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HE 2005 In New York

See, touch, and demo the next generation of personal media players, home networking solutions, HDTV, digital music, and more—all under one roof.

The stage is set and the curtain will rise on April 28 for a return engagement of the popular Home Entertainment Show—the high-performance sound and imaging event of the year. HE 2005 will take place April 28–May 1, 2005, once again at the Hilton New York Hotel, only steps away from Broadway, marking the seventh time the event has been held in New York City.

PRIMEDIA's Home Technology Group of leading online and print publications, including…

Experience Music Project Announces Grand Opening

Last week, the Experience Music Project, described as an "interactive museum devoted to creativity and innovation in American popular music," announced that it will open its doors to the public on Friday, June 23, 2000, in Seattle, Washington, with a multi-day celebration featuring events in and around the museum, and live performances by a wide variety of musicians. EMP said it expects more than a million visitors during the course of its first year.

Founded by Jody Patton and investor and Microsoft founder Paul G. Allen, EMP states its mission as "a destination meant to inspire young…

Added to the Archives This Week:

A good reference work on a subject like audio can help speed the understanding of complicated terms and develop the reader's grasp of the hobby's more arcane reaches. Unfortunately, not all audio books serve the audiophile equally well. Read about one such mishap in Book Review: High Fidelity Audio/Video Systems: A Critical Guide for Owners.

Next, we bring you the second installment of John Atkinson's comprehensive three-part "Measuring Loudspeakers" series, which first emerged as a paper presented at the 103rd Audio Engineering Society Convention, in New York in September 1997. In Part…

Single-Source Surround Sound?

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.

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…

Audio Auction for Charity

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…

Copyright Owners', Consumers' Rights Examined in CEA Conference

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…

CEMA Files Final Report on Digital Radio with FCC

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…

<I>U.S. Consumer Electronics Industry Today</I> Report Released

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…

Tweeter Group Launches IPO

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…

Industry Update

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…