<A HREF="http://www.sunncomm.com">SunnComm</A> and others have been trying for years to find ways to prevent consumers from copying music discs. While their success in preventing digital copies <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/11754/index.html">has been mixed</A>, lurking in the background was a problem many felt could never be solved.
During the first week of February, major record labels quietly launched small-scale test marketing of a new hybrid disc that combines a standard CD on one side with a DVD on the other.
<B>THE BEATLES: <I>Let It Be...Naked</I></B><BR>
Apple/Capitol CDP 5 95227 2 (2 CDs). 2003. George Martin, orig. prod.; Glyn Johns, orig. eng.; Paul Hicks, Guy Massey, Allen Rouse, reissue prods., mix; Steve Rooke, reissue mastering. AAD. TT: 57:00<BR>
Performance <B>*****</B><BR>
Sonics <B>*****</B>
<I>To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction.</I>—Sir Isaac Newton, 1687
The Compact Disc clearly hasn't read the script. At a time when, in the autumn of its commercial life, the format is supposed to be stepping aside to allow younger blood to succeed it, CD has instead in recent years enjoyed something of a revival in audiophile opinion. While SACD and DVD-Audio, rather strutting and fretting their hour upon the stage, are doing more plain fretting than anything, the best in CD sound quality has improved sufficiently for some to question whether we need the new media at all.
In conversation with <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/399">Cary founder Dennis Had</A> at a recent audio convention breakfast, I learned that he had a long career in electronics, specializing in military/industrial high-power radio-frequency amplification and transmitters. However, his dream was always the re-creation of single-ended tube amplifiers, especially zero-feedback designs.
Reader Franklyn Ayensu is wondering, dollar for dollar, do <I>Stereophile</I> readers think today's digital sources sound better than today's analog front ends or the other way around?
FM fans alert: Tuner specialist Magnum Dynalab has introduced its "Triode Series," led by the $3995 MD-106T triode tube tuner. The MD-106T is said to combine great signal
sensitivity and selectivity in channel reception with "exceptional build quality and musical realism." One design feature that's something of a throwback to tube electronics of the 1950s and early '60s is a glowing "Magic Eye" tube indicator for fast, precise tuning. The MD-106T also features "a precisely aligned tunable five-stage RF front end, and a double-thick, gold-plated circuit board to minimize vibration," according to a company announcement. <I>Stereophile</I>'s Larry Greenhill is about to embark on a review of the MD-106—stay tuned!
The rumored economic recovery may not be simply spin and hype, if recent reports from the consumer electronics industry are any indication.
From the January 2004 issue, Michael Fremer writes about the "SUV-like, limited-edition, 20th-anniversary" <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/amplificationreviews/104mf">Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista kWP preamplifier & Tri-Vista kW Monobloc power amplifier</A>. No doubt the "bank-vault-like" designs will get your attention, but as Fremer discovers, after you close your eyes, it's "sheer sonic pleasure."