LATEST ADDITIONS

It occurred to me recently that, after nearly a decade of specializing in reviewing affordable speakers, and with the exceptions of two entry-level Mission models, I'd never taken a look at recent designs from the large mainstream British speaker manufacturers. So with this review I embark on a Bob Reina "British Invasion" tour to seek out the most innovative and value-conscious designs from companies that have been household names in British stereo shoppes for decades.

"You're reviewing a <I>class-D</I> amplifier?" whined John Atkinson. "I <I>hate</I> measuring those."

"The realistic reproduction of orchestral music in an average room requires peak power capabilities of the order of 15 to 20W when the electro-acoustic transducer is a baffle-loaded moving-coil loudspeaker of normal efficiency."
&mdash;<A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/121503walker/index.html">Peter Walker</A> and D.T.N. Williamson, writing in the <I>Journal of the Audio Engineering Society </I>in 1954

Most audiophiles probably consider low-fi media such as podcasts irrelevant. But this may change when accessories manufacturer <A HREF="http://www.boston-audio.com">Boston Audio Design</A> launches its new HiFi Industry Podcast Series later this fall.

<I>Name change:</I> Ultimate Acquisitions Partners, the company that operates the Colorado-based <A HREF="http://stereophile.com/news/022105industry/">Ultimate Electronics chain</A>, has announced that it is converting all nine of its Colorado SoundTrack consumer electronics superstores to the Ultimate Electronics brand name this September. That will allow all 32 of the company's retail stores to "deliver a consistent, unified message to consumers in all of its markets and more clearly communicate its offerings and store experience," according to a press release.

In this, its 50th year of company operations, <A HREF="http://www.phasetech.com/">Phase Technology</A> announced and demonstrated a new type of loudspeaker system. The series, named dARTS for Digital Audio Reference Theater System, is obviously aimed at the custom-install, home-theater market, but the components and concepts are applicable to music reproduction in any number of channels. As described by PT's director of sales and marketing, Tony Weber, the dARTS system is (1) modular and (2) actively powered and equalized by DSP, incorporating <A HREF="http://www.audyssey.com/">Audyssey</A>'s MultiEQ XT for digital room correction.

Let's suppose that every audiophile is granted one birthday gift wish this year. If your birthday was this week, what audiophile gift would be at the top of your list?