Turntables Wanted
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Grokster Decision Leaves Matters Murky
On June 27, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Metro-Goldwin-Mayer (MGM), agreeing that peer-to-peer file-sharing services such as StreamCast Networks and Grokster could be held responsible (<I>read:</I> be sued) if they encouraged their users to infringe copyrights. This will return the "MGM <I>vs</I> Grokster" case to a lower court, where it will be determined whether or not the P2P companies encouraged their users to violate copyright laws.
Peer to Peer's Promise
The music industry has been telling us for years that peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing is a bad thing. But a New York company has decided the record labels had it wrong and that it merely needed to harness P2P's power.
Do you find the ads in audio magazines useful?
Some like to think that ads corrupt an audio magazine, while others trust the editor and find ads a great source of information on new products and dealers. Do you find ads in audio magazines useful?
ProAc Future One loudspeaker
A company other than ProAc best describes the Future One: "And now for something completely different!" Of course, <I>that</I> was a company of British comedians. There's nothing funny about the talented British speaker designer Stuart Tyler's latest effort, but there <I>is</I> something odd: Tyler is reputed to have said of the Future One, "This is the loudspeaker I have always wanted to build."
PBN Montana EPS loudspeaker
Most speakers don't come in heavy wooden crates—they come in cardboard cartons, two per box, light enough to be tucked under one arm and carried out to the car. Not so in HighEndLand, where the smallest minimonitor can test a healthy man's strength. There are plenty of good reasons for this cult of robustness, foremost among them structural stability and the suppression of resonances.
Hales Design Group Transcendence Five loudspeaker
<A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/117">Paul Hales</A> has been a busy guy lately. In little over a year, he has designed and brought to production four new speakers in his Revelation series (footnote 1); his cost-no-object flagship, the Alexandra, which had been seen but not heard at a number of shows, was finally demonstrated at the 1999 CES; and he has introduced the new Transcendence series, which replaces the Concept series. (He's also produced a brand-new baby girl during this period, although I believe his wife made a significant contribution to <I>that</I> project.)
PMC IB-1S loudspeaker
I have a soft spot in my heart (some say my head) for transmission-line designs. I remember being entranced by the authoritative but effortless bass of John Wright's IMF and TDL Monitors, and I have been inspired to experiment by building my own lines in various sizes. Then, as demonstrated by Bryston's Jim Tanner at the 1997 WCES and at HI-FI '97, PMC's IB-1S loudspeakers threw an enormously deep soundstage. (I have a soft spot for that as well.)
IAG Acquires Mission
In a brief statement, <A HREF="http://www.internationalaudiogroup.com/">The International Audio Group</A> (IAG) announced on June 28 that it has purchased the <A HREF="http://www.mission.co.uk/">Mission</A> business from the Administrators of Symphonix. In a separate transaction, IAG reports that it has also purchased the Mission brandname from NXT.
Distribution Changes
<I>Note: this article has been updated at the bottom on July 5, 2005 with a statement from Nagra CEO Gérard Beuchat.</I>