Slap echo got you in a flutter? Jonathan Scull writes, in <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//finetunes/275/">"Fine Tunes" #27</A>, that "last month I delved into avoiding reflective, parallel-wall slap echoes from ruining your audiophile day. But I've since learned of a perfectly useful workaround that's much less costly and involved than horsing around the Sheetrock." George Cardas lends a hand.
Warner Music Group may have just announced its first DVD-Audio titles (see <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10861/">related story</A>), but an upstart independent label is claiming the first DVD-A discs actually available for sale. In an attempt to establish itself as the leader in the new DVD-Audio format, 5.1 Entertainment Group's <A HREF="http://www.silverlinerecords.com/">Silverline Records</A> says it has begun shipping the first commercially available 24-bit/96kHz DVD-Audio disc, <I>Swingin' for the Fences</I>, by Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band.
You want to grow your market, you've got to plant some seeds. The <A HREF="http://www.ce.org/">Consumer Electronics Association</A> (CEA) is doing just that with the <A HREF="http://www.buzznet.org/">BuzzNet 2000</A> tour, a traveling educational event that will hit college campuses beginning this month, as reported <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10859/">last week</A>.
In an unusual move, chipmaker <A HREF="http://www.cirruslogic.com/">Cirrus Logic</A> has purchased patents for Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) technology owned by <A HREF="http://www2.bwspeakers.com/">B&W Loudspeakers</A>, a leading UK manufacturer. The patents will be used in combination with current Cirrus Logic technology in a new line of digital amplifiers, according to an October 2 news release.
According to a report just released by the <A HREF="http://www.narm.com">National Association of Recording Merchandisers</A> (NARM), Digital distribution—particularly streaming technology—will seriously disrupt the music industry, but has the potential to "benefit all segments of the business if companies can leverage their traditional strengths and create compelling consumer value propositions."
<B>In the Beginning Was the Word...</B> <BR> At first blush, the sound of the Vandersteen Model 2Ce Signature transported me to a bucolic nature trail in the Berkshires on one of those high, dry August days when the amber stillness of late afternoon imparts a sense of otherness against the endless vistas of green and brown and blue. In my Wordsworthian reverie, as I made my way up the mountainside, remembrances of venerable loudspeakers past called out to me from the sturdy stands of New England foliage. Mark you the lofty maple and the supple white birch; the noble pine, the mighty oak and humble larch; there, on the crest, an Acoustic Research AR3a; farther up the ridge, a copse of Advent, KLH, and Allison—and finally, high on yonder peak, beckoning like God's own flip-top, crush-proof box, the Vandersteen 2Ce Signature.
The urge to upgrade audio components seems endemic to the condition of being an audiophile. Which of the following is usually your main reason for upgrading?
It is often observed that audiophiles are an aging, dying breed, and that the obvious antidote is to bring younger 'philes into the fold. To that end, BuzzNet 2000 has been created as a "touring educational festival of new music listening technologies" by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). The program launches this fall with two dates on the west coast: California State University at Long Beach and the University of California at Davis.
The dawning of the age of inexpensive universal DVD-Audio/SACD/CD players may finally be upon us. <A HREF="http://www.cirruslogic.com/">Cirrus Logic</A> recently announced the introduction of their CS4392 integrated circuit chip, which the company describes as a high-performance Crystal digital/analog converter that "delivers unrivaled sound quality while providing manufacturers a cost-effective solution for next-generation DVD-based audio products including DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD (SACD) players."