Listening #30
<I>"Good career move."—Michael O'Donoghue on the death of Elvis Presley</I>
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Fisher 500-C vintage stereo receiver
Back in 1964, Avery Fisher, founder and president of the Fisher Radio Corporation, wrote a short note for the 500-C Stereophonic FM Multiplex Receiver owner's manual. In that note he said, "a door has opened for you, and your family, on virtually unlimited years of musical enjoyment."
Canton Vento 809 DC loudspeaker
"I have an interesting loudspeaker for you to review," said John Atkinson.
Infinity Primus 360 loudspeaker
When I reviewed <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/loudspeakerreviews/404infinity">Infinity's Primus 150</A> loudspeaker in the April 2004 <I>Stereophile</I>, I was very impressed with its overall performance. To this day, I continue to be amazed at the level of realism this $198/pair loudspeaker can reproduce, and I've kept the review pair to serve as a benchmark for an entry-level audiophile speaker. When I'd completed that review, my first thought was: <I>Now—what can Infinity do within the affordable Primus series for more money?</I> So I requested a review sample of the Primus series' flagship, the three-way Primus 360 floorstanding speaker. After all, how could I resist listening to a speaker that claims 38Hz bass extension for only $658/pair?
Revenge of the Chips
On Monday, June 6, at Apple's World Wide Developers Conference in San Francisco, Steve Jobs revealed that Apple would switch from its IBM-sourced PowerPC chip to Intel's Pentium D processor beginning in the latter half of 2006. Industry analysts began dissecting this move several days before the announcement in a series of "will they/won't they" articles every bit as breathless as those announcing the splits between Ben Affleck and J-Lo or Brad and Jennifer.
Oh-oh, It's MAGIX!
We were walking back from lunch the other day with a fellow audiophile who announced that he was selling his audio-component–quality hard-disk–based recorder without ever having used it.
D&M Holdings to Acquire Boston Acoustics
More consolidation in the audio biz: <A HREF="http://www.dm-holdings.com">D&M Holdings</A>, owner of Denon, Marantz, McIntosh Laboratory, ReplayTV, Rio, and Escient, took another big gulp last week and made a move to acquire <A HREF="http://www.bostonacoustics.com">Boston Acoustics</A>.
Finding Music Like the Music That You Like
Let's face it. Despite the vinyl resurgence amongst the young and not so, the days when <I>analogus collecticus</I> could spend hours scouring record bins, holding product in hand, and reading album notes, are mostly behind us. In response to market evolution, at least three competing computer-based technologies have emerged to steer consumers toward music they will likely enjoy. Each uses a different approach, with one claiming "objectivity."
À la carte tracks or subscriptions? What is your preference for downloading music?
Assuming you could get any resolution you wanted (we are audiophiles after all) from a music download site, would you prefer to purchase individual tracks
Linn Unidisk SC universal disc player
<I>Death to the fascist insect that preys upon the life of the people.—an old SLA slogan</I>