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SunnComm Upgrades MediaMax

Efforts to restrict the ways consumers use music they have purchased continue unabated. SunnComm (along with its sales and marketing arm MediaMax) has announced that its "newest patent-pending passive technology makes it even more difficult to bypass or 'hack' the copy protection structure contained on the MediaMax CDs."

MediaMax says its new "passive protection solution" continues to be Red Book and Blue Book compliant, adding that this means that CDs containing the MediaMax restriction technology can also sport the Compact Disc Enhanced CD compatibility logo.

SunnComm's Eric…

Big Music <I>vs</I> Individual Music Lovers

The music industry is reportedly preparing to open a new front in its war on piracy.

This time, the enemy isn't commercial, for-profit websites offering free music downloads with a ton of paid advertising. It's individual music fans eager to share their stashes of tunes.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is preparing to file copyright-infringement lawsuits against those it determines are the most egregious file-sharers on the Internet, according to reports in early July. The purported move against individuals follows successful copyright litigation against several…

Vacuum Tube SOTA Conference Slated for August 21-24

The Silverdale by the Bay Resort Hotel in Silverdale, WA, will be the site of the second annual Vacuum State of the Art Conference, scheduled for August 21-24. The conference will feature new and vintage equipment, tube electronics seminars, a used-gear swap meet, and demonstrations of audio creations by both amateur and professional designers.

A three-day course in tube amplifier design will be given by Electronic Tonalities in the nearby town of Poulsbo following the conference.

A highlight of the event will be a performance by the Paul deLay Blues Band on Sunday evening in the…

Added to the Archives

We kick off our anniversary collection with 40 Years of Stereophile: What Happened When. Editor John Atkinson recounts the complete history of Stereophile, starting in 1930 when J. Gordon Holt heard his first sound in North Carolina.

Next, JA tries to get a handle on important audio industry milestones with 40 years of Stereophile: The Hot 100 Products. Atkinson notes, "There are many factors that make an audio component 'important': design innovation, sound quality, sales figures, influence on other designers, influence on the evolving market, influence on system synergy."

But…

Apogee Owners Group Forming

Owners of Apogee Acoustics loudspeakers are apparently being left to twist in the wind by a/d/s/, the company that took over Apogee and subsequently shut it down (other than to apply the brand to a range of switch-mode power amplification modules). Service will no longer be available for the ribbon speakers, according to Apogee owner Matt Carnicelli.

Carnicelli is seeking to organize an Apogee Acoustics Users Group in the hope of convincing a current manufacturer or former Apogee technician to set up a repair facility and stockpile spare parts. "Otherwise, when our ribbons go, so do the…

Imbruglia Imbroglio

Record label attempts at restricting the potential uses of their CDs have hit another bump in the antipiracy road. Music label BMG had announced earlier this year that it would try to find ways to restrict its CDs, in an effort to stem piracy and the trading of MP3 files. But those plans appear to have backfired, so far.

BMG found itself in hot water again last week as European consumers began to return "defective" copies of the company's release of Natalie Imbruglia's White Lilies Island, which had been treated with a restriction technology from Midbar Tech called Cactus Data Shield.…

Added to the Archives This Week

In his review of the Conrad-Johnson Premier Eleven power amplifier, Wes Phillips comes clean and admits that he loves to be seduced by sound. Phillips writes, "Now, I'm not proposing that we embrace coloration . . . but the removal of all pleasure-producing tonalities doesn't necessarily make for increased realism."

Back in 1983, John Atkinson hooked up a hot-running class-A amplifier, the Krell KSA-50, to a pair of Celestions and entered the land of the "fully dimensioned 'soundstage.'" Fast-forward more than a decade for his review of the Krell KSA-50S power amplifier. A lot of…

Harbeth, Dynaudio Mark 25th; Onkyo Goes Wireless

At least two renowned loudspeaker manufacturers commemorate their 25th anniversaries in 2002 and both are celebrating with new product releases.

Britain's Harbeth Loudspeakers will fete its "Silver Jubilee" with the UK debut of its Monitor 30 ($2711) at the Hi-Fi Show and AV Expo at London Heathrow's Le Meridien Hotel on September 14 and 15. "These speakers have received rapturous reviews in leading US magazines," states a late-August announcement. "The model is already selling well in North America and in the Far East—Britain, here we come!"

Harbeth is one of the few loudspeaker…

HI-FI '98 Product Previews, Part Two

Hundreds of manufacturers will be demonstrating state-of-the-art audio products at HI-FI '98---some of which have never before been seen by the public.

We are running several announcements each week leading up to the Show to give you a taste of what to expect. Here is the second assortment:

Hales
HI-FI '98 is the launch site for Hales' all-new, $20,000 Alexandra loudspeaker system. This two-way design employs two proprietary 10" aluminum-cone woofers and a forward-firing monopole ribbon transducer that operates from 500Hz to above 50kHz. The 6"-long ribbon diaphragm is only 1/2…

Added to the Archives This Week

DVD-Audio has been brewing for a couple of years now, finally going public with the Technics DVD-A10 DVD-Audio player. Jonathan Scull got his eager hands on this groundbreaking machine last September, only to find that evaluating a new format is a complicated affair. Will this player, and DVD-Audio in general, soothe the audiophile heart? Scull takes a listen and spills the bits.

Also this week: Scull says, "I love a simple tweak—one so elegant that I bang my forehead in recognition, moaning 'Why didn't I think of that?!'" So, in Fine Tunes #30 J-10 unleashes a boatload of them, including…