From the January 1996 issue, Jonathan Scull listens closely to the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/amplificationreviews/196wavelength">Waveleng… Audio Cardinal XS monoblock amplifier</A>. Single-ended tube designs such as the Wavelength can inspire controversy within audiophile ranks, so Scull carefully sorts the plusses and minuses.
Long-time readers of <I>Stereophile</I>, with stacks of magazines stuffed in their closets, will be glad to hear that we are launching a <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/images/masterindex/index.html">Master Index</A> of past articles and publishing it free of charge online.
Our Delta L-1011 emerged from the cloud split-seconds before its wheels touched the waterlogged ground. "How much lower does the cloud cover have to be before they divert us to another city?" I asked Tom Norton. "About an inch," came the phlegmatic reply. (Ex-F4 pilot TJN categorizes any landing you can walk away from as "good.") But at least we had reached Atlanta, after a saga of air-traffic control problems, weather delays, and missed connections. (Does anyone remember taking a flight that <I>wasn't</I> full, <I>wasn't</I> late, and <I>wasn't</I> sweaty and stressful? Wasn't deregulation supposed to improve service by increasing the choices available to travelers?)
MACH 1 Acoustics? Cute name. Mach 1 is, of course, the speed of sound—the speed at which a loudspeaker's acoustic output is forever constrained to travel. Quite a fitting choice for Marc McCalmont, Marine and jet pilot turned speaker designer. Marc retired to Wilton, NH together with Melissa. (Oops, that should be <A HREF="http://www.mlssa.com">MLSSA</A>, the well-known acoustic analysis system—not Marc's girlfriend.)
<B>Jonathan Scull: </B>Gordon, please tell us what you see as the basic difference between single-ended and push-pull.
We have to talk. Are you sitting comfortably? Is the reading light okay? Have a little something to drink at hand? (Audio is <I>thirsty</I> business.) The audio world is abuzz over the reintroduction of the single-ended triode amplifier. This is the first of three reviews of such amplifiers I'll be bringing you, along with two speaker systems with which to play them.
In addition to the big players, high-end audio fosters a healthy number of small and modest-sized manufacturers. Reader Rob Neary wants to know if readers have a particular company that they feel deserves more recognition.
Rumors have been circulating for some weeks now that the Chinese-owned, UK-based International Audio Group (IAG), which owns and operates the Quad and Wharfedale brands, was in talks with TAG McLaren, with the intention of taking over the latter's Audio division.
Primedia, the leading targeted media company, announced March 30 the newsstand arrival of its recently launched <I><A HREF="http://www.connectedguide.com">Connected Guide To The Digital Home</A></I>. Part of Primedia's Home Technology & Photography (HT&P) Group, <I>Connected</I> is the first consumer magazine dedicated entirely to adopting and integrating audio, video, information, telecommunications, security and other personal and home technologies.