From 1992, we have Martin Colloms' review of the Sonus Faber Extrema loudspeaker. He exclaims, "The Extrema represents one of the fullest expressions of the art of speaker design: performance rules…
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Anthony H. Cordesman and John Atkinson tackle the classic Vandersteen 2C loudspeaker in a review from 1986. "Whenever I think of cone speaker systems, I think of three brand names: Snell, Thiel, and Vandersteen," says Cordesman, prompting JA to add, "I must say that I just don't understand how Richard Vandersteen can sell the 2Ci at a hair under $1200/pair and expect to make any money."
Audiogon/Videogon.com—the online resource for buying and selling high-end audio and video equipment—has joined forces with Primedia and the Elf Foundation for a charity auction, which will be held at the Home Entertainment 2003 Show in San Francisco, June 6–8, 2003.
According to Stephen Clay, CFO of Audiogon/Videogon.com, "We are jointly seeking contributions of audio and video equipment to auction off to the highest bidder online during the Show. All proceeds will be donated to the Elf Foundation—a favorite charity of the home-entertainment industry. The Elf Foundation's mission is '…
Back in January of 2002, we reported that loudspeaker manufacturer NHT and DEQX (then known as ClarityEQ) had begun to co-develop a new line of active loudspeakers using DEQX's custom digital room correction technology. It's two years later, and NHT says it is finally ready to unveil the first speaker system incorporating digital signal processing (DSP) developed during the alliance.
NHT says that its first DSP-based system will consist of small satellite speakers, a unique powered subwoofer, and an outboard electronic component housing a DSP processor and class-D amplifiers. The company…
The continuing legal attacks on Napster, the free file-sharing software, and on MP3.com, the downloadable music site, have spooked investors, according to the financial press. MP3.com's stock got hammered hard, dropping by about 40% almost immediately in the wake of a recent decision by US District Court judge Jed S. Rakoff in favor of the Recording Industry Association of America's copyright-violation complaint against the Internet startup.
One beneficiary of the abandonment of the "free music" movement has been Emusic.com, a downloadable music site boasting strategic agreements with 600…
One by one, free music sites are disappearing. On January 19, Amsterdam-based KaZaA became the latest, caving in to threats of fines in excess of $40,000 per day.
KaZaA had been the defendant in a copyright infringement case brought against it last year by Buma-Stemra, a Dutch authors-and-artists collection agency that performs many of the same services in the Netherlands that BMI and ASCAP perform in the US. The Dutch peer-to-peer file-sharing service was found in violation of copyright law, and had been under court order to prevent "unauthorized downloading of copyrighted material" or…
Audiophiles of every stripe know that achieving a realistic soundstage is maddeningly elusive—some would say impossible. When a system is right for some recordings, it's far off for others.
It's especially difficult with only a single pair of loudspeakers, due to huge variations in room acoustics and the almost always unknown but essential details about how a recording was made. Binaural headphone recording and playback has always offered better spatial cues, sometimes with disturbingly realistic effects. Using a dummy head with microphones placed where human ears would be, recordists can…
Merger mania in high-end land: Loudspeaker manufacturer Hales Design Group and digital audio manufacturer Wadia Digital Corporation are joining forces to create what the companies' executives are calling "new digital products for the new millennium." The announcement was made February 14 at Wadia headquarters in River Falls, Wisconsin.
Under terms of the merger, Hales Design Group, based in Huntington Beach, California, will operate as a division of Wadia while retaining its own brand identity. Throughout the company's six-year history, Hales loudspeakers have won numerous industry awards…
Success begets success. Canton, Massachusetts-based Tweeter Home Entertainment Group, Inc. announced February 2 that it has acquired Home Entertainment of Texas, Inc. The acquisition gives Tweeter a solid foothold in the Southwest, and is the latest in a takeover campaign that has enveloped two successful regional chains in each of the past two years.
With four stores in Houston and three in Dallas, the 42-year-old Texas operation did approximately $25 million in retail sales in its most recent fiscal year (ending June 30, 1998). "We are excited about teaming with the Tweeter…
Last week, Tweeter Home Entertainment Group announced that it has reached an agreement in principle to acquire United Audio Centers, located in the Chicago, Illinois area. United Audio describes itself as a seven-store specialty consumer electronics retailer with annual sales of approximately $48 million, and says it has been in business in the Chicago market for over 40 years. The companies expect to complete the transaction on or about April 1, 2000, and note that the agreement in principle to acquire United Audio is subject to various terms and conditions, as well as to regulatory…
Phase One of the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) will incorporate watermarking technology for DVD-Audio from Verance Corporation. The agreement was announced at a meeting of the SDMI in Hawaii early in December. Verance Corp. was formed recently by the merger of ARIS Technologies Corporation and Solana Technology Development Corp. ARIS's technology was announced a few months ago as the SDMI's choice for watermarking.
Verance develops and implements technical solutions for copyright management, e-commerce, marketing, royalty, information, and product distribution—including media…