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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…

Industry Update

ListenUp NHT: NHT's 75W M-00 powered two-way studio monitor has long been an audiophile favorite for the title of "best computer loudspeaker"—not that the competition has been all that fierce. The Benicia, CA–based loudspeaker manufacturer recognized that the powered monitor, initially marketed direct to recording engineers and in-home studio owners, was selling beyond its target audience and repositioned it as part of its PC Hi-Fi line. When Walt Stinson, co-founder of Colorado-based Audio/Video chain ListenUp discovered the M-00s when he was searching for something to pair with his portable…

David Chesky Pays Tribute to Jazz Pianist John Lewis

On Tuesday, April 17, 2001, New York said farewell to John Lewis in a memorial ceremony at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Over 5000 New Yorkers from all walks of life attended, but the most visibly represented community was the musicians.

I arrived early and took a seat about a third of the way back from the nave—everything closer was already occupied. The first person I saw was Ken Burns, now part of the jazz community, and then I realized that the elegant woman in the row in front of me was Maya Angelou. Lou Tabackin stood next to me for a while, talking to Percy and Albert…

The Day the Music Died

See update at end of article. iTunes continues to grow and Napster has been reborn, but these last few months have been a bumpy ride for MP3.com. The music site, known for its large online music library featuring unsigned independent artists, was purchased on December 14 by San Francisco-based CNET.

CNET announced it will scrub MP3.com's servers of all content at midnight December 2, stranding an estimated 250,000 independent recording artists and 40 million subscribers worldwide. The popular website was launched by Michael Robertson in 1997 and by the year 2000 had reached its peak with 1.…

Retailing on the Rise?

Electronics retailers may be bouncing back from a long slump, according to a couple of recent reports.

On March 4, Best Buy Company, Inc. noted a 21% increase in revenue for the fourth fiscal quarter, ended February 28. The Minneapolis-based electronics retailer, the largest in North America, reported revenue from continuing operations at $8.44 billion for the fiscal 2004 fourth quarter, compared to revenue of $6.99 billion for the fiscal 2003 fourth quarter, ended March 1, 2003. Sales at comparable stores were up 9.7% for the quarter.

The large increase in revenue was due in part to…

USA Digital Radio Announces Test Markets for AM/FM Digital Radio

Last week, USA Digital Radio, a developer of In-Band On-Channel Digital Audio Broadcast (IBOC DAB) technology, announced an "aggressive" field-test campaign at 12 radio stations across the country. The company will be conducting the digital tests under experimental licenses issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). With most equipment already installed, according to USA Digital Radio, test efforts are currently underway at several stations.

IBOC DAB is a broadcasting technology that uses the current radio spectrum to transmit existing AM and FM analog simultaneously with new…

Recoton Corporation Licenses NHT Brand Name to Vergence Technology

On March 17, Recoton Corporation announced that it has licensed the NHT brand name to Vergence Technology, Inc. NHT is a name known among audiophiles for its line of loudspeaker products for home audio. Vergence intends to utilize the NHT brand name on its new line of products designed specifically for the pro audio and professional home music markets. Planning for this marketing agreement has been in development for many months with Vergence Technology's Chris Byrne and Ken Kantor, who were also the founders of NHT.

Robert L. Borchardt, Recoton Corporation's President and CEO, stated…

Added to the Archives This Week:

Our first new archive article this week is "Building a Library: The Grateful Dead," in which past AES chairperson Elizabeth Cohen reveals her thoughts about what the band has meant to a musical generation. Also included is a complete Dead discography, lots of lyrics, and a little history.

Next, Jack English goes through all the basics of setting up your equipment for maximum pleasure in "Tweaks'n'Squeaks." Everything is covered: from unpacking those new boxes, placing the products, and hooking them up correctly, to cleaning and maintaining the system to keep it in top form.

In "…