The Internet has become an integral part of <A HREF="http://www.philips.com/">Philips Electronics</A>' global sales strategy. The Dutch technology conglomerate has announced a plan for online marketing that will link customers to more than 60,000 Philips dealers worldwide.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of new products are unveiled to the consumer electronics industry each year at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. But there would be no new products without the efforts of the scientists, engineers, journalists, inventors, company founders, and retailers who bring a product from concept to market.
Even though she calls her new band, 4x4, a "small" group, it's a <I>big</I> band—almost too big for the stage of the Knitting Factory on the night of October 11, 2000, as it makes its first American appearance. Bley's piano is so far to stage left, she has to lean against the wall and stoop under a hanging monitor speaker to address the audience. Four music stands dominate the rest of the apron—her front line of tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, trumpet, and trombone stand shoulder to shoulder, blocking the audience's view of Larry Goldings and his Hammond B3, drummer Billy Drummond, and bassist Steve Swallow, who stands 15' back and on a riser. If she'd showed up with her 17-piece band, they'd have had to have hung the horn sections from the rafters, like the sound system.
Every few months we'll ask this question to see if any trends emerge in the format wars: Which new formats have you purchased players for?
Writer Brian Damkroger had always wanted "a really good, big solid-state amp" to match his Magnepan loudspeakers. So when the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/304/">Classé CAM 350 monoblock power amplifiers</A> arrived, it seemed like at least one of his dreams had finally come true. But was it a match made in heaven? Damkroger lays out the details in his January, 2001 review.
Several rooms at the Alexis Park featured SACD front ends, but as we moved around the floor of the main LV Convention Center, we heard and saw a lot more about DVD-Audio than SACD. Denon showed their DVD-3300 DVD-A/V player, which began shipping a few months back for $1199. No new models were on the floor, but the Denon rep suggested that something new will be appearing later this year. Pioneer was promising a universal DVD-A/V/SACD/CD machine in the future, and Yamaha was also showing a new DVD-Audio machine, the DVDS1200, in their booth.
Audiophiles on a budget will be pleased to learn that not everything on display at Alexis Park requires a second mortgage. We were particularly impressed by the Audes model 037 loudspeaker, of similar size and sound to Revel's excellent Performa F-30. At $1200/pair, the Audes offers extraordinary value. All the company's products, including the drivers, are made in Estonia for export to North and South America, Western (and parts of Eastern) Europe, and Asia. The company has yet to establish a dealer network in nearby Russia because of economic uncertainties there, according to an Audes executive, who cited Russian prejudice against Eastern European products as another discouraging factor.
Charlie Lourie, longtime jazz recording industry executive and co-founder of the enthusiast-oriented Mosaic Records, died December 31, 2000 from cardiac arrest, a complication of the rare viral disease scleroderma, from which he had suffered for the last three years. He was 60.
"Be careful what you wish for, or you just might get it."