All key US Naim employees will become ASL employees and Chris Koster and Chris West continue to handle sales and general support issues. Dave Dever and Pat Flanagan will still administer technical support and service and will…
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ASL Group (formerly known as Audiophile Systems Ltd.) announced December 19 that it had acquired Naim North America, the US distributor of Naim Audio and NaimNet, a deal that strengthens both ASL and Naim NA. Naim Audio's CEO Paul Stephenson said, "It's like going home, since we originally were distributed by Audiophile Systems when we first moved into the US."
The Deutsche Grammophon webshop and HDtracks have special New Year's gifts for audiophiles: more CD-quality and high-resolution downloads.
DG's breakthrough comes as a special surprise. One of the first classical labels to offer 320kbps, DRM-free downloads, DG has now posted its first 50 CD-quality FLAC albums for downloading here.
First on the list is violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter's new, demonstration-quality CD of concertos by J.S. Bach and Sofia Gubaidulina. While the Bach will not replace other versions in the catalog, Mutter's take on Gubaidulina's In tempus praesens, written…
Given the state of the economy, speculation abounds concerning major declines in the numbers of exhibitors and attendees at this year's audio/video shows in Las Vegas. If the advance numbers can be trusted, however, that will be anything but the case this January 8–11, when the high-end audio exhibits of both the Consumer Electronics Show and T.H.E. Show will be open.
For one thing, CES's exhibits of what it now calls "high-performance audio" (HPA) have grown. In 2007, when CES first moved HPA exhibitors out of the Alexis Park Hotel and into the Sands/Venetian Convention Center and Hotel…
As reported on this website on December 9, Joseph Cohen of the Lotus Group, exclusive distributor of Oyaide products in North America, discovered that Chris Johnson of Parts ConneXion was selling counterfeit Oyaide AC plugs at regular Oyaide prices. Given that Johnson had previously signed a contract with the Lotus Group to distribute genuine Oyaide plugs, Cohen immediately attempted to reach Johnson to resolve the matter.
Unfortunately, Johnson was unreachable, home in bed with a wicked cold. Concerned that the counterfeit AC devices might harm purchasers, Cohen then posted a strong…
Al Stiefel, 66, co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, died suddenly and unexpectedly in Denver on January 27. His wife of 22 years, RMAF mainstay Marjorie Baumert, was at his side.
Al's contributions to the audiophile community were vast. He and fellow Colorado Audio Society member Ron Wellborne founded RMAF in 2004 as a labor of love. Intentionally limiting profit and charging below market rates in order to encourage participation, Al, Ron, Marjorie, Colorado Audio Society founder Art Tedeschi, and other members of the organization worked side by side to create an annual festival…
Three years ago, as the shift to downloadable media gathered momentum, Concord Music Group purchased Telarc International. The suspicion of those who then saw the handwriting on the wall were confirmed this past December, when a company-wide restructuring by CMG included the layoffs of 27 Telarc employees. Among those now on their own are the entire Telarc Production Department, as well as former classical publicist Amanda Sweet.
The good news for music lovers is that a major part of the famed Grammy-winning recording team responsible for the "Telarc Sound" over the last 20 years has…
It's a Vinyl World, After All: Michael Fremer's Guide to Record Cleaning, Storage, Handling, Collecting, & Manufacturing in the 21st Century
MF Productions mxangle3 (DVD). 2008. Michael Fremer, prod.; Joe Shelesky, Andre Kruger, Jeff Wilerth, dirs.; Joe Shelesky, editor. $30; available from Stereophile's secure e-commerce page.
MF Productions mxangle3 (DVD). 2008. Michael Fremer, prod.; Joe Shelesky, Andre Kruger, Jeff Wilerth, dirs.; Joe Shelesky, editor. $30; available from Stereophile's secure e-commerce page.
Michael Fremer comes walking down the long, vinyl-lined hall that leads to his cluttered listening room, a tall stack of compact discs balanced awkwardly in his arms. He looks up to find that we are there, too, waiting for him. Caught by surprise, he…
"It's time to turn down the lights: NHT is going quiet."
Thus began a February 23rd announcement from loudspeaker company NHT (Now Hear This) that it is temporarily closing its doors in order to revision its future.
Two weeks after informing its dealers, NHT, which is based in Benicia, California, spread the word in a simple, one-page letter that's high in spirits if low on details. Jovially titled "Going Fishin'," the message from company cofounder Chris Byrne, longtime employee John Johnsen, and "the entire NHT gang" explained that all remaining professional and consumer…
Two unusual download sites now offer high-resolution 24-bit files for audiophiles with a taste for adventure. The first, the UK's B&W Music Club, is a one-album-per-month subscription service that premieres complete, audiophile-quality albums in a wide variety of genres chosen and recorded by "curator" Peter Gabriel. The second, HifiTrack.com, is a Hong Kong-based site that offers Chinese and Asian traditional and pop music, Zen and meditation music, and Chinese-flavored Western pop, jazz, and classical.
"A lot of what we get to hear now is supercompressed," says Gabriel in the video…
Colorado high-end retailer ListenUp has three Music Matters events scheduled next week, one for each of their locations: Tuesday, May 5, in Colorado Springs—230 North Tejon Street, (719) 633-2600—Wednesday, May 6, in Denver—685 South Pearl Street, (303) 778-0780; Thursday, May 7, in Boulder—2034 Arapahoe Avenue, (303) 444-0479.
Billed as "three special evenings devoted to a celebration of recorded music," each Music Matters event will be highlighted by presentations from Stereophile editor John Atkinson and AudioQuest's Joe Harley. Other Music Matters participants will include: Steve…