Music reproduction has certainly come a long way since the early wax cylinder. But will we ever be able to perfectly reproduce the sound of, say, a live jazz quartet in our living rooms?
UPDATE: On Monday, February 9, Tower Records, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection at the US Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware. Industry observers had predicted the move in the weeks leading up to the filing. MTS, Inc., as the company is officially known, listed "more than $100 million of assets and more than $100 million of debts in its filing," according to a report from Reuters news service. "MTS expects to emerge from Chapter 11 within 45 to 60 days. It plans to swap $110 million of senior debt for $30 million of new senior notes and an 85% equity stake. Existing equity holders would retain a 15% stake," the report continued.
In his review of the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/amplificationreviews/1098cary">Cary Audio Design CAD-572SE monoblock power amplifier</A>, Martin Colloms explains, "It's no accident that low- and zero-feedback triode technology is now the mainstay of the Cary amplifier line." MC then reports on whether or not this approach has succeeded. RObert Deutsch adds some further thoughts.
<A HREF="http://www.lehmannaudio.de">Lehmann audio</A> has carved out a small niche for itself in the analog market with the Black Cube phono preamp (first noted by Michael Fremer in the October 1998 issue of <I>Stereophile</I>). The company now hopes to reach a wider audience in the US and Canada for the Black Cube and the rest of its products with a new distribution arrangement between itself and <A HREF="http://www.lehmannaudio.de/hudsonaudioimports/">Hudson Audio Imports</A>.
<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.