News

Editor's Note: This is Part Three of a six-part series from reader Hervé Delétraz of Switzerland, who is chronicling the development of his DIY (do-it-yourself) audio amplifier. Part One is herehttp://www.stereophile.com/news/10825/">here;, and Part Two is here.http://www.stereophile.com/news/10832/">here.;

Jonathan Scull writes that "with its latest series of FPB (Full Power Balanced) amplifiers, Krell is taking careful aim at the seam between classic high-power two-channel systems and quality multichannel installations where sound is yet paramount. Nevertheless, Krell founder Dan D'Agostino was adamant: Krell's Class A components were designed for music playback. 'I'm a purist, like you, Jonathan!' he told me." In his review of the Krell">http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/266/">Krell Full Power Balanced 350mc monoblock amplifier, Scull determines whether or not Krell has struck its musical target.

The enduring audiophile dilemma about whether to optimize a home-entertainment system for music or movies may no longer be relevant, thanks to new disc players from Sony">http://www.sony.com/sel/">Sony Corporation and Philips">http://www.philips.com/">Philips Electronics NV. The machines were introduced at CEDIA">http://www.cedia.org/expo/">CEDIA Expo 2000, the annual home-theater and custom-installation trade show held in Indianapolis.

An improved digital-audio compression standard has been adopted by the Bertelsmann">http://www.bmg.com/">Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) and the Universal">http://www.umusic.com/">Universal Music Group for commercial music downloads. "Advanced Audio Coding" (AAC) is said to offer higher audio quality while occupying 30% less bandwidth and storage space than the popular MP3 format, according to an announcement from San Francisco–based Dolby">http://www.dolby.com/">Dolby Laboratories.

Music lovers who availed themselves of MP3.com's">http://www.mp3.com/">MP3.com's uploading-archiving-and-accessing services are about to become the next target market for the music industry. Nearing the end of protracted litigation brought against it by the music industry's "Big Five," the online music venture has announced a marketing service that will promote new commercial recordings directly to its users through e-mails. The recordings will be on labels under the control of MP3.com's opponents in the year-long copyright wrangle.

Dynaudio US's president, Al Filippelli, tells Wes Phillips that "Dynaudio speakers are a lot like the Danes who make them. They don't look all that fancy, but they tell the truth and they get the job done. To a lot of audiophiles, that's boring. But there are a lot of people who have been looking for those qualities in a loudspeaker, and for them, boring can be cause for excitement." Phillips takes an in-depth look at the Dynaudio">http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/262/">Dynaudio Contour 3.3 loudspeaker to determine if "boring" can make him happy.

Spotting another online niche, Hifi.comhttp://www.Hifi.com">Hifi.com; announced the debut of CustomHifi.comhttp://www.CustomHifi.com">CustomHifi.com; last week. The new site is aimed at custom installers. HiFi.com claims that CustomHifi.com is the first "comprehensive national, Internet-centric marketplace to offer custom electronic design and installation professionals access to leading audio/video products, information, and installation support."