Technically, the preceding sentence should have read that this is the first time that a…
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Even though the European Commission okayed the merger of Sony and the Bertlesmann Music Group (BMG) in 2004, Europe's second-highest court—the Court of First Instance—annulled the merger on July 13. The decision came about because of a challenge from independent record labels that claimed the EU regulators shouldn't have approved the merger in the first place. This is the first time a European Commission decision has been overturned and it requires the commission to examine the complex merger again.
Some days I feel like Stereophile's designated audio antichrist. After all, I wrote an automotive audio column for the magazine about 10 years back—a feature that prompted more than one reader to send the pages carrying my column back to Santa Fe as "not what I subscribed for"—and I reviewed the iPod. So, not really being a glutton for punishment, I wasn't wildly enthusiastic when Edelman account executive Stefani Gudis tendered an invitation to hear the Infiniti/Bose "Studio On Wheels" model G35 sedan. It wasn't that I didn't think that car audio could be a valid musical experience, I simply…
As it has for the last 10 years, The Cable Company, along with many of its vendors, is dedicating August to help some of "the poorest people in the most ravaged regions of the world."
Here's how it works: The Cable Company and its vendors contribute a share of each sale in August to CARE, which has arranged a 5:1 matching grant from a large donor. The Cable Company is contributing 5% of each sale in August to the program and the participating vendors are matching that with another 5% donation; the total August donation is then matched by the large donor at a rate of $5 for every $1 raised…
Audio professionals and "prosumers" with home studios have long sung the praises of NHT's compact powered monitor, the M-00 (affectionately called "the moo"); powered subwoofer, the S-00 (don't make us say it); and passive volume control, the PVC (a JA favorite). Until July 18, however, these products were only available at studio suppliers and professional audio sales centers. NHT, acceding to "growing demand and an evolving market," will now allow its specialty audio dealer network to offer the formerly Pro products to their clientele as part of NHT's PC Hi-Fi line.
The 14 lb. 9" (H) x…
In May, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) sued XM Satellite Radio over the Pioneer Inno portable player, which has a 1GB recording capacity, but no way of porting the recordings outside the player.
The RIAA alleged that the Inno enabled "massive wholesale infringement of . . . copyrighted recordings." On July 17, XM requested that the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York dismiss the suit, claiming that the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 shields the Inno from liability for copyright infringement. XM says that the AHRA forbids parties from…
Slim Devices, the company best known for the Squeezebox, has announced what it is billing as "the most advanced networked audio system available." At Stereophile, we hear this claim all the time, and it usually means that a computer peripheral company has added another USB port to a product aimed at the MP3 crowd.
However, since Slim Devices outfitted the WiFi-connected Squeezebox with digital outputs, which allowed John Atkinson to feed uncompressed digital audio files into his Mark Levinson No.30.6 D/A converter, making him "strain to hear [the] difference" between his audio files and…
Ultimate Ears, the headphone company that specializes in in-ear monitors such as the UE-5c, is developing a new model slated to join the super.fi family of products. During the prototyping period, the design crew referred to the new model as "XXX" (triple X).
Try doing a Google search on "XXX" and you'll discover the name would be a marketing nightmare for anyone not involved in the adult entertainment industry, which Ultimate Ears is not, despite its "stick it in your ear" philosophy. That's where their new contest comes in: UE is soliciting consumers to submit possible product names to…
Just as the mythical Phoenix arose from its own ashes, the birds of the Talon Audio line have again taken flight, this time as Talon Loudspeakers. As of August 7, Rives Audio (www.rivesaudio.com) has acquired Talon Audio and plans to reintroduce many of the company's most successful models.
Richard Rives Bird, who founded Rives Audio in April 2002, first encountered Talon Audio co-founder Mike Farnsworth at the 2003 Consumer Electronics Show. Rives had brought several of his Parametric Adaptive Room Compensation (PARC) units to the show, planning to demonstrate them in several rooms. (…
One of the great sopranos of the 20th century, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, died in her sleep at her home in Schruns, Austria, on August 3, at the age of 90. The myriad ways in which she employed her remarkably expressive, silvery soprano gave rise to as much admiration and respect as her penchant for incessant nuance, along with her Nazi past, generated controversy.
The rise of Schwarzkopf's international career has become synonymous with the ascendance of the long-playing record. In 1946, she was invited to audition for Walter Legge, founder of the Philharmonia Orchestra and the EMI producer…
No CDs for you, Tower: The Los Angeles Times reported August 4 that Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and EMI have cut off CD shipments to Tower Records because the record chain has stopped paying its bills. Sony BMG may have also stopped shipping to Tower, but the Times was not able to confirm those reports.
The Sacramento-based retailer has been struggling to stay afloat and had just named "crises management and bankruptcy specialist" Joseph D'Amico to its chief executive post a few days before the report. The retailer may have run out of money or, speculated some insiders, it…