LATEST ADDITIONS

News
Electrical Power Industry Deregulation Opens Door for Scammers?
Barry Willis  |  Mar 22, 1998  |  0 comments
You may have noticed recent news items about proposals to deregulate the electrical power industry. You may have received solicitations to sign on with some start-up utility you never heard of, promising 10% to 40% reductions in your electrical bill. The model for this deregulation---if it comes to pass---is the long-distance telephone industry.
Continue Reading »
Interviews
Jim Thiel: A Coherent Source
John Atkinson  |  Mar 16, 1998  |  0 comments
There was something odd about the clock on Jim Thiel's office wall. I didn't get it at first, other than noting that instead of the minutes being marked off at 12 five-minute intervals, Jim's clock had 24 markings. That was it: as well as the number "12" in its usual place at the top of the face, there was another "12" at the bottom, where the "6" usually is. The clock that Jim built was typical of everything this laconic loudspeaker engineer is involved in: logical, functional, and different from what anyone else in the same field does. In his cigarette-strained drawl, Jim explained that the short hand of his clock always points toward the sun: directly up at noon, directly down at midnight. That's the way a clock should be, declared Jim, and when you're in his company, it's hard to see how he could be wrong.
Continue Reading »
Vote
How do you find out about the music you buy?
Stereophile  |  Mar 15, 1998  |  81 comments

The world used to be a simple place, where a record would sell only if it was big on the radio. These days, folks get their information about music from all over the map. Where do you get yours?

How do you find out about the music you buy?
Radio
16% (29 votes)
Magazine reviews
40% (71 votes)
Word of mouth
12% (21 votes)
Record store
9% (16 votes)
Internet reviews/samples
6% (11 votes)
Live venues
2% (3 votes)
Other (please explain)
16% (28 votes)
Total votes: 179
Continue Reading »
News
Sony Expands License for Phase-Change Optical Disc Technology
Stereophile Staff  |  Mar 15, 1998  |  0 comments
On March 12, Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. announced that Sony Corporation has expanded its royalty-bearing license under ECD's proprietary phase-change rewritable optical-memory technology to include advanced technology for use in rewritable CD and DVD optical-memory products. Phase-change technology, invented by ECD, is used in PD and CD-RW rewritable optical-memory discs.
Continue Reading »
News
New Computer Device May Revive Radio Hobby
Barry Willis  |  Mar 15, 1998  |  0 comments
Remember how your Uncle Charlie used to hole up in the basement with his ham radio rig? He'd spend hours down there, tweaking his equipment and chatting in an arcane jargon with fellow hobbyists around the world.
Continue Reading »
News
Record 116dB Dynamic Range Claimed by Monolithic Audio A/D
Stereophile Staff  |  Mar 15, 1998  |  0 comments
March 9, AKM Semiconductor, Inc. introduced the AK5392, a 24-bit stereo analog-to-digital (A/D) converter based on its proprietary dual-bit delta-sigma technology. The AK5392 reportedly achieves a dynamic range of 116dB, said to be a 15dB improvement over other single-chip alternatives.
Continue Reading »
News
Custom CD Patent Could Impact Future Music Retail Prospects
Jon Iverson  |  Mar 15, 1998  |  0 comments
In an announcement that could stun the neophyte custom CD compilation business and concurrently impact future prospects for the $12 billion music recording industry, superSonic BOOM has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Ergon Technology for a patented manufacturing process covering customized audio products. Like Open Market's announcement last week that it had received patents from the US government for its e-commerce technology, superSonic's announcement raises more questions than it answers.
Continue Reading »
News
Madrigal web site to offer La Folia, a music webzine
John Atkinson  |  Mar 14, 1998  |  0 comments
Coming soon on the Madrigal Audio Laboratories website is La Folia, a music webzine. Edited by Mike Silverton, La Folia sets out to supplement the audiophile press by directing its emphasis at recordings elsewhere neglected: present-day art music (aka "classical"), free and improvisational jazz, category-defying hybrids, and whatever else strikes their "clutch of sweet-spot stuckees as rare and well done."
Continue Reading »
Budget Component ReviewsHistoricalStand Loudspeaker Reviews
Spica TC-50 loudspeaker
Anthony H. Cordesman, Various  |  Mar 11, 1998  |  First Published: Feb 11, 1984  |  0 comments
High-quality, low-cost loudspeaker systems are not an everyday blessing. The Rogers LS3/5a has survived for more than a decade precisely because so few US manufacturers sought musical accuracy as distinguished from high output and powerful bass. The economics of loudspeaker manufacture also don't lend themselves to economy. The cost of woodwork is driving the price of speakers up almost as fast as the cost of sheet-metal work is escalating the price of electronics.
Continue Reading »
Floor Loudspeaker Reviews
Thiel CS6 Loudspeaker
John Atkinson  |  Mar 09, 1998  |  0 comments
A reviewer's life is not all fame and fortune. There are downsides, too, one of which is that, while many great-sounding components pass through your listening room, only a few get to stay there on anything like a permanent basis. (And that involves money changing hands, as in [gasp!] "purchase.") Before I bought my long-term reference loudspeakers—a pair of B&W John Bowers Silver Signatures—back in 1994, the speakers that had spent the most time in my 2900-cubic foot listening room were a pair of Thiel CS2 2s. I reviewed the '2 2 in the January 1993 issue of Stereophile (Vol.16 No.1), and although it was relatively affordable ($2250/pair at the time of the review), it did most of what I wanted a speaker to do. Other than a limited dynamic range in the bottom audio octave and a slightly exaggerated top octave, the CS2 2 sounded effortlessly smooth and free from coloration throughout the midrange and treble. It was also a real imaging champ.
Continue Reading »

Pages

X