<A HREF="http://www.liquidaudio.com">Liquid Audio</A> has been under attack for most of its short life, first from competitors and then from <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/11144/">its own shareholders</A> and corporate raiders. But the tumultuous journey may finally be coming to an end as the company reports that it is settling some of its lawsuits and shareholder claims while selling its remaining assets.
Hilary Rosen's 17-year tenure with the <A HREF="http://www.riaa.com">Recording Industry Association of America</A> (RIAA) will come to an end this year.
The new year ushered in several significant personnel changes for the audio industry.
The word <I>chancellor</I> derives, believe it or not, from the Italian word for wooden latticework, <I>cancelli</I>. In the church architecture of sixth-century Rome, a latticework screen demarcated an area near the altar where deacons or priests would stand, waiting to assist the principal celebrant as needed. In English, this area became known as the <I>chancel</I>. In consequence, a trusted assistant came to be known as a <I>chancellor</I>. In the High Middle Ages, that title was given to the cleric who would correspond on behalf of and maintain the archives for an important churchman, such as a bishop.
One of the nicest surprises at any audio show is encountering a new—to me, at least—manufacturer whose products seem to stand out from the competition. At the 2002 Consumer Electronics Show, one such standout was the Kirksaeter line of loudspeakers from Germany. I spent quite a few minutes listening to and enjoying the performance of these modestly sized and priced speakers, but since my writing assignment was electronics, I tucked the experience away in the back of my mind and moved on.
Rogue Audio's Magnum Ninety-Nine tubed preamplifier is derived from the original Rogue Sixty-Six that I <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/289/">reviewed in October 2000</A>. The Sixty-Six was designed to offer consumers a taste of high-end performance in a vacuum-tube line stage. By constrast, the Magnum Ninety-Nine's pedigree is pure audiophile, with a more sophisticated mu-follower circuit topology aimed at the purest expression of performance.
Modern hi-fi is little more than a way of getting electricity to pretend that it's music. Of course, good source components remain all-important, and even if loudspeakers <I>are</I> imperfect, most of us can find one or two that suit our tastes, if not our rooms and the rest of our gear.
Rumors persist that, in addition to SACD/CD hybrids, DVD-Audio/CD hybrid discs are on their way. How important is this to you?
The past year has been a busy one for Hilary Rosen, CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). She suffered a <A HREF="http://tirian.magd.ox.ac.uk/~nick/UnionDebate/">humiliating defeat</A> at England's <A HREF="http://www.oxford-union.org">Oxford Union Debates</A>, celebrated <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/11548/">new agreements</A> with Silicon Valley companies, and led her organization in the attack on file-sharing service Kazaa. Rosen and the RIAA have also attacked college kids and put pressure on universities to police their students.
One of the more intriguing discussions we had at last week's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) was with Jim Weil of Berkeley, CA–based <A HREF="http://www.soundapplication.com">Sound Application</A>.