Hard to believe it's been more than six years since NHT launched its flagship 3.3 loudspeaker (footnote 1). At the time, the floorstanding 3.3 was a revolutionary product for the company, whose product line until then had been aimed squarely at the customer who wanted good sound, but wanted it in a small, affordable package. While the 3.3 didn't change NHT's dedication to its roots, it did signal to audiophiles that the manufacturer could play ball with the big boys.
For the December issue, <I>Stereophile</I> will be running its "Product of the Year" results. But what would <I>you</I> nominate for best product of 1999?
While it's not exactly a stampede just yet, a small dust cloud is rising as several consumer-electronics manufacturers head toward the Internet to sell products. Last week, citing the need to "maintain the highest quality customer service in the new e-commerce era," <A HREF="http://www.denon.com/">Denon Electronics</A> joined the online sales herd. In an effort to keep track of e-commerce vendors, the company has announced that it will establish a separate authorization agreement for retailers handling Denon and/or Mission products on the Internet.
Low-power radio is once again an issue at the <A HREF="http://www.fcc.gov/">Federal Communications Commission</A>, and this time the agency is feeling the heat not only from community activists, but from rock artists as well. Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, and the Indigo Girls are just a few of the performers who have rallied behind a proposal to license 100W-to-1000W radio stations to private citizens, according to Frank Ahrens in the October 24 edition of the <A HREF="http://www.washingtonpost.com/"><I>Washington Post</I></A>.
More members of the <A HREF="http://www.cedia.org/">Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association</A> (CEDIA) are doing retail sales than ever before, although not necessarily out of traditional retail locations, according to new statistics released by the organization. In addition, an increasing number of referrals come from builders rather than from interior designers and architects, indicating that home buyers see home theater and distributed music systems as valuable features.
Robert Deutsch writes that "There's a well-known tradeoff in speaker design between sound quality for one listener vs. multiple listeners." But his review of the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/166/">Dunlavy SC-IV/A loudspeaker</A> reveals that, in the hands of a great designer, these limitations can sometimes be transcended. How did John Dunlavy do it? Deutsch gets to the bottom of this, and more.
According to the <A HREF="http://www.cemacity.org">Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association</A> (CEMA), the month of August saw hot increases in the sales of audio products. Factory sales of audio products rose 7%, to $694 million, equaling year-to-date revenues of $4.7 billion, slightly ahead of the first eight months of 1998.
<B>TAJ MAHAL & TOUMANI DIABATE: <I>Kulanjan</I></B><BR> Hannibal HNCD 1444 (CD). 1999. Joe Boyd, prod.; Jerry Boys, eng. AAD TT: 59:02<BR> Performance <B>*****</B><BR> Sonics <B>*****</B>