So in light of the precarious path many audiophile labels travel, it's always welcome news when one talks of branching out. Last week, Reference Recordings, known internationally as an independent classical and…
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It's been a tough year for some of the audiophile record labels, as witnessed by the demise in late November of Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (see previous story). The shock of MoFi's sudden departure even prompted Kimber Kable's Ray Kimber to fire off an e-mail to everyone within virtual reading range, urging them to buy a few audiophile CDs and LPs right now, before it's too late.
After a particularly tough year, Carver Corporation announced last week that it has executed an agreement with founder Bob Carver, who had sold his interest in the company and then started up privately held Sunfire Corporation (see previous story). The new agreement places Sunfire in charge of the development, manufacturing, marketing, and distribution, under the Carver brand name, of a new line of home and car products that will incorporate "new" technologies. The agreement also establishes a new manufacturer's representative and independent dealer network to rebuild Carver Corporation,…
McIntosh Laboratory unveiled for the press three new products that they will be showing at CEDIA next month. They are the MX135 A/V Control Center (already shipping), the MVP861 Universal Player, and the MC207 7-channel Power Amplifier, all with McIntosh's signature design and cosmetics.
The MX135 A/V controller is an impressive device which includes most of the functions of the C45 multichannel analog preamplifier with a full complement of digital inputs, balanced and unbalanced inputs/outputs, digital processing (including Dolby ProLogic IIx), and five sets of video inputs and multi-zone…
The National Association of Broadcasters has lost a round in its fight to avoid paying royalties for music streamed over the Internet.
On August 1, the US District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania ruled against the broadcasters' challenge to a US Copyright Office requirement, enacted late last year, that they pay the same fees to record labels as other webcasters do. The NAB, whose members include radio and television stations, had argued that the Copyright Office acted outside its jurisdiction in making the ruling. Most radio stations now offer Internet feeds of their programming; many…
J. Gordon Holt founded Stereophile in the fall of 1962 in order to promote the idea that the optimal way to judge audio components was to do what end users did: listen to them. Since then, Gordon has had an unbroken relationship with Stereophile, through its sale to Larry Archibald in 1982, my coming on board as editor in 1986, the sale of the magazine to Petersen Publishing in 1998, and the subsequent sale of Petersen to Emap in 1999. Through all this time he has been listed on the magazine's masthead as "Founder & Chief Tester." (A fascinating interview with Gordon, conducted by his…
What happens to your old audio components? We're asking Stereophile readers that very question this week, but the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has already studied the habits of general consumers and found that most unwanted consumer electronics go to secondary users, not into America's waste stream.
The CEA reports that the biggest beneficiaries of hand-me-down products that were not trashed were charities (34%), friends (28%), and family members (26%). According to the trade organization, the research also shows that, while most consumers find alternatives to trashing electronics…
Last week we posted reviews of the Linn Sondek CD12 CD player and the Linn AV 51 system. This week we add a review of the Linn Linto phono preamplifier, as well as John Atkinson's report on the Revel Ultima Gem loudspeaker & Ultima Sub-15 subwoofer, and Tom Norton's review of the complete Revel Home Theater speaker system.
Stereophile has just released its first jazz CD, Rendezvous, recorded at Chad Kassem's Blue Heaven Studios. In Two Days in August: Stereophile's First Jazz Recording, John Atkinson, Wes Phillips, and featured musician/composer Jerome Harris reveal what took place…
Paul Bolin says that the Balanced Audio Technology VK-51SE line preamplifier "made a profound impression on me at the 2003 Consumer Electronics Show." Once in his very own listening lair, did the BAT continue to impress? PB tells all.
Next, Lonnie Brownell reviews the Arcam FMJ A22 integrated amplifier to determine if metal faceplates do, in fact, make a difference. LB asks, "For $400 more than what you'd pay for an Alpha 10, you get a new faceplate?" "Actually," he adds, "there's a bit more to it."
More than just a pretty face? Chip Stern fires up the Manley Labs Stingray integrated…
During the past year, hardly a day has gone by without headlines announcing the latest twist in the fate of embattled free music service Napster.com. Lost in the hysteria was Napster's tiny rival Emusic.com, a three-year-old online music venture that always charged its subscribers for downloading tunes, and always paid the copyright holders. For news appeal, Emusic's paltry 10,000 subscribers and languishing stock price didn't compare to Napster's reported 75 million users and major league court battles.
As is too rarely the case, honesty proved to be the best policy. On April 5, French…
Russia has a new organization that will promote a legitimate music industry and fight industrial piracy, according to mid-May reports from the International Federation of Phonographic Industries.
Representing approximately 70% of the Russian music industry, the National Federation of Phonogram Producers(NFPP) has officially joined the IFPI, comprising 1500 member record companies from more than 70 countries. The two organizations held their first joint meetings in Moscow on May 14, in which they vowed to fight against piracy on many fronts, including campaigning for copyright enforcement…