There's nothing groundbreaking about the technology included in Naim's new $22,400, two-box, remote-controllable, top-of-the-line NAC 552 preamplifier. Still, the inclusion of <I>two</I> sets of RCA input jacks is a departure from Naim's tradition of DIN jacks, and the NAC 552's programmability is unusual for a high-end two-channel audio product. And you can order RCA output jacks at no extra cost, which is how my review sample was configured.
<B>VIVALDI: <I>La Stravaganza</I></B><BR> 12 Violin Concertos, Op.4<BR> Rachel Podger, violin; Arte dei Suonatori<BR> Channel Classics CCS 19598 (2 CDs). 2003. Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, prod.; C. Jared Sacks, eng. DDD. TT: 102:59<BR>Performance <B>*****</B><BR> Sonics <B>*****</B>
Transistors can be made to sound like tubes, digital can be made to sound like analog, and cables can be made to sound like no cables. You'd almost think we live in an age of miracles.
It's a rare and lucky audiophile who has a room where both bottom end and imaging are optimized in a single speaker location. In reality, speaker placement is often a compromise between finding optimum bass response or perfect imaging. What is <I>your</I> emphasis when setting up speakers?
A continuing sales slump has the <A HREF="http://www.tweeter.com">Tweeter Entertainment Group, Inc.</A> projecting losses for the third straight quarter.
Dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century, the music industry may finally be settling into an uneasy acceptance that its market and business model have changed. Only two months after the successful launch of Apple's iTunes Music Store, <A HREF="http://www.billboard.com"><I>Billboard</I></A> magazine announced that it would begin accounting for downloads in its weekly music rankings.
Beginning in November 1996, Sam Tellig, Muse Kastanovich, and John Atkinson took turns with the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/873/">Musical Fidelity X-10D line-level preamplifier</A>. "I'll reveal the true identity of X-10D in a moment," Tellig writes. "But I'll say straight off that for those of you with such CD players as the Marantz CD 63, RadioShack Optimus CD-3400, <I>etc</I>, this may be the most cost-effective CD upgrade ever to come down the pike."
BMG and <A HREF="http://www.sunncomm.com">SunnComm</A> Technologies revealed last week that they have entered into a "strategic worldwide" licensing agreement and revenue deal to add restriction technology to CDs in an effort to reduce piracy and the unauthorized duplication of music. The companies report that the agreement will enable the use of SunnComm's newest proprietary CD restriction system, known as MediaMax CD-3 Technology, on BMG discs.
Harman International announced July 1 that it will close its Madrigal facility in Middletown, CT on August 30 as it continues to consolidate and reorganize its high-end brands under the <A HREF="http://www.harmanspecialtygroup.com/">Harman Specialty Group</A> banner. Although the name Madrigal was itself not used as a brand on audio products, it had been the umbrella under which Harman had produced and distributed its Mark Levinson, Revel, Audio Access, and (<A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/11612/">recently discontinued</A>) Proceed brands.