AMRC will use two geosynchronous communications satellites made by Hughes Space & Communications, Inc. "The Max Power satellite is the most powerful commercial satellite available today," said Pete Lauenstein, AMRC Program Manager for Hughes. "It is the new standard for robust…
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Digital radio company American Mobile Radio Corporation announced last Wednesday that it has exercised a $52.9 million option to upgrade its satellites. The move will potentially double the channel capacity of AMRC's nationwide satellite-direct audio radio service (SDARS), scheduled for the year 2000.
After three years in limbo, Threshold will make an official return to the audio market at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show. The new company's initial emphasis will be on professional equipment with crossover appeal for audiophiles, according to Threshold's former national sales manager Chris English, a principal in the new venture. A name for the new company has yet to be decided.
English has been quietly but diligently working to revive Threshold since financial problems scuttled the company in late 1997. A service center—which will be folded in with Threshold's new manufacturing…
The Rounder Records Group, one of the largest independent record labels in the US, has signed on with Liquid Audio for digital music distribution on the Internet. As of April 28, Rounder will offer a substantial portion of its catalog for sale by digital download.
More than 10,000 songs by hundreds of folk, blues, bluegrass, reggae, and zydeco artists will be made available for promotion and sale to music lovers via the Internet. The Rounder catalog is also available to retailers and music sites to resell to consumers through Liquid Audio's distribution services---including www.rounder.…
James Dunning, Jr., Chairman and CEO of The Petersen Companies, Inc., announced June 4th the completion of the acquisition of Stereophile and Stereophile Guide to Home Theater (two of this country's leading high-end audio and home theater publications), as well as HI-FI '98, The Home Theater & Specialty Audio Show.
The Petersen Companies announced in a release on May 18, 1998 that they had agreed to acquire Stereophile, Stereophile Guide to Home Theater, and HI-FI '98. The acquisition was completed on May 31, 1998. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
However, readers can rest…
There's not a lot of music in the bottom octave, and there's not a lot of information in the low bass of a movie soundtrack. But there is a lot of power down there in the rumbling subterranean region—power that adds palpable realism to every type of home entertainment. That's why we go to extremes in our search for low-frequency reinforcement: full-range loudspeakers, and multiple subwoofers, and digital room-correction systems.
You can never have too much bass, some people believe. Guitammer Company, a Westerville, Ohio startup, is taking low-frequency reinforcement to the next level:…
Amplifier of the year? We'll have to wait until the votes are tallied in the December issue, but Paul Bolin reviews the Halcro dm58 monoblock power amplifier and reveals what the fuss is all about. As Bolin notes, "the sheer audacity of Halcro's claims generated much curiosity and interest."
Michael Fremer was eager to get his paws on the Lumen White Whiteflame loudspeaker, in spite of its hefty price of $38,000/pair. MF says, "Rarely has the debut of a new loudspeaker company and its inaugural model created as big a buzz as did Lumen White and their Whiteflame speaker at the 2001…
On May 4, Fortuna Classical Music announced release of their Maestro music server, "the first and only music player for the classical music enthusiast." Maestro's launch coincides with a major two-page centerfold spread in the June issue of Gramophone magazine's North American edition, followed by a single-page Gramophone advertisement in July that will include a promo CD.
Designed specifically for classical music lovers and audiophiles, the Maestro hard-drive player comes loaded with a proprietary software-management package that includes everything necessary to navigate and manage a…
In his January "Sam's Space" column, while writing about the system he used with Sutherland's Director line stage (p.32), Sam Tellig wrote "For the most part, I used now-discontinued XLO interconnects and speaker cables. XLO itself has been discontinued, alas. I do miss its founder, Roger Skoff."
I must have been asleep at the wheel the day I edited Sam's copy. While the specific cables Sam uses are no longer available, XLO itself is still alive and kicking, under the ownership of Ultralink, as we reported here back in 2002. Even Roger Skoff is still around, as an Ultralink consultant. My…
XM Satellite Radio Holdings is now in a position to operate well into the fourth quarter of 2002, thanks to a $129 million stock offering underwritten by Morgan Stanley Company. XM made the announcement in a press release dated December 10.
The total allotment of XM stock was 11.5 million shares, according to the announcement. That, combined with a recent $66 million financing agreement with Boeing Company, should be sufficient to keep XM afloat for the next year, company officials believe.
The financing was necessary to insure XM's operations while it builds a subscriber base,…
The Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) appears to be the antidote to many a record executive's worst audio poison: legions of young music fans downloading digital audio files off the Internet and passing them around with no regard to copyright restrictions. But what might be the answer to some companies' prayers could prove to be the Big Brother nightmare feared by others.
In response to the major-label support of SDMI, Musicians United, in association with Timpani and Free-Music.com, announced last week the launch of the Art-To-Heart Open Music Format Initiative to protect the Fair…