Next, John Atkinson says he scoured his bookshelves to come up with the must-have reading list for any audiophile. See the results in Holiday Reading.
Frank Zappa created a bounteous output of music during his career. For those not sure where to start, we present Richard Lehnert's series of reviews of several dozen Zappa releases in Frank…
On May 14, Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc. posted its first quarterly net profit, thanks to a sharp rise in subscriptions and a life-saving deal that converted most of the company's debt to shareholder equity. Sirius reported net income of $140.1 million, compared with a net loss of $78.9 million for the same period a year ago. Those clever accountants: The "profit" was partly due to accounting sleight-of-hand that counted $256.5 million of the company's recapitalized debt as a gain.…
In mid-February, the jazz saxophonist and music educator announced his participation in the launch of a new independent record label, Marsalis Music. Based in Cambridge, MA, the new label is a joint venture with his father, pianist Ellis Marsalis. The label's focus will be on creating music of substance and lasting value, rather than forgettable pop hits, the younger Marsalis stated. "The consolidation of the record industry into major conglomerates has turned the…
The biggest winner was Linn Products, whose Linn Unidisk 1.1 multichannel universal player was our 2004 Digital Source Component, our 2004 Multichannel Music Component, and one of…
Co-sponsored by Stereophile, Home Theater, and Stereophile Guide to Home Theater magazines, Home Entertainment 2002 (formerly the Hi-Fi Show) is a unique hands-on weekend extravaganza aimed at industry veterans and consumers alike, where you will see and hear the latest and best in home theater and high-performance audio. HE2002 promises to have on display the biggest and most…
That problem was solved last week as Penaudio, based in Finland, announced that it had appointed Portal Audio as the company's official US importer/distributor. Portal's Joe Abrams says he is currently designating authorized Penaudio retailers around the country. Penaudio was founded in 1999 by…
Current hardware manufacturers for SACD now include Marantz, Classé, Accuphase, Pioneer…
Dunlavy Audio Labs
Dunlavy will launch the SC-IV/A loudspeaker, furthering the tradition of excellence established with their much-acclaimed SC-IV. The speaker's improved dynamic range offers amazing visceral impact, and increased linearity translates to improved soundstaging, imaging, and musicality. A newly designed first-order crossover ensures total phase coherence, accuracy, and…
On July 23, XM announced some major refinements to its 100-channel lineup, with new music and entertainment programs taking effect August 3. Among XM's new musical offerings will be channels for neo-soul, folk music, and easy listening. Non-musical entertainment will include audio books and dramas, and rebroadcasts of old-time radio dramas.
XM's new programming…
The CDP-300 employs a slot-loaded transport mechanism, "chosen for its superior disc-handling characteristics, reliability, and control options," according to Classé's press release. The player pays particular attention to the "presence of jitter (time-base distortion) at the point of conversion" through the use of a complex programmable…