KEF Debuts New Finishes for Blade One Meta and Blade Two Meta

Sennheiser Drops HDB 630 Wireless Headphones

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Ariel Bitran

Seeking Synergies: Beats Acquire MOG

Ariel Bitran Jul 12, 2012

On Monday, July 2, 2012, Beats Electronic LLC, the company most popular for their bass-bumping and market-dominating Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, announced their acquisition of on-demand music service MOG, a music streaming service that offers users access to over 16 million songs via wired or wireless connection.

MOG users can access their vast library of music and user-created playlists through an internet browser-based website platform, connection to a streaming device on a home network like the Logitech Squeezebox Touch, or by streaming to a mobile device. Speaking of mobile devices, guess who else is in cahoots with Beats? In August 2011, Taiwanese mobile device manufacturer HTC acquired a 51% stake in Beats, a purchase equal to about $300 million dollars. This partnership allowed for HTC to integrate Beats Sound Systems into their phones.

Stephen Mejias

More Groovy Stuff in the News

Stephen Mejias Jul 12, 2012

The KLF's awesome 1990 masterpiece, Chill Out, the latest album featured at Classic Album Sundays.

Reader Robert Stewart shares “A King’s Ransom from Queens,” a truly remarkable, eclectic record collection soon to be available from Amoeba Records.

Stephen Mejias

Chatting with Wojciech Pacula

Stephen Mejias Jul 12, 2012

The Audiophile Tree of Life&#151a present from AudioStream's Michael Lavorgna. This guy watches over me while I listen to music.

In May, I exchanged a few e-mails with Wojciech Pacula, editor of the Polish online magazine, High Fidelity.

We discussed publishing, music, hi-fi, and life. (I can’t believe I didn’t mention Natalie, Nicole, the Mets, or beer.) You can read the interview here. There are also lots of pictures of my listening room and gear, which you might find interesting.

Pacula did a great job with the images and the translation. I don’t look or sound too painfully ridiculous. Whew!

Music in the Round

Music in the Round #55

Kalman Rubinson Jul 12, 2012

In my review of Bryston Ltd.'s SP-3 preamplifier-processor ($9500) in my May 2012 column, I found that it sounded outstandingly open and dynamic when used as an analog stereo or multichannel preamp. This was evident regardless of the rest of the system, which began with a McIntosh Labs MC303 three-channel power amplifier driving B&W 800 Diamond speakers, but eventually included Bel Canto REF1000M and Anthem Statement M-1 amps, as well as Adam Audio's Classic Column Mk.3 speakers. Didn't matter. The Bryston's transparency allowed each component to perform as well as I'd ever heard it. After that, I disconnected the SP-3 from my Manhattan system, tossed it (figuratively!) in the car, and took it out for a weekend in the country.

Stand Loudspeaker Reviews Budget Component Reviews

Polk Audio RTi A3 loudspeaker

Stephen Mejias Jul 12, 2012

Back at home, I'd recently set up Polk Audio's RTi A3 loudspeakers ($399.95/pair), which, at 14.75" H by 8.58" W x 14" D, are by far the largest bookshelf models I've had in my listening room. Right out of the box, the RTi A3 impressed me with its fit and finish. In Polk's Damped Asymmetrical Hex Laminate Isolation (DAHLI) cabinet design, five layers of MDF are glued together to form a damping system, then topped by a real-wood veneer of black ash or, in the case of my review samples, an impeccable cherry. The gracefully curved cabinet narrows in width from 8.58" at the front to about 5" at the rear, and is said to create a stronger, more rigid, more acoustically inert enclosure. (Knocking on the speaker's side panels resulted in a hollow resonance.)

Stephen Mejias

Frank Ocean: Channel Orange

Stephen Mejias Jul 11, 2012

I can’t wait for this one to be released on a physical format, preferably orange vinyl (please, Island Def Jam?), but we can stream Frank Ocean’s prog/R&B/soul/funk/quiet storm epic, Channel Orange, right now via his tumblr.

Music and Recording Features

A Fine Art: The Mercury Living Presence Recordings

Robert Baird Jul 10, 2012

It is perhaps the most cherished tale from hi-fi's primordial past: In 1951when music was first being recorded on magnetic tape, when the use of much-improved microphones became a mix of science and art, and when Stereophile's founder, J. Gordon Holt, was still a little nipper, years away from his first martini (though I wouldn't swear to that)the team of Robert (Bob) and Wilma Cozart Fine began to build a legendary catalog of recordings of classical music. It eventually included the work of conductors Rafael Kubelik, Antal Doráti, and Frederick Fennell; the Chicago and Minneapolis symphony orchestras; the pianists Byron Janis and Gina Bachauer; and the cellists Mstislav Rostropovich and János Starkerall released with often wildly colorful covers under the still-evocative title of Mercury Living Presence.

Art Dudley Listening

Listening #115

Art Dudley Jul 10, 2012

In the early 1980s, not long after I moved to New York City, I went shopping for a new pair of speakers. I already had a Rega Planar 3 turntable, an NAD 1020 preamp, and an Amber Series 70 amplifier (the second-most-powerful amp I've ever owned); what I now had in mind was to replace my aging EPI 100s with something bigger. Like them though I did, the EPIs were too tight and light for my new apartment, and I was certain I could find something with more bass and better scaleand still stay within my less-than-lavish budget.

Interviews News

Stereophile Editor John Atkinson at ListenUp!

Stereophile Staff Jul 10, 2012

In May 2009, JA gave dems comparing hi-rez recordings against CD and MP3 versions at the three ListenUp! stores in Colorado. This was part of the Music Matters program, in which audio retailers invite manufacturers and the occasional member of the audio press to demonstrate just how great music can sound on a high-end audio system. Before the Denver event, JA sat down with Adrienne Alterman to share his views.

Stephen Mejias

A Power in the Worldwide Cassette/Awesomeness Market

Stephen Mejias Jul 09, 2012

From time to time, I’ve written about my interest in cassettes. While I still haven’t purchased a Nakamichi cassette deck&#151the decks are out there, I’m just waiting for the right time and the right deck&#151I’ve nevertheless kept an eye on cassette trends. For a long while, I saw very specific, very underground labels releasing tapes; and, though new cassette-only labels seemed to pop up regularly, those, too, were extremely underground and extremely independent.