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Several Beach Boys Classics Remixed to 5.1 Surround Sound

Jon Iverson Mar 12, 2000 First Published: Mar 12, 2000

Last week, Capitol">http://www.capitolrecords.com/">Capitol Records announced that it will release expanded DVD and VHS editions of Endless Harmony: The Beach Boys Story. The documentary, produced by Stephanie Bennett and directed by Alan Boyd, made its US television debut on VH1 in 1998. A soundtrack CD of Endless Harmony, originally released to coincide with the VH1 airing, is also available.

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Net Music Figures Prominently in Internet Tax Debate

Stereophile Staff Mar 12, 2000 First Published: Mar 12, 2000

Should Internet sales be subject to taxation? California's US Senator Diane Feinstein doesn't think so. Neither do most of her constituents in Silicon Valley, who are riding an unprecedented wave of prosperity as the growth of Internet commerce continues. Many folks outside Silicon Valley, especially traditional retailers, see no reason why e-commerce should be exempt from sales taxes.

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Clear Channel Communications will Unload 72 Stations in Merger Deal

Barry Willis Mar 12, 2000 First Published: Mar 12, 2000

The radio industry's frenzy of mergers and acquisitions has slowed down but hasn't stopped. San Antonio-based Clear">http://www.clearchannel.com/">Clear Channel Communications Inc., one of the largest radio broadcasters in the US, has agreed to acquire AMFM">http://www.amfm.com/">AMFM Inc., another major player. The merger will give Clear Channel more than 850 stations nationwide. The deal hinges on Clear Channel unloading 72 of its stations in 27 markets to comply with Federal">http://www.fcc.gov/">Federal Communications Commission rules limiting the number of stations that can be owned by a single operator.

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Revel Reveals All to Stereophile Scribes

Barry Willis Mar 12, 2000 First Published: Mar 12, 2000

Three-dimensional modeling, 4-pi anechoic chambers, and laser inteferometry were but a few of the industrial marvels revealed in early March to a group of Stereophile and Stereophile Guide to Home Theater scribes. The group convened Tuesday, March 7, at Revel headquarters in the massive Harman">http://www.harman.com/">Harman International complex in Northridge, California, for an inside view of the company's research, development, and manufacturing operations, organized and led by Madrigalhttp://www.madrigal.com/">Madrigal; president Mark Glazier. Madrigal is Harman's Middletown, Connecticut-based high-end operation, with the Proceed, Mark Levinson, and Revel lines under its jurisdiction.

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Making the Internet Safe for the Music Industry

Jon Iverson Mar 05, 2000 First Published: Mar 05, 2000

Because they now realize that downloading music from the Internet is here to stay, it would seem the major record companies would love to see a world in which Web consumers no longer own a copy of a song or album, but simply pay each time they listen to it.

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Buy Now and Avoid the Rush Hour

Jon Iverson Mar 05, 2000 First Published: Mar 05, 2000

It happens to most of us. You're tooling down the road, listening to the radio, and you hear some music that captures your interest. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to easily find out who the artist is and what label they record for without waiting for the announcer, so you can head to your favorite music outlet and buy the disc? But how about pushing a button and ordering the item right there on the spot—from the driver's seat?

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Houston Internet Company Will Bring MP3s to China

Barry Willis Mar 05, 2000 First Published: Mar 05, 2000

Houston's InterWeb">http://www.houston-interweb.com/">InterWeb Design has signed a joint venture agreement to bring MP3 audio to China. The three-way agreement, finalized in late February with a Chinese investment company and the Chinese government, will establish the first government-approved MP3 site in China.

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Universal Music Group Will Go Online Soon

Barry Willis Mar 05, 2000 First Published: Mar 05, 2000

One of the music industry's "big five" will soon begin offering its wares as digital downloads. Seagram, Ltd. chief executive Edgar Bronfman, speaking on Friday, March 3 at the Jupiter Consumer Online forum in New York, said his Universal">http://www.umusic.com/">Universal Music Group will start selling music online this spring.

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Added to the Archives This Week

Stereophile Staff Mar 05, 2000 First Published: Mar 05, 2000

Wes Phillips writes: "If, as some would have it, Audiophilia nervosa is like the dark night of reason, then certain audio epiphanies must necessarily stand out from a distance, like a grove of trees 20 miles away thrown into stark relief by prairie lightning." In his review of the B&W">http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/207/">B&W Nautilus 801 loudspeaker, WP recounts that "the B&W Nautilus 801 has the stuff to keep me in fireplace fantasies throughout my dotage, and probably well into my (hyper)active middle age to boot."

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Yamaha Debuts First 24-bit/96kHz Multichannel Receiver

Stereophile Staff Mar 05, 2000 First Published: Mar 05, 2000

High-resolution digital audio got a big boost on March 2, when Yamaha Electronics Corporation announced the release of its new RX-V1, a multichannel receiver featuring Burr-Brown PCM 1704 24-bit/96kHz DACs for all 10 channels, including two subwoofer outputs. Six of the channels are full-range with amplifier power of 110W each, with claimed frequency response beyond 100kHz.