concert bootlegs as well as bootlegs surfacing after special broadcast events.
Corey Greenberg channels his heroes Beavis and Butthead to review the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/804/">NHT SuperZero loudspeaker and SW2 subwoofer</A>. As CG explains, the NHT may be the first speaker "that really <I>kicks ass</I>—one that offers true high-end, full-range sound, all for under $1000." <I>Huh-huh, huh-huh.</I>
Both XM and Sirius satellite radio systems have recently announced they have enough financing to keep afloat for another year or so. Reader Stephen M. Rose wants to know if you would be interested in digital satellite radio if audiophile-grade receivers hit the market?
This week's Soapbox finds reader Mark Gdovin lamenting the lack of tone controls on modern audiophile preamps. Do you look for tone controls when you purchase a preamp?
The US music industry is fighting a war on several fronts—industrial piracy in foreign countries, casual piracy in the States, unhappiness among consumers, and disagreements with artists (see related story).
Audiophiles know <A HREF="http://www.linn.co.uk">Linn</A> as a high-end consumer electronics company, creator of such products as the legendary LP12 turntable, compact amps, preamps, and speakers, and the innovative <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/497/">Kivor</A> hard-disk music server.
Record labels have found that CDs with built-in restriction technologies have not worked in all CD players, have been <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/11341/">incompatible</A> with some computers, and have engendered considerable backlash from irate consumers. But why should that stop them?
Kalman Rubinson reviews the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/799/">MSB Platinum Link Plus D/A processor</A>, revealing, "I have a warm spot in my heart for MSB's approach to product development." With this latest product, will Rubinson's heart continue to glow?
The music industry is again under legislative assault on both coasts.
The listing for the Rogue Audio M-120 monoblock power amplifier in the current issue's "Recommended Components" includes the comment, "Specified output power is 120W; JA measured just 100W into 8 ohms at clipping," which seems to suggest that Rogue Audio is overstating the amplifier's output power. This is not the case. The M-120 can be operated in both ultralinear pentode mode, in which it delivers the specified 120W, and in triode mode, in which it is specified at 60W. Our measurements were performed in triode mode; thus the 100W clipping power does, in fact, exceed the M-120's claimed output power of 60 watts in triode mode. Our apologies to Rogue Audio and to anyone confused by our lack of clarity.