"My paradoxical brief is to ferret out real audio improvements for zero or minimal cost; if you know what…
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Wes Phillips writes: "If, as some would have it, Audiophilia nervosa is like the dark night of reason, then certain audio epiphanies must necessarily stand out from a distance, like a grove of trees 20 miles away thrown into stark relief by prairie lightning." In his review of the B&W Nautilus 801 loudspeaker, WP recounts that "the B&W Nautilus 801 has the stuff to keep me in fireplace fantasies throughout my dotage, and probably well into my (hyper)active middle age to boot."
At present, the recording industry is based on a variety of analog and PCM digital audio formats, putting proponents of Super Audio Compact Disc (SACD, which is based on the Direct Stream Digital, or DSD, format) in a tough place when it comes to creating pure DSD works for showing off the format. To date, labels have had a limited number of options for creating, mixing, and mastering pure DSD projects.
Nashville-based SADiE, which markets digital audio workstations and is one of the only two companies currently offering a commercially-available SACD authoring system, has decided to take…
EMI drops: The EMI Group, the British music company, sent its stock prices plummeting 16% with its announcement last week that sales for the fiscal year ending next month would be as much as 9% below those of last year.
This time it isn't downloaders that are to blame. The company has been forced to delay the releases of new CDs by the bands Coldplay and Gorillaz until after the March 31 financial year's end. No reasons were given for the delays, although rumors have been circulating that Coldplay is breaking up. Re-orders and purchases of EMI's backcatalog—traditionally considered a…
Chip Stern writes in his review of the Blue Circle BC3 Galatea line-level preamplifier, "From the moment I hooked these units up, the captivating turquoise glow of their matching front-panel lights (a glowing orb within a blue circle) held out the promise of something inviting and serene." Promise fulfilled? Stern spills the Blue Circle beans.
From the current February issue, Robert J. Reina profers his opinion of the Mission m71 loudspeaker. With his favorite Mission 731i loudspeaker now discontinued, RR sees if he can cuddle up to its fresh-faced replacement.
It may resemble an…
XM Radio held a press conference in New York City Thursday, April 18. The event was heralded with great secrecy—attendees were enticed with promises of "major news," but no one leaked details beforehand, and the press arrived expecting something juicy indeed.
Whether or not XM delivered on its promises depends on who you talk to. XM Satellite Radio's executive vice president Steve Gavenas began the meeting with a passing reference to the company's latest round of financing—a public offering, which resulted in gross proceeds of $154 million, more than enough, he assured attendees, to last…
On Monday, July 2, 2001, Primedia announced that it has agreed to acquire emap usa from Emap plc. This transaction, which will create the second largest magazine company in the United States, is currently under a customary regulatory review. It is expected to close during the third quarter of the calendar year.
This new development offers many exciting opportunities for emap usa assets. Primedia is the largest targeted media company in the world with a strong presence in the automotive, teen, outdoor, active sports and consumer electronics arenas. Once the sale is concluded, more…
Editor's Note: Stereophile writer Richard (Rick) J. Rosen passed away suddenly on Monday August 22, of unknown causes. Rick wrote show reports and the occasional software review for the magazine, but his highest-profile contributions were his "Rick Visits..." series of interviews, where he hung out with music makers, asking them about their systems, of course, but also their relationships with recorded music. The first of these was with famed keyboard player Al Kooper in our October 1995 issue, and I was proud, as an editor, to be able to publish such superbly crafted prose.
Of all the…
Home Entertainment 2001 arrives at the Hilton Hotel & Towers in New York this week for three days, May 11-13. There will be more than 80 rooms stuffed with the latest high end audio and video gear, including dozens of brand new products. For more information about the show, go to the HE 2001 website.
Acoustic Dreams—This high-end loudspeaker manufacturer will introduce several new products at the Home Entertainment Show, including newly redesigned VAIC reference-level mono tube amps, exclusive "level-integrated" amps, new VAIC speakers, and the exciting Lumen White WhiteLight…
Audio nuts with a sense of humor and an interest in art will enjoy the works by sculptor Alan Rath currently on display at the Haines Gallery in downtown San Francisco.
Rath uses common audio devices---12" and 15" woofers, Kevlar-cone midranges and tweeters---some DC-pulse amplifiers, and an assortment of other industrial materials to construct science-fiction creatures with bulging eyes and heaving bodies. His Thumper V, resembles a huge snail on wheels, its body and eyes pulsating at sub-audible rates.
Some of Rath's creations recall vegetative forms of life, like a group of "…
It is shaping up as one of the big battles of the 21st century: content owners (who are not necessarily the artists who create content) versus the consumer electronics industry. On the one hand you have Hollywood with its record companies and the RIAA, and on the other, the manufacturers of products and technologies that facilitate the manipulation and use of digital content.
The Consumer Electronics Association, which represents technology manufacturers, is looking to defuse the conflict, urging the content community to work with, not against, the technology industry in the critical area…