Classé's Mike Viglas watched the audiophile skies, scratched his chin, and thought about his business. As he gazed, it occurred to him that if everyone in audio was moving downmarket to invade <I>his</I> territory, why not take his company and head <I>up</I>market? Thus was born Classé's much-lauded Omega series.
Nestled south of the North Downs in England's southeast, the Kentish dormitory town of Sevenoaks is about as sleepy a place as you can imagine. Yet 20 years ago, in the unlikely circumstances of the back room of a Sevenoaks pub, I witnessed the world of consumer loudspeakers changing. Meridian's Steve Hopkins was showing a pair of the company's active M2 loudspeakers connected directly to a 101 preamplifier.
Some folks can take months, if not years, to finally buy that new amp, while others can make a "love at first sight" judgment in a matter of minutes. How long does it take you to go from quest to quenched?
Sad news this week: We heard from Ken Kessler of the passing of legendary UK engineer Stanley Kelly, who died in his sleep on November 13, after suffering a stroke the previous week. Stan would have been 89 next month. While he was, of course, the "Kelly" of the classic Kelly Ribbon Tweeter, he was also one of the founders of <I>Hi-Fi News</I> and was the only person to have been listed on the English magazine's masthead since Vol.1 No.1, the June 1956 issue. In recent years, Stan had developed a series of high-sensitivity speakers for UK manufacturer Musical Fidelity.
See it, hear it. That is the essence of an engineering project underway at the University of Applied Sciences in Fribourg, Switzerland—one that needs the assistance of a highly qualified PhD student.
Michael Fremer wraps his ears around the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/449/">Westlake Audio Lc5.75F loudspeaker</A> in an effort to figure out "what's a pro audio company doing at CES?" Fremer discovers why a brand that, until recently, was rarely heard outside of recording studios is now selling 70% of its products to consumers.
Can you hear long passages of music in your mind? If so, your brain may be wired for sound like those of professional musicians.
In the race to get satellite radio to market, <A HREF="http://www.xmradio.com">XM Satellite Radio</A> was the first to <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/11148/">hit the air</A> this past September. But competitor <A HREF="http://www.siriusradio.com">Sirius</A> says they were saving the best for last, and has now announced that its official launch date will be as early next year as February 14, with initial broadcasts reaching Denver, Phoenix, and Houston.
They don't turn over quite as fast as computer equipment, but mass-market audio component product cycles typically last about a year, until the next Consumer Electronics Show comes around. High-end audio products, however, enjoy much longer life spans—sometimes stretching to several years.