DVD-Audio took center stage for much of the event, with several demonstrations and seminars geared toward informing the industry about what it is and what it is…
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Last Month, music labels, distributors, and retailers met in Las Vegas for the 41st annual National Association of Recording Merchandisers convention to wrestle with several new issues wrought by the digital age. NARM Chairperson Rachelle Friedman set the tone for the event when she stated in the keynote address that "for the music industry, the 21st century and the impact of the Internet have already thrust themselves upon us."
Exhibitors reported that traffic was improving Thursday, as the halls became more crowded and the music grew a bit louder. Plenty of new products are on hand and we're starting to realize that even four or five days may not be enough to see and hear everything the high-end has to offer.
Loudspeaker manufacturer Thiel announced its long-awaited CS1.6, a two-way, floor-standing design that the company says is shipping to dealers this week. The CS1.6 sells for $2390/pair in any of the company's luxurious wood finishes, but it's also available in standard black for the relative bargain of…
This week, Burr-Brown Corporation announced the PCM1733, a low-cost, CD-quality audio digital-to-analog converter (DAC) designed for high-volume, mass-market consumer audio applications.
The PCM1733 is a complete stereo audio DAC offering 18-bit/96kHz performance. As a result of the PCM1733's price/performance ratio, 96kHz sampling rates can now be included in lower-cost consumer audio systems. High-volume applications that demand CD-quality audio at a low cost include PC add-on cards, PC motherboards, digital satellite set-top boxes, and low-cost DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) and CD (…
The autumn months will be hectic ones for the audio industry, with many gatherings vying for the attention of engineers, marketing executives, and journalists. Here are but a few of the coming events:
Heading the list is the 105th Convention of the Audio Engineering Society, scheduled for San Francisco's Moscone Center, September 26-29. In addition to meetings of technical and standards committees, there will be over 350 exhibits occupying the Center's North Hall---the largest showcase for professional audio in the world. Exhibits will be open from 12 noon to 6pm Saturday, September 27;…
Some ultra-high-end two-channel specialists may still be singing the blues, but others in the electronics retailing business are humming happier tunes.
Eden Prairie, MN–based chain Best Buy Co. reported a rise of 5.7% in same store sales for the first quarter of 2002. In a press release dated Thursday, June 6, the retailer said it experienced stronger than expected sales, and predicted first quarter earnings of 21¢ per share. That compares well to the company's 26¢ per share for the same period in 2001.
Thanks primarily to sustained sales growth of digital televisions, DVD players…
It's bad enough for stores competing with each other for consumer loyalty—imagine how retailers must feel when the largest consumer-electronics company in the world decides to compete with you as well. This grim reality came true for dealers around the world last week, when Sony Electronics outlined its plans for SonyStyle.com, which the company describes as "an information-rich e-commerce website." The site is scheduled to be launched this fall.
This is not entirely new ground for Sony, which in the past has opened its own retail outlets in several major cities. But Sony's aggressive…
Ah, it's good to be home again. We have finally arrived at the Alexis Park complex, the enclave of specialty audio. It's a much more civilized venue than the Convention Center, but, here as there, new products prevail. Only drawback this year: Someone has apparently rerouted the airplane take-offs from nearby McCarran airport to directly overhead, making it tough to continue a conversation or demo for more than 5 minutes.
Martin-Logan has introduced several new affordable electrostatic-panel/dynamic-woofer hybrid loudspeakers: notably, the $1895 Scenario, which looks like the ReQuest's…
Lehmann audio has carved out a small niche for itself in the analog market with the Black Cube phono preamp (first noted by Michael Fremer in the October 1998 issue of Stereophile). The company now hopes to reach a wider audience in the US and Canada for the Black Cube and the rest of its products with a new distribution arrangement between itself and Hudson Audio Imports.
Lehmann's Norbert Lehmann says that its previous distributor, Audio Advancements, wanted to put more emphasis on its own specialty retail operations rather than distribution and marketing of products for others, and will…
Barry Willis remembers well the British invasion: "Really Big Hi-Fi came to live with me for a couple of months this past spring in the form of a pair of Tannoy Churchill loudspeakers." After a challenging delivery, Willis wrestles the Tannoys into place and files his report. Victory at last?
Next, Paul Messenger makes a careful appraisal of the Naim NBL loudspeaker. As Messenger writes, "My enthusiasm for Naim speakers has long been tempered by a feeling that mechanical aspects of the design are given priority over acoustics and styling." But as Messenger finds, things are decidedly…
The last week of July was a busy one for music industry attorneys, and by some measure a sucessful one. As almost everyone in the world is aware, on Wednesday, July 26, the Recording Industry Association of America won a round in its fight against Napster, a San Mateo, CA-based software company that enables the sharing of MP3 music files over the Internet. On that day, in a US Federal court in San Francisco, Judge Marilyn Patel decreed that the widespread sharing of music using Napster was a form of wholesale copyright violation, and ordered the service shut down effective Friday, July 28…