More people than ever are listening to radio stations over the Internet, according to a study released March 17 by eBrain Market Research, a service of the Consumer Electronics Association. The fourth Annual Multimedia PC and Internet Audio study compares the listening habits of 1375 multimedia owners during January 2000 to a similar sample from the same period during the previous year. Conclusion: Internet…
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The computer continues to insert itself into every aspect of daily life. Now it is a source for music from one's hometown—whether that town is across the state or across the ocean.
UPDATE: On Monday, February 9, Tower Records, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection at the US Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware. Industry observers had predicted the move in the weeks leading up to the filing. MTS, Inc., as the company is officially known, listed "more than $100 million of assets and more than $100 million of debts in its filing," according to a report from Reuters news service. "MTS expects to emerge from Chapter 11 within 45 to 60 days. It plans to swap $110 million of senior debt for $30 million of new senior notes and an 85% equity stake. Existing equity…
For the seventh consecutive year, Stereophile has named a select few audio components the "Products of the Year." In doing so, we recognize those components that have proved capable of giving musical pleasure beyond the formal review period.
There are five individual categories: Loudspeakers (including subwoofers), Amplification Components (preamplifiers, power amplifiers, etc.), Digital Sources (CD players, transports, processors), Analog Sources (phono cartridges, turntables, tonearms, FM tuners, etc.), and Accessories (everything else).
The two most important categories, however,…
Jonathan Scull has seen the future of audiophile proselytizing and aches to spread the word. In "Fine Tunes" #18, J-10 shares the new tweak-audio mantra, and more.
John Atkinson explains that, contrary to public perception, "a reviewer's life is not all fame and fortune. There are downsides, too, one of which is that, while many great-sounding components pass through your listening room, only a few get to stay there on anything like a permanent basis." Is the Thiel CS6 loudspeaker one of those great components that is mourned and lamented as it is wrested from the reviewer's grasp? John…
Peter Madnick, alchemist: Designer Peter Madnick is bringing new life to a classic audio marque with his new Alchemy2 line of components. The reference, for audiophiles with short memories, is to the now defunct Audio Alchemy line, for which he designed so many products. Alchemy2 employs Madnick's original engineering staff and has established a goal to "address the enthusiast market with cool little boxes designed to solve problems and enhance system enjoyment." That sounds familiar.
Alchemy2's first product will be the D2L Digital Delay Line ($399), which is inserted between a…
What music lovers have suspected for months, and record labels vehemently deny, has apparently been confirmed by Forrester Research: Piracy is not responsible for the 15% drop in music sales in the past two years. According to a new report from Forrester, "Labels can restore industry growth by making it easier for people to find, copy, and pay for music on their own terms."
Forrester's Josh Bernoff explains, "There is no denying that times are tough for the music business, but not because of downloading. Based on surveys of 1000 online consumers, we see no evidence of decreased CD buying…
Classical music in general, and audiophile label Telarc in particular, scored big in this year's annual Outmusic Awards. Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Del Tredici, whose music has recently found an ardent champion in conductor Robert Spano, won Outstanding New Recording: Instrumental for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's Telarc recording of Paul Revere's Ride. Telarc veteran and Grammy Award-winning producer Thomas C. Moore, who assisted in the recording, received the Outstanding Producer award. In addition, soprano Melissa Fogarty received Outstanding New Recording: Debut Female for…
When I visited NHT's manufacturing facility in early May, I was struck by a comment managing director Chris Byrne made when describing NHT's Xd loudspeaker, which employs sophisticated digital signal processing (DSP) for its crossovers and equalization functions. "You do realize that we could have never incorporated such complex slopes in a physical crossover," Byrne proselytized.
I did? Well, once the obvious had been pointed out to me, I did. Perhaps, I thought, this is what all that cheap computing power is really for in audio—not those bogus DSP "effects" that the mainstream…
Hansen Audio: Canadian loudspeaker manufacturer Hansen Audio, best known for "high-end luxury lifestyle speakers," has named Wes Bender senior director of US sales and marketing.
Hansen Audio was founded by Lars Hansen, a lifelong electrical engineer, who founded his first loudspeaker company, Legacy (not the contemporary company Legacy Audio of Springfield, IL), in the 1970s. He also worked at Alpine Audio and was president of Dahlquist. Hansen designed his company's $60,000/pair The King flagship loudspeaker to compete with—surpass, according to Bender—the best-known high-performance…
NaimNet: On June 20, at the London CEDIA Expo, Naim announced its entry into the custom integration/home systems market with a series of products and technologies called NaimNet. NaimNet is described as "a combination of Naim's experience in audio and video together with the IP technology of StreamNet™ licensed from NetStreams® LLC."
StreamNet, Naim says, enables easy control of multiple sources and uniquely allows full-bandwidth audio, metadata, and control signals to be distributed throughout a house over its IP home network. It also integrates with A/V, heating, lighting, and security…