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EFF's DRM Scorecard
Wes Phillips  |  Sep 12, 2005  |  0 comments
The Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF) maintains a website that we have found invaluable for keeping up with news about technological restrictions to information and fair use. Last week, we were directed to the EFF's new User's Guide to DRM in Online Music, which we recommend to everyone still undecided about buying into one of the online providers.
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Vote
Do blind audio tests settle any arguments about audio equipment? Or are they just a way to find out who has the best listening abilities?
Stereophile  |  Sep 12, 2005  |  55 comments

<I>Stereophile</I>'s Jon Iverson maintains that blind audio tests can only provide judgment on the listening acuity of those taking the test; not the relative merits of the equipment used in the process. But the subject is still a hot topic in our forums. What do you think?

Do blind audio tests settle any arguments about audio equipment? Or are they just a way to find out who has the best listening abilities?
They determine useful differences between components
27% (35 votes)
They determine who is the best listener
17% (22 votes)
They're good for both
21% (28 votes)
I have no idea
8% (11 votes)
I could care less
27% (35 votes)
Total votes: 131
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Stand Loudspeaker Reviews
Totem Acoustic Tabù loudspeaker
Larry Greenhill  |  Sep 10, 2005  |  First Published: Feb 10, 1997  |  0 comments
I first heard the Totem Acoustic Tabù loudspeakers at HI-FI '96, Stereophile's Home Theater & Specialty Audio Show at the Waldorf=Astoria in New York City last June. A startlingly realistic vocal recording drew me to Totem's sixth-floor demo room. Vincent Bruzzese, the speaker's designer, was playing Michael Jonasz singing "Si si si le ciel" from la fabuleuse histoire de Mister Swing (WEA 2292-42338-2, imported by May Audio Marketing). The small, two-way Tabù cast a holographic, palpable musical image with clear highs and sizzling dynamic pace. I was bitten, and set things in motion for this review. And two other things drew me to the Tabù: its capacitor-less crossover and its similarity to Totem's Model 1.
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Stand Loudspeaker Reviews
ProAc Response Two loudspeaker
Corey Greenberg  |  Sep 10, 2005  |  First Published: Jul 10, 1992  |  0 comments
I have a theory about "showing off" systems. I call it Zen and the Art of Keeping Your Yap Shut. Think about it: what's the first thing that pops into your head when someone tells you how great their system sounds? "Yeah, right!"
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Floor Loudspeaker ReviewsJ. Gordon Holt
MartinLogan Monolith loudspeaker
J. Gordon Holt  |  Sep 10, 2005  |  First Published: Mar 10, 1984  |  0 comments
Most Stereophile readers are aware by now of why the full-range electrostatic should, in theory, be the ideal transducer. (If you aren't aware, see the accompanying sidebar.) Acoustat was the first manufacturer to design a full-range electrostatic that was so indestructible it came with a lifetime warranty. (MartinLogan is now offering a three-year warranty on their speakers, and is considering going to a lifetime warranty). But Acoustat was never able to solve another problem that has plagued all flat-panel speakers: treble beaming.
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As We See It
DVD-A vs SACD
John Atkinson  |  Sep 10, 2005  |  First Published: Nov 10, 1997  |  0 comments
"This is offensive!" muttered usually mild-mannered Malcolm Hawksford, who was sitting next to me. "I'm leaving." The good professor was right. One thousand or so attendees at the 103rd Audio Engineering Society Convention, held at the end of September in New York, were being subjected to truly terrible sound. The irony was that the sound was that of 2- and 5-channel recordings made with 24-bit resolution and a 96kHz sampling rate, being played over a colored PA system to demonstrate the future of audio, in the form of DVD-Audio.
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News
Home Entertainment Show 2006
Stereophile Staff  |  Sep 08, 2005  |  0 comments
Primedia's Home Technology Group has announced that the Home Entertainment Show 2006 will take place at the Sheraton Gateway Hilton in Los Angeles, CA on June 1-4, 2006. Previous successful events were held in Los Angeles in 1992, 1995, and 1998.
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Vote
What is your favorite obscure audio product?
Lenny Cactus  |  Sep 04, 2005  |  87 comments

Krell, MartinLogan, Class

What is your favorite obscure audio product?
Here it is
83% (85 votes)
Don't have one
17% (18 votes)
Total votes: 103
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Turntable Reviews
Simon Yorke Designs Series 7 Precision LP Playback System
Michael Fremer  |  Sep 04, 2005  |  First Published: May 04, 1998  |  0 comments
"My original goal was simply to design a better turntable than the Linn because at that time in the UK, Ivor Tiefenbrun was the man—he was the patron saint and all that. And all the hi-fi mags were full of Linns. He did for turntables, in a way, what Mark Levinson (the man) did for amplifiers."
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Stand Loudspeaker ReviewsBudget Component Reviews
RadioShack Optimus Pro LX5 loudspeaker
John Atkinson  |  Sep 04, 2005  |  First Published: Jun 04, 1995  |  0 comments
It was a classic American tale: hearing that the head honcho of RadioShack was in town, the principals of Oregon-based high-end loudspeaker manufacturer Linaeum found out where he was staying and called him to see if RadioShack would be interested in marketing their speakers. They were rewarded for their daring by being given an introduction to the right RadioShack department head, and before you could say time-coherent, a deal was struck for RadioShack to manufacture a new line of three "audiophile" loudspeakers featuring a version of the unique Linaeum tweeter. The less-expensive Optimus Pro X77 and LX4 models use a baffle-mounted tweeter that radiates just to the front; the top-of-the-line Optimus Pro LX5 reviewed here mounts a bi-directional tweeter on the top of a diecast aluminum enclosure.
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