It's not clear where the Digital Sound Projector from UK technology startup 1Limited ultimately will fall in the spectrum of commercial possibilities, but its concept certainly looks intriguing: surround sound from a single speaker. According to announcements made in early December, the projector is capable of producing believable surround effects without the necessity of a traditional…
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Every Consumer Electronics Show features unusual prototypes from engineers throughout the world. Some are laboratory curiosities that never develop into viable products, but others have great potential.
In the wake of last week's disasters in New York, Washington, DC, and Pittsburgh, Audio Asylum and Audiogon have banded together to co-sponsor a charity auction of audio equipment to benefit the NY Firefighters' Fund and other related charities.
AA's Rod Morris says, "We are asking the community to donate items and to support this event. Our goal is to raise at least $100,000 and hopefully more." Morris explains that they will launch the Auction on September 17, with AA and Audiogon accepting any audio-related donations, which will then be placed up for bid on the Audiogon site. Morris…
Where does "fair use" end and piracy begin? Can consumers have open access to digital information and entertainment while respecting the rights of the creators of such content? Is there an inevitable collision between consumers and the rights of intellectual property owners? Can a happy balance be found in a world of high technology?
The Consumer Electronics Association tackled these questions in a one-day conference, Digital Download: Public Access to Content in a Digital World, held March 6 in Washington, DC. CEA president and CEO Gary Shapiro stated his organization's allegiance to both…
Concluding its six-year evaluation of Digital Audio Radio (DAR) systems, the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association (CEMA) filed its final report last month with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The report, "Technical Evaluations of Digital Audio Radio Systems: Laboratory and Field Test Results, System Performance, Conclusions," is available to the public from the FCC and through CEMA's website.
The DAR Subcommittee examined nine proposed technologies for broadcast digital audio radio. Of all the systems tested, the committee found that only the Eureka-147/DAB system…
The Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association's recently released U.S. Consumer Electronics Industry Today indicates a healthy glow on the cheeks of specialty audio. US exports of component audio products amounted to $2.12 billion in 1997, an increase of 12% over the previous year's total of $1.89 billion. 1997's total represents a 25% increase over 1995, when almost $1.7 billion in separate audio products went out of the country. The figures are compiled by CEMA from US Department of Commerce figures.
The 122-page book includes highlights and updated statistics, along with a look…
Canton, MA-based Tweeter Home Entertainment Group (NASDAQ: TWTR) has gone public. Last Thursday, July 16, the East Coast audio and video retailer launched an initial public stock offering of 2.71 million shares at an offering price of $17/share.
The IPO was followed by a post-offering of an additional 6.082 million shares. Actual opening price on day one was $20/share. The IPO didn't follow the spectacular trajectory of many recent IPOs, which tripled in value in a few hours after opening, only to close well below the offering price. Tweeter stock rose modestly to $21.12, sank to $17.75…
Laser turntable launch: Despite its having been available on a limited basis for several years (and having been written about in magazines like Stereophile since 1988), the ELP Corporation's laser turntable was officially introduced into the North American market on May 18.
The $15,000 laser turntable uses an optical pickup rather than a physical stylus to "read" the grooves of an LP. ELP's press release explains the technology like this: "The laser's precision allows you to pick up audio information that has never been touched or damaged by a needle. This virgin audio information is…
In "Working in the Front Line," Martin Colloms writes: "A committed audio equipment reviewer operates at the front line of audio subjectivity. How is it possible to do this successfully, when a similar task undertaken by an industrial laboratory or test house would take five times as long, cost ten times as much, and deliver a verdict of arguably poorer relevance?" How indeed . . . Colloms explains himself.
Although many of you thought you'd never live to see the day, John Atkinson reviews a desktop PC convergence product from a mass marketer of consumer electronics, and then puts its…
J. Gordon Holt and various other Stereophile writers are brought together to create the definitive review archive of the Audio Research SP9 preamplifier. The SP9 review was controversial in its day, and the complete review archives include manufacturer and reader comments.
Starting in 1994, Dick Olsher, Martin Colloms, Sam Tellig, and finally Thomas J. Norton detailed their impressions of the Cary Audio Design CAD-805 monoblock power amplifier. As Tellig noted in 1998, "It takes courage to buy an amp like the Cary CAD-805C—so retro in its technology and its look."
Back in 1985,…
John Atkinson and Arnis Balgalvis audition the Avalon Eclipse loudspeaker, whose quasi-anechoic TDS response prompted JA to exclaim, "Boy, that's flat!" But is flat where it's at? AB thought so: "The sound I heard was truly outstanding."
A different tag-team takes a listen to two generations of the PSB Stratus Gold loudspeaker. Both Thomas J. Norton and John Atkinson sit in the sweet spot and turn in their score cards. JA's notes, "Even without careful setup, it was obvious that something good was going on: the midrange was clean and uncolored, the stereo imaging well defined and stable…