LATEST ADDITIONS

Stereophile  |  Apr 04, 1999

We got a record number of responses last week when we asked readers to share their loudspeaker preferences. Now tell us what <I>drives</I> those speakers.

What amplifier(s) are you using?
And the answer is . . .
96% (298 votes)
Don't like what I have, but do like . . .
4% (11 votes)
Total votes: 309
Barry Willis  |  Apr 04, 1999
Advances in audio reproduction typically proceed with tiny steps that, in time, add up to major systemic improvements. In this industry, quantum leaps in basic technology rarely happen. DiAural Doppler decoding may be one of them.
Jon Iverson  |  Apr 04, 1999
Last week saw a flurry of announcements in the online audio and video streaming business, capped off by Yahoo!'s acquisition of Broadcast.com. Yahoo! says it has signed a definitive agreement with Broadcast.com whereby Yahoo! will issue 0.7722 of a share of Yahoo! common stock for each share of Broadcast.com common stock. In addition, all outstanding options of Broadcast.com will be converted into Yahoo! options. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 1999 and is valued at around $5.7 billion, including $4.8 billion in Broadcast.com common stock and $900 million in stock options.
Barry Willis  |  Apr 04, 1999
Forget about tuning dots, mystical poker chips, and clocks with programmed electrons. They're all hopelessly out of date.
Stereophile Staff  |  Apr 04, 1999
Any audiophile who stumbles onto one of the more cantankerous audio newsgroups ("wreck audio opinion," anyone?) may wonder what has happened to the modern breed of audiophiles. One suspects that religious wars pale when compared to how some audio pundits jostle against each other! But over the years, there has always been a wide variety of opinion. For a perspective written decades ago that still holds true today, we present J. Gordon Holt's classic "Why Hi-Fi Experts Disagree."
John Atkinson  |  Apr 02, 1999  |  First Published: Apr 03, 1999
History teaches us that the full flowering of any social phenomenon takes place after the seeds of its destruction have been sown. That tourist magnet, London's Buckingham Palace, for example, was built decades after the English Revolution and the Restoration had redefined the role of the British monarchy as being merely titular, and made the elected Parliament the real seat of power.
Jonathan Scull  |  Mar 30, 1999
Okay, let's return to the power grid. In the February installment of "Fine Tunes", we learned that typical domestic 110V AC supplies are derived from that 220V transformer out on the pole. The center-tap 110V supply is unbalanced, but if you take 220V service, you're getting balanced power. One thing you can do is take 220V down to 110V with a step-down transformer. George Cardas swears by it. He's also experimenting with a Statpower Technologies Prosine 1000 Full Square Wave Converter hooked to a big mutha battery to power his front-end components.
George Reisch  |  Mar 29, 1999
Call me naÏve, but I thought the Hi-Fi Wars were merely in-house squabbles. Yes, meter-carrying objectivists and wide-eyed subjectivists can carry on worse than Republicans and Democrats in Congress. But I always figured that once someone cues up Dark Side of the Moon or Kind of Blue, the partisanship subsides as we revel in our common passion for music and sound. C'mon, everybody—group hug! Okay, I exaggerate.
Stereophile  |  Mar 28, 1999

We get requests all the time from readers who want to know what audio components others have purchased. What we're looking for is a description of what loudspeaker products you own and why you like them. Here goes . . .

What speakers do you listen to at home?
Here it is . . .
99% (480 votes)
Don't like what I have, but do like . . .
1% (6 votes)
I don't listen at home!
0% (0 votes)
Total votes: 486
Stereophile Staff  |  Mar 28, 1999
Last week, the Recording Industry Association of America released its annual demographic survey of 3051 music purchasers in the United States. "Several interesting profiles emerged in 1998, including the boom in R&B and Gospel, as well as the sharp decline in Rock sales," said Hilary Rosen, RIAA president and CEO. "Demographic shifts also continued, with women outbuying men for the second year, and a drop in purchases among 15-to-29-year-olds, contrasted by significant growth among those age 35 and older." Last month, the RIAA released its annual year-end shipments statistics, which revealed the size of the domestic sound-recording industry in 1998 to be $13.7 billion.

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