Musicland's four divisions---Sam Goody, Media Play, On Cue,…
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Wednesday, June 23, was an auspicious day for Musicland Stores Corporation. That day the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based music and video retailer took its sales online. Four websites, each mirroring one of Musicland's four divisions, went live simultaneously with a promotional contest offering customers the chance to win daily and weekly prizes and a $10,000 grand prize---including a Sony home entertainment system. Participants can also win a trip for two to the World Wrestling Federation Summer Slam in Minneapolis on August 22.
Price-fixing by major record labels isn't confined to the United States. The music industry's "Big Five" (Universal Music, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, EMI Group PLC, and the Bertelsmann Music Group) are now under the scrutiny of European Union antitrust investigators, who are looking into the possibility that the companies may have colluded to keep CD prices artificially high in Europe. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and music industry agreed to settle the American version of the issue in May 2000.
Contracts between music companies and European retailers are under…
In his review of the Clearaudio Champion 2 turntable and Unify tonearm with Benz Micro L2 phono cartridge, Paul Bolin notes, "Turntables are intrinsically cool. Maybe it's that I am of the pre-CD generation, for which the acquisition of one's first really good turntable marked an audiophile's coming of age." Bolin explains why the Clearaudio is a really good player.
High-end headphone maker Stax has had its share of ups and downs, ending with a permanent down in 1996. But when several engineers from the company announced that they were reforming the brand to further develop the legendary…
On June 16, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced a product recall in voluntary cooperation with equipment manufacturer and distributor Linn. The notice asks that consumers stop using the recalled products immediately, unless otherwise instructed.
Products affected by the recall include the Linn AV5150 2-Channel Power Amplifier (all serial numbers of this model are recalled), the Linn LK240 Single-Channel Power Amplifier (all serial numbers of this model are recalled), and the Linn AV5150 Melodik Bass Extension Loudspeaker System (only serial numbers 1001–714451 are…
Yet another variation on restricted-use compact discs appeared last week, when Phoenix-based SunnComm announced an agreement with Nashville's Sunbird Records that also includes revenue sharing. Sunbird says it is preparing to release country music singer Len Doolin's Once in a Lifetime on November 1 using SunnComm's new "Expanded Experience CD" (CD3) technology in an effort to restrict use of the disc on computers.
SunnComm's John D. Aquilino says, "This new release will feature security measures via on-board digital rights management (DRM) included as a second session. These new…
Audiophiles are faced with a sonic and musical quandary: Are we looking for an absolutely faithful reproduction of a recorded work, regardless of its inherent defects, or are we willing to tune our component choices and room to euphonize everything across the board—at the expense of over-glossing the better titles in our collection?
Or do we cherry-pick which recordings get treated by inserting an equalizer somewhere in the signal path? This last option has been the least appealing to many audiophiles, due to the undesireable sonic side effects that can result while trying to "fix" a bad…
FM fans alert: Tuner specialist Magnum Dynalab has introduced its "Triode Series," led by the $3995 MD-106T triode tube tuner. The MD-106T is said to combine great signal
sensitivity and selectivity in channel reception with "exceptional build quality and musical realism." One design feature that's something of a throwback to tube electronics of the 1950s and early '60s is a glowing "Magic Eye" tube indicator for fast, precise tuning. The MD-106T also features "a precisely aligned tunable five-stage RF front end, and a double-thick, gold-plated circuit board to minimize vibration," according…
On February 23, Pacific Microsonics announced that Atlantic Records' forthcoming golden-anniversary release will feature classic popular recordings remastered using Pacific's high-resolution HDCD technology. The patented High Definition Compatible Disc process enhances the detail, richness, and dynamics of compact disc performance.
Atlantic Records decided on HDCD as "the natural choice for mastering because of the suberb sound quality it produces." Atlantic's Vice President for Special Projects Yves Beauvais said, "Music fans will really enjoy listening to this two-CD set. Every track…
Enjoying classical music performed on original instruments has just gotten easier. After 25 years of issuing recordings on LP and CD, the invigorating Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra has decided instead to make recordings of its live performances available for download.
"There's no question that this orchestra built its reputation outside of the Bay Area through its recordings," explained the PBO's executive director, Robert Birman, speaking about an organization that appeared in London's BBC Proms series and at Holland's Concertgebouw last year, and spent two weeks touring Germany. "After 9…
First with CD players, then digital preamps, and recently amplifiers, digital technology has ground inexorably through the audio chain. Several companies have been developing ways to shorten the analog path or remove it entirely. Meridian's "digital" loudspeakers come to mind, as well as the amplifiers from manufacturers Spectron and TacT.
Wadia has been in the digital audio business just about as long as anyone, and says that its digital amplifier approach, known as the PowerDAC, was part of its original business plan from eight years ago. Peter Bohacek of Wadia says that "It was viewed…