Chip Stern explains how power can corrupt in his review of the Monster Power AVS 2000 Automatic Voltage Stabilizer and Equi=Tech's 2Q and Q650 Balanced Power Systems. Stern says, "Like so many pilgrims wary about buying into esoteric audiophile voodoo, it took me a while to accept how important the quality of electricity is."
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Art Dudley slips his DIY leash, and revels in the high-tech splendor of the Linn Klimax Kontrol preamplifier and Klimax Twin power amplifier. AD admits he's feeling a little guilty about shunning his home-brew gear, but counters, "I've been having too much fun."
Since it has been five years since the debut of SACD, one might think that the debate as to where it fits within the audiophile food chain would have been put to rest. But as with most things audio, reality conspires to make rational comparisons between formats tough. One is never sure if two releases on different formats have been rendered from the same source, or, as we discovered with the recent Dark Side of the Moon hybrid SACD, from completely different masters.
For years, Stereophile's John Atkinson has been sorting through these issues while simultaneously receiving letters and email…
The music industry and the file-sharing community have been waiting nervously for the impending Supreme Court decision in MGM vs Grokster, which is expected any day. At stake is not only peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, but the development of future forms of music distribution.
The music industry is hoping that a ruling in its favor will hold software developers responsible for the ways their creations might be used, and by extension, stifle "unauthorized" forms of file sharing by allowing software developers, not just the users, to be sued.
It's hard to tell whether the move is brave…
Accidents and disasters have no sense of good timing, and when they strike have a way of fouling even the most promising love affairs. Case in point: loudspeaker manufacturer Von Schweikert Research and the small town of Watertown (pop. 30,000) in northern New York, about three hours' drive from Toronto.
A flood devastated VSR's facility in a partially renovated old industrial building in Watertown on Sunday, January 24. Unseasonably warm weather had melted accumulated snow, causing runoff from a landfill mound over a hazardous waste dump nearby. Water and mud---possibly contaminated…
It wasn't too long ago that rock band Pearl Jam set their lawyers after the dozens of independent websites pre-releasing pirated versions of the band's album Yield, hoping to curtail its availability on the Internet. How times change. On June 4, any consumer with access to the Internet and a RealNetworks G2 player will have the opportunity to visit the world's "ultimate listening posts" when the Red Hot Chili Peppers' new album, Californication, and Def Leppard's Euphoria, will be available in their entireties for streaming on the Web---four days prior to their official June 8 release.
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In his review of the VTL MB750 monoblock power amplifier, Brian Damkroger asks: "How much power do you really need? What does it do for you, anyway?" His answer may surprise you. Also added to the Archives this week is Damkroger's in-depth history lesson and interview with the man behind the company, "Making Tubes User-Friendly: Luke Manley of VTL."
Next up, Stereophile senior editor Jonathan Scull gets his hands on the Linn Klimax 500 Solo monoblock power amplifier. Always looking for the real story, J-10 asks Linn's Ivor Tiefenbrun, "You're such a cheeky guy. Why'd you call it the…
John Gourlay, Stereophile's publisher since 1998, left the company at the beginning of November. John had been a valued collaborator and the moving force behind the launch of the 2004 Stereophile Buyer's Guide (see related story). We all wish him well in his future career.
Joining Stereophile as its publisher (as well as publisher of our sister magazines Home Theater and Stereophile Guide to Home Theater) is Jay Rosenfield. Along with the editors of the three magazines, Jay reports to the group publisher for Primedia's Home Technology and Photographic Group, VP Irwin Kornfield.
A…
For the tenth consecutive year, Stereophile writers and editors ferret out those components that have proved capable of giving musical pleasure beyond the formal review period and have wrapped them all up as The 2001 Products of the Year. The envelope please.
John Atkinson spent months hearing voices as he helped put together the latest CD to exhibit his engineering acumen: Cantus. Both JA and Wes Phillips document the genesis of the sessions and subsequent release of choral music featuring traditional material from around the world arranged for unaccompanied male voice. Destined to…
The ultra-High End may be stagnant in some areas, but the rebound in mainstream consumer electronics is visible everywhere. Canton, Massachusetts-based Tweeter Home Entertainment Group has announced record results for the quarter ended September 30, 1999: an increase of 39.5%, or $74.6 million compared to $53.5 million in the same period last year. The results are similar to those posted recently by nationwide electronics chain Best Buy, which also had a record quarter. Tweeter's comparable store sales increased 5.2%, not counting results from the recently acquired Home Entertainment and…
Media conglomerates have long hedged their bets by consulting demographics experts and marketing gurus. Now, music executives have real science to bolster their sometimes unreliable instincts about what will succeed and what will fail. It's an audio analysis program called Hit Song Science (HSS).
Using a database of Billboard-charting pop hits dating back three decades, researchers at Spanish company Polyphonic Human Media Interface (PHMI) have analyzed approximately 3.5 million successful tunes for "melody, harmony, chord progression, beat, tempo, and pitch," according to an insightful…