The fate of <A HREF="http://www.towerrecords.com">Tower Records</A> has been the subject of music industry speculation for months. The company's financial difficulties have been no secret; several stories recently appeared alluding to a new <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/11041/">Tower policy</A> of making some suppliers share the burden—especially distributors of small specialty classical labels.
It might stand to reason that the first market for DVD-Audio discs will likely be consumers who already own DVD-Video machines. It also stands to reason that a large number of consumers who have set up a DVD-Video player in their systems have also added surround-sound speakers in their audio/video rooms, and are looking for new software to take advantage of the extra channels.
As Michael Fremer reports, critics have universally hailed Infinity's $8k flagship Prelude MTS. But can the success of the MTS trickle down to the lower price points? For his review of the $2000/pr <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/364/">Infinity Intermezzo 2.6 loudspeaker</A>, Fremer set out to determine if the more modest sibling is a "worthwhile chip off the old block or just a marketing divot."
JBL speakers remind me of college.
You can bet Infinity plans on selling a respectable number of $8000/pair <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/295/">Prelude MTS</A> speakers (reviewed in the May 2000 <I>Stereophile</I>) over this ambitious, full-range design's anticipated lifespan. But will the company make enough money to recoup the megabucks spent on researching, designing, and developing the all-new CMMD (Ceramic Metal Matrix Diaphragm) drivers, BASH (Bridge Amplifier Switching Hybrid) powered subwoofer, and RABOS (Room Adaptive Bass Optimization System) bass-equalization system? NOWAY (Never Over-Estimate What Acronyms Yield).
First they were silver, then black, then silver, then both. . . . Do you have a preference for components in a particular finish?
The European Commission isn't especially fond of joint ventures by international media conglomerates. Last year, the EC successfully squashed a proposed merger of EMI and Warner Music Group on the grounds that WMG's parent company, AOL Time Warner (then simply Time Warner), combined with the UK's biggest name in music, would create "a virtual monopoly" of the European music market. A few months later, merger discussions between EMI and Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) similarly went nowhere. EC investigators also looked into price-fixing in the European CD market early this year.
They've been around for years, under a variety of guises and from an evolving list of manufacturers and distributors. But the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/361/">BBC LS3/5a loudspeakers</A> still cling to their legendary status. We provide not only J. Gordon Holt's original 1977 review for <I>Stereophile</I>, but also follow-ups from 1984, 1989, and 1993. Read about the little speaker that could.
More good news for budget-conscious audiophiles who are waiting for that all-in-one universal high-resolution audio player: Yet another chip manufacturer is announcing a decoder IC that will allow new DVD machines to untangle just about any audio file format. Last week, LuxSonor Semiconductors joined the growing list (see <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/11059/">previous</A>) of chip manufacturers that are including both DVD-Audio and SACD in one package.