Tsunami Auction
<A HREF="http://www.audioasylum.com">Audio Asylum</A>, in association with <A HREF="http://www.audiogon.com">Audiogon</A>, is sponsoring an online auction for the benefit of victims of the recent earthquakes and tsunami in Asia.
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NAMM Notes
Like the audio exhibits at the CES earlier this month in Las Vegas, the NAMM show in Anaheim, California is all about the passion for, and the business of, music. Or, to put it another way, both shows are about making music.
What type of broadcast music do you most often listen to?
Do you still listen to the radio? With regular FM stations coming in for heavy criticism and satellite, Web, and cable radio readily available, we're wondering how or if you generally listen to broadcast music.
McCormack Audio UDP-1 universal disc player
The modification of disc players is a hot topic on the various audio newsgroups, where the discussion includes do-it-yourself options and the recommendations of commercial modifiers. These range from tweak guys to such serious engineering firms as EMM Labs and everything in between. Not surprisingly, the objects of these endeavors are usually players made by one of the electronic behemoths: Sony, Philips, Technics, Toshiba, etc. In fact, it was just such a discussion that precipitated John Atkinson's purchase of and <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/digitalsourcereviews/904simaudio/index1.html… comments</A> on a stock Toshiba 3950 player, a popular target of modifiers.
Amphion Helium2 loudspeaker
My normal practice in seeking out contenders for Affordable Speaker Nirvana is to pursue speakers I stumble across at our Home Entertainment shows, and to keep tabs on new designs from manufacturers whose wares have impressed me in the past. This time, however, editor John Atkinson called me out of the blue: "How would you like to review the Amphion Helium<SUP>2</SUP> loudspeaker? It's the entry-level speaker in a Scandinavian speaker line distributed by Stirling Trayle of Quartet Marketing."
Sonus Faber Stradivari Homage loudspeaker
Yamaha once made a loudspeaker shaped like an ear. I felt sorry for the guy (especially if he was an audiophile) who had to write the ad copy explaining why a speaker shaped like an ear would sound better than one shaped like a shoebox or a wedge of cheese. An ear-shaped loudspeaker makes about as much sense as an eyeball-shaped television. But what about a loudspeaker that is designed like a musical instrument?
dCS Verdi La Scala CD/SACD transport & Delius D/A converter
Giuseppe Verdi gave the world more than two dozen operas, some good sacred music, and one string quartet. He also provided the young Arturo Toscanini with one of his first big breaks—conducting the singing of "Va pensiero" at his burial procession—and gave the flagship consumer product from England's dCS Ltd. its name. That the latter two gestures were posthumous and unwitting does nothing to diminish their poetry.
Audio Abounds at Macworld Expo
The <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/010505ces">Consumer Electronics Show</A> (CES) in Las Vegas is not the only major electronics event held in early January each year. Apple Computer and allied companies throw their own specialty shindig more or less concurrently.
McIntosh, Parasound vs Bogus Resellers
The new year got off to a litigious start as the audio industry's seemingly endless battle against the gray market continued with a pair of federal lawsuits.
Dorian On The Block
While at the 2005 CES in Las Vegas, we received word that <A HREF="http://www.dorian.com">The Dorian Group</A> had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. More details have emerged in the days following the show.