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If you had to choose, which do you prefer: delayed Show coverage in the print magazine or live website Show coverage?
John Atkinson  |  Oct 22, 2006  |  0 comments

Until 2006, <I>Stereophile</I> covered audio Shows in the print magazine, usually between three and five months after the event. In 2006, its Show coverage was published almost entirely on this website, live during the Shows. (See, for example, our <A HREF="http://blog.stereophile.com/rmaf2006/">report from this weekend's Rocky Mountain Audio Fest.</A>) Do you appreciate this change in policy and if you had to choose, which do you prefer: delayed coverage in the print magazine or live website coverage?

If you had to choose, which do you prefer: delayed Show coverage in the print magazine or live website Show coverage?
Delayed magazine reports
30% (30 votes)
Live website coverage
65% (65 votes)
Neither
5% (5 votes)
Total votes: 100
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RMAF 2006
Amplifier Enlightenment
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Oct 22, 2006  |  3 comments
As mentioned in the introductory post to this blog, Peter "PJay" Smith (above), Bob Cordell, and Darren Kuzma presented gratis "Amplifier and Loudspeaker Listening and Measurement" clinics throughout the show. One of the clinics, which I was unable to attend, interpreted amplifier measurement data supplied by Stereophile's John Atkinson.
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RMAF 2006
New Sutherlands
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Oct 22, 2006  |  0 comments
My photo of the system in the Acoustic Sounds room featured the Manley Labs Snapper monoblock amplifiers. This was the system front-end, comprising (from top to bottom): Funk Firm Vector Turntable with MK3 tonearm and Lyra Dorian phono cartridge; Sutherland Direct Line Stage; Sutherland's new battery-powered Ph3D phono preamp; and Silver Circle Audio Pure Power One 5.0 power transformer. Rack is the Symposium Acoustics Isis.
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RMAF 2006
Sprays, Sprays, and More Sprays
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Oct 22, 2006  |  3 comments
Somewhere on the 5th floor, around the corner and through the woods on the way to Grandma’s house, I discovered a lovely woman distributing CD Clarity, a water-based, non-toxic spray said to clean, protect, and restore CDs and DVDs. ("Reduce background noise, improve tracking and enhance musical balance, while cleaning and protecting discs from future scratches," says the label). Developed by the late Dave Herren of Oregon, CD Clarity joins an assortment of highly touted treatments, some of which include products from Walker Audio, Jena Labs, Audiotop, Classic Records, and Optrix. Add to that batch Nordost’s Eco3 static inhibitor, which can be sprayed on the label side of CDs.
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RMAF 2006
Nordost: Promise Fulfilled
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Oct 22, 2006  |  0 comments
I began my Sunday in the Nordost room on the Tower mezzanine. Familiar with the sound of the Nordost Valhalla interconnects, speaker cables, and power cables in my reference system, as well as the benefits of the Nordost Thor power distribution center that I have for review in another publication (and will not be returning), I was wondering how they would sound powering completely different components.
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News
Logitech Acquires Slim Devices
Wes Phillips  |  Oct 22, 2006  |  0 comments
Logitech International, the Swiss computer'n'communications peripherals manufacturer, announced on October 19 that it had acquired Slim Devices, Inc., the home-network-music-systems pioneer that manufactures the Squeezebox and Transporter.
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News
Twelve Inducted into Consumer Electronic Hall of Fame
Wes Phillips  |  Oct 22, 2006  |  0 comments
On October 19, 2006, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) honored the latest 12 members of the CEA Hall of Fame at its awards dinner at the San Francisco CEA Industry Forum.
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News
New Acoustic Room Treatment Products
Wes Phillips  |  Oct 22, 2006  |  0 comments
It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that an audiophile in possession of a good hi-fi must be in want of room treatment. The problem, most audiophiles agree, is that said treatment tends to be expensive, big, and fugly. Nucore Technologies, Inc. of Hillsborough, TN and RealTraps of New Milford, CT have some innovative new solutions.
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RMAF 2006
Metronome
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Oct 22, 2006  |  0 comments
Having read and heard copious praise of the two-chassis Metronome T2i-Signature CD player ($20,600), at times accompanied by claims that it can make CDs sound as good as SACDs reproduced in two-channel mode, I was eager to hear the new one-piece Metronome CD5-Signature player, distributed in the US by Jim Ricketts of tmh audio (above). The CD5-Signature, whose somewhat plain Jane appearance conceals both a tube output stage and variable volume control that can obviate the need for a preamp, retails for a "mere" $18,000. Introduced at the RMAF, it was powered by borrowed-at-the-last-minute Boulder monoblocks feeding Zerobox 109 loudspeakers (40Hz–35kHz response for $7500/pair) via Xindak cabling.
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Stand Loudspeaker ReviewsBudget Component Reviews
BG Z1 loudspeaker
Robert J. Reina  |  Oct 22, 2006  |  0 comments
Last summer, John Atkinson and I were playing a jazz gig poolside at my local club, and during a break we began discussing equipment. As JA adjusted his microphones and I became increasingly nervous about the running, jumping kids splashing chlorinated water on his Nagra digital recorder, he asked me if I'd like to review the Z1 loudspeaker from BG Corp. "It's an interesting little bookshelf speaker featuring a ribbon tweeter." Hmm—an affordable bookshelf speaker matching a ribbon tweeter to a dynamic woofer? Very interesting. "Sounds good," said I, and resumed my ivory duties.
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