Success begets success. Canton, Massachusetts-based <A HREF="http://www.twtr.com/">Tweeter Home Entertainment Group, Inc.</A> announced February 2 that it has acquired Home Entertainment of Texas, Inc. The acquisition gives Tweeter a solid foothold in the Southwest, and is the latest in a takeover campaign that has enveloped two successful regional chains in each of the past two years.
Several years back, sales of multidisc CD changers overtook single-disc players in the lower end of the consumer market. New multidisc machines from California Audio Labs and others have pushed this trend toward the high end, but will they overtake tweak single-disc player sales?
<B>VARIOUS ARTISTS: <I>Sacred Steel</I></B><BR> Arhoolie CD450 (CD). 1997. Robert Stone, prod.; Chris Strachwitz, exec. prod. AAD? TT: 74:29<BR> Performance <B>*****</B><BR> Sonics <B>****</B>
The <A HREF="http://www.cema.org">Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association</A> (CEMA) announced on January 23 that total November audio sales bounced back modestly from an anemic October, but were still off by 1% for both the month and year to date. Total dollars for the first 11 months of 1997 stand at $7.2 billion, compared to $7.3 billion at this time in 1996. Nevertheless, spectacular sales of audio systems are singlehandedly offsetting the lackluster sales in all other areas.
On January 28, <A HREF="http://www.carver.com">Carver Corporation</A> announced the resignations, effective January 21, 1998, of Mr. Thomas C. Graham and Mr. John F. Vynne as directors of the company so each can devote more time to his respective business. Carver Corp. also announced the resignation of Mr. Stephen M. Williams as a director of the company effective January 27, 1998. Mr. Williams is pursuing other business opportunities that preclude his continued service as a director of Carver Corp.
Chances are you've never seen an amplifier quite like the Mark Levinson No.33H. That's because there's only one other amp that's anything like it: the Mark Levinson No.33, upon which it's based. Both amps are more tall than broad, looking almost as though they're resting on their ends; heatsinks cluster around their side-panels. In the city of the High End, the No.33 and No.33H are skyscrapers standing tall above the warehouses.
Attention all you amateur speaker designers furiously creating the world's next revolutionary crossover or cabinet design in your garage: <A HREF="http://www.iserv.net/~meniscus">Meniscus Audio</A>, a manufacturer of loudspeakers that sells directly to consumers through mail-order marketing programs, has announced a loudspeaker design contest that offers the winner the opportunity to have his or her design developed for distribution as a kit. First- and second-place prizes will also be awarded.
Silicon Valley, Jan. 28---John Sunier, host of the nationally syndicated radio program <A HREF="http://www.btown.com/audio.html"><I>Audiophile Audition</I></A>, and I were here last night at Cogswell College for an Audio Engineering Society-hosted lecture and demonstration by <A HREF="http://www.medianix.com">MedianiX</A>. The Mountain View-based semiconductor company has pioneered a "virtual multi-axis" ("VMAx") surround-sound technology using only one pair of closely spaced loudspeakers.
Conventional wisdom has always held that a pair of speakers can make the biggest difference in how a system sounds. But these days other components may be equally or more important, depending on the situation.
In a covert sting operation launched by <I>Stereofool</I>'s competitor, <I>Big iF</I> magazine, 24-bit/96kHz tapes have just surfaced revealing a conversation <I>Stereofool</I> editor Acker Johnson (AJ) had with a local dealer in used audio equipment.