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Is It Live Or Is It SACD?

Audiophiles will get a rare opportunity to discover the similarities and differences between SACD reproduction and the real thing at this year's Home Entertainment 2003 show in San Francisco. Diversity Records, Ltd. has announced it will record two performances by its artists at HE2003 on June 7 (1–4:30pm).

The groups are the modern jazz band Ecstasy In Numbers and the electro-acoustic folk-rock Kevin Jones Band. Diversity's Paul Weitzel has been doing live recordings for over 20 years and says the final discs will be multichannel hybrid releases on the SACD format.

Weitzel explains…

It's An Internet Jungle Out There

According to a new comparison of online music business models and companies prepared by Red Herring Research, Napster simply cannot exist without the complete consent of the recording industry, and the company's recent attempts to appease the copyright infringement concerns of the industry have so far failed. The study also finds it highly unlikely that the company's peer-to-peer model will find success, given the history of its relationship with the recording industry, its declining membership, and impending competition from services like MusicNet and Duet.

Not good news for the fast-…

Added to the Archives This Week

Michael Fremer writes, "I've never heard a pair of the Italian Sonus Faber speakers I didn't like. What I've never liked was the US price: too high. And then you have to put them on costly stands." In his review of the floorstanding Sonus Faber Concerto Grand Piano loudspeaker, Fremer grapples with the price/performance ratio of this $3500/pair speaker and answers the important audiophile question: Enough magic for the money?

Next, in his essay "Audio & Alternative Medicine," George Reisch points out why some of audio's stranger concepts can sound similar to claims for alternative…

LSA Group Purchases DK Designs

At HE2005 last April, Daniel Khesin's brawny $3000 150Wpc DK Designs VS-1 MK2 hybrid integrated amplifier had the crowd buzzing with its expansive sound driving Von Schweikert speakers—and bang-for-the-buck pricing. We spoke with Khesin and he was passionate about breaking into the high-end big leagues. Therefore, it came as a surprise to receive notice on July 8 that DK Design had been purchased by LSA Group LLC of Louisville, KY.

Khesin stated that his primary financial interests are not related to the audio industry and that LSA, which is about to release a line of high-performance…

HE2002 Seminars Set

High-end audio and home-theater enthusiasts attending Home Entertainment 2002, The Hi-Fi and Home Theater Event in New York City on May 31–June 2, 2002, will have an opportunity to participate in a series of interactive seminars and panel discussions on the latest advances in technology—all included with the price of admission.

Industry experts and leading authorities from some of the most prestigious consumer-electronics manufacturers in the world will be on hand to talk with consumers, answer questions, and offer insights into the future of home entertainment.

Below are the details…

HE 2004 Offers Free Live Music

Live music from popular recording artists is on tap for attendees at the Home Entertainment Show coming to NYC May 20—23, 2004 at the Hilton New York Hotel. And best of all—all performances are FREE to all Show attendees!

Pop and Jazz fans will fill the Grand Ballroom of the Hilton on Friday evening for a free benefit concert starring famed recording artist Joan Osborne as the main event, plus performances by the dynamic Tom Scott & The New York All Stars, Carla Lother, and Nicole Henry. Sponsored by XM Satellite Radio and Delphi, the concert will be broadcast live on XM Satellite…

Bertelsmann Breaks Ranks, Climbs in Bed with Napster

At least one media conglomerate has seen the light. In a surprise move, German giant Bertelsmann AG broke ranks with the music industry and settled its copyright-infringement lawsuit with embattled Napster, in effect becoming the startup's tentative partner. The deal, reached on October 31, could mark the real beginning of the music industry's move into the Internet age. Bertelsmann is the parent organization of Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG), one of the world's major music labels, as well as online music retailer CDnow.

Although other major labels (Sony Music Entertainment, Universal…

Recommended Components

Hard as it is to believe, next year will be the 40th anniversary of Stereophile's famed "Recommended Components" feature. J. Gordon Holt first set the list to paper when the Beatles were first breaking big in the US, and its April and October appearances have stood as biannual audiophile institutions ever since.

The problem is, folks wanting "Recommended Components" issues often find them out of stock at the newsstand or missing from our available back issues list. For example, both RC issues from 2001 and the April RC issue from 2002 have been sold out for months.

As a result, we'…

An Audio Archivist's Dream

Music fans who use their computers to organize their CD or MP3 music libraries have found the CDDB music database, now owned and operated by Gracenote (see previous story), to be an essential part of their audio world. If you use CDDB-enabled hardware or software, the artist, album title, genre, and track titles will automatically display when you put a CD or load an MP3 file into your computer or compliant player.

For example, using RiverSong InterActive's TitleTrack Jukebox software, Mac users can simplify the task of using one or more of Sony's 5, 100, 200, or even 400 CD multidisc…

Eliminating the Weakest Link

Listening to and evaluating audio products in the CES trade-show environment is usually an utterly useless exercise. But every once in a while, a demonstration will clearly prove an exhibitor's point. PS Audio was able to do this with a convincing introduction to their Power Plant a couple of years back, as was Ray Kimber with his DiAural technology. This year, the "proof of concept in a hotel room" award would likely go to a new Australian upstart, ClarityEQ.

As we reported from the show, the company unveiled their $3500 Model PDC-6.6 (due in May) active DSP correction system for…