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On August 21, Directed Electronics, Inc. announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Polk Audio for $136 million in cash, with the deal to close in Q3 of 2006. Current Polk management will join Directed, and company founder Matthew Polk and Polk president Jim Herd will sit on Directed's home audio advisory board. File this one under the you can't make this stuff up department: Sandy Gross, founder of Directed's other loudspeaker company, Definitive Technology, already sits on the board, which makes Polk's presence there a homecoming of sorts, since Gross was a…
Andy Regan, NHT's senior vice-president of sales and marketing, could barely contain his glee. "I'm happy—no, I'm proud—no, I'm happy and proud to announce that Mary Cardas is NHT's North American sales manager."
Cardas began her career in audio in 1989, working for Cardas Audio, the company started by her father, George Cardas. She eventually held the position of managing director, where she increased the company's sales by 65% and oversaw the line's expansion into an international presence. Ms. Cardas has also held supervisory roles at Theta Digital and Sunfire Corporation. Most…
On August 29, Nonesuch Records gave its first donation of $1 million to Habitat for Humanity International. The funds, raised in only eight months through sales of 150,000 copies of Nonesuch's superb benefit album Our New Orleans 2005, will be used to build homes for displaced musicians and others in the New Orleans Habitat Musicians' Village, whose centerpiece will be the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music.
Nonesuch began work on the album just a few days after Katrina struck. The brainstorm of Nonesuch president Robert Hurwitz, Our New Orleans 2005 consists solely of new tracks recorded in…
Amina Tech Plaster-In-Walls: Amina Technologies Ltd. of Huntingdon, England is introducing its Plaster-In-Wall speakers to the American market. The Plaster-In-Walls employ NXT-patented high-power flat diaphragms to create "undetectable in-wall or in-ceiling speakers." NXT technology is said to offer improved dispersion characteristics over conventional speakers, making location and listening position far more flexible, according to Amina.
Amina Plaster-In-Wall speakers incorporate a specialized strong, lightweight composite material that "vibrates in the same way as natural musical…
On Saturday, September 30 and Sunday, October 1, over 50 exhibitors and 200 brands will be on display at the Brussels Sheraton Hotel (Rogier Place, 3—1210 Brussels) between 10am and 7pm. Register in advance and have your pre-printed badge waiting for you—plus, you'll be eligible for door prizes.
Participants include: Acoustic Arts, Actinote, Acustica Applicata, Advance Acoustic, Agile, Aldenkamp, Alesco, ALR-Jordan, ALR-Jordan Gold CDs, Amazon, AMC, Amphion, André Charlin, Anthony Gallo Acoustics, Apertura, Apollo, Argon, Art Sound, Atohm, Atoll Electronique, Audience, Audio Analogue,…
Yes, we've reported on this before, but it bears repeating—especially if you didn't hear us because you were playing your iPod too loud: Prolonged exposure to loud music can damage your hearing.
The reason for this particular cautionary lecture? A recent article in Malaysia's New Straits Times, which quotes ENT specialist Dr. Kuljit Singh: "Constant use of earphones, especially from listening to iPods, can cause loss of hearing, especially among the young who use it for prolonged periods. . . . In five years, I will be seeing people who used maximum volumes just to listen to their music…
Naxos, possibly the world's largest classical music label, has taken a leap into the virtual universe of digital downloading. In an unprecedented collaboration—including Naxos of America, the country's largest independent distributor of classical music; eMusic, the world's second-largest digital music service; and bricks-and-mortar retailers such as Borders—Naxos has introduced MPkey, an exclusive series of downloadable classical music collections. Available for purchase only at bricks-and-mortar retailers (and exclusively at Borders stores through December 1), MPkey enables consumers to…
In a surprising move, the San Francisco Symphony has announced plans to release the next installment in its ongoing Mahler series, the beloved Symphony 5, in download format before issuing the recording on hybrid SACD/CD. The Fifth will first become available on iTunes on September 12, and in hard format three weeks later. Such an unprecedented release schedule, from one of the few symphony orchestras in the world to regularly record in the high-resolution SACD format, can be seen as part of a near-universal recognition among record labels of the importance of online sales.
"We're always…
Even though the calendar year starts January 1 (or, if you're in the electronics industry, with the January CES), many of us still think of Labor Day as the beginning of the year. That's when school always started—or, again if you're in the electronics industry, the week after is when CEDIA's (Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association) Expo takes place. As the show has grown over the years, it has also become the kick-off to the important (and, hopefully, lucrative) end-of-the-year sales season, with many companies debuting significant products they hope will make their Q4…
Peter Zylberberg of Audio Excellence in Yorkville, Toronto sends along the following warning:
"We have discovered an eBay scam that all audiophiles should be aware of. A customer of ours brought in a van den Hul Mainstream Hybrid power cord that he purchased from an eBay auction site reported to be based in LA. The cable is a very unusual pale grass green color and includes fake Wattgate-labeled plugs. The cable is very flexible, unlike the genuine article. The Canadian distributor for van den Hul has examined the cable, at our request, and pronounced it to be a fraud. The printing on the…