iPod Makes Apple Shine
The iPod is making sweet music for Apple Computer, Inc.
LATEST ADDITIONS
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Perreaux Hooks Up With Sanibel
New Zealand's <A HREF="http://www.perreaux.com">Perreaux Industries</A> began creating audio products 30 years ago, starting with the GS 2002 integrated transistor amplifier in 1974, and landed in the US in 1980 with the PMF 2150 amplifier. <A HREF="http://www.perreaux.com/backcat.php">Dozens</A> of new audio products have been developed since then, many of them groundbreaking, and the latest designs are again available in the American market.
Free Trip to HE2004 NY
<I>Québec Audio & Video</I>, Canada's premier home entertainment magazine, is hosting its fourth annual contest held in conjunction with the <A HREF="http://www.he2004.com">Home Entertainment 2004 Show</A>, scheduled to take place May 20–23, 2004 in New York City.
Listening #16
Consider the fate of Giordano Bruno, a 16th-century astronomer who challenged Ptolemy's notion of Earth being the center of a finite universe—and in doing so went head to head with the church of Rome. Bruno's scholarly diligence and fearlessness were rewarded not with fame, riches, or accolades from his colleagues, but with a hot-lead enema, after which he was burned at the stake. Next heretic in line, step right up, please.
Infinity Primus 150 loudspeaker
It was 20 years ago that I began audio reviewing as a second career. It was also 20 years ago that I made my first very expensive audio purchase: a pair of Infinity RS-1b speakers. The RS-1b was a landmark speaker in its day, and very costly for the time at $5500/pair. (I think my dentist has just spent more than that on a TV.) In retrospect, the RS-1b was an extraordinary value. With four large towers, more than 30 drivers, and a servo network and a passive crossover, the Infinity RS-1b resolved a significant amount of detail, was capable of large dynamic swings, had pinpoint image specificity on a wide, deep soundstage, and was capable of reproducing a convincing bottom octave in the right room when paired with the right associated equipment. Its main weaknesses were a relative lack of coherence due to its use of three different types of drivers to cover the various frequency ranges, and both the midrange/tweeter towers and woofer columns were picky about amplifier matching.
Isophon Europa II loudspeaker
Unless you've been on active duty in the Middle East, you're aware that Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab is back in business. During <I>Stereophile</I>'s Home Entertainment 2003 show in San Francisco last June, <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/musicintheround">Kal Rubinson</A> and I played hookey to visit MoFi mastering engineer Paul Stubblebine's recording studio, at 1340 Mission Street. As we sat spellbound, Paul played the original four-track, ½", 1-mil master tape of Stanislaw Skrowaczewski and the Minnesota Orchestra's legendary 1974 recording of Ravel's <I>Boléro</I> and <I>Daphnis et Chloé</I> (footnote 1). Stubblebine fed the four discrete channels from the specially modified ReVox reel-to-reel deck to a modern surround system. The master tape produced the cleanest, purest sound I had heard in a long time.
Aerial Acoustics Model 20T loudspeaker
Loudspeaker design is an art and a science. Anyone who tells you it's only one or the other is probably building or listening to some awful-sounding speakers. Design a speaker in an anechoic chamber for the "theoretical" world, and there's no guarantee it will sound good in the real one. Even building a speaker that excels at "real-room" measurements doesn't guarantee that it will sound all that convincing when reproducing music. We can't measure everything, and what we can measure can't be reliably ranked in terms of what's important to most listeners.
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Who buys the most music in your household?
Audiophiles pride themselves on their love of music, but it may turn out that their kids or spouses buy more music. Who buys the most music in your household?
Added to the Archives This Week
Our first of three loudspeaker reviews from the April 2004 issue finds Michael Fremer listening to the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/loudspeakerreviews/404aerial">Aerial Model 20T loudspeaker</A>. MF explains, "Loudspeaker design is an art <I>and</I> a science. Anyone who tells you it's only one or the other is probably building or listening to some awful-sounding speakers." Fremer ponders whether Aerial has managed to achieve that perfect balance.
Music Notes
On April 9, the European Commission announced that it was suspending its antitrust investigation into the proposed merger between the music divisions of Sony Corporation and German media conglomerate Bertelsmann AG.