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Added to the Archives This Week

Tweaks can rear their pointy little heads in the most unexpected of places, as Stereophile's inimitable Jonathan Scull discovered recently when he stubbed his toe. In Fine Tunes #33, J-10 reveals the floor screw tweak and many more.

Next, Scull indulges one of his audiophile fantasies and reviews the C.E.C. TL 0 CD transport. As J-10 writes, "One summer day, a large, heavy box arrived with the instrument contained within. Kathleen and I unpacked this minimalist and striking ode to contemporary Japanese design and engineering, and set it up." But was this a fantasy fulfilled?

As…

Linn Launches the Index

Linn's early decision to develop hard-disk audio systems first got our attention when the Kivor project was announced back at the 2000 Consumer Electronics Show. The Linn Kivor has now spent almost two years on the market, garnering a positive review from John Atkinson and a special "Editor's Choice" mention in this month's 2002 Products of the Year.

The Kivor concept is simple: create a computer-controlled hard-disk music server, conceptually similar to MP3 systems, but capable of storing and playing back uncompressed CD audio, and with the ability to serve as the music source in a multi-…

2006 Stereophile Buyer's Guide

The 2006 edition of the Stereophile Buyer's Guide is out now. Listing the specifications of more than 5000 audio components within its 212 large-format pages, the Buyer's Guide is exclusively concerned with products for music reproduction, as opposed to the bangs, bonks, and battle noises typical of movie soundtracks.

In addition to the listings, Stereophile's editors and writers offer advice on how to get the best from LP playback systems, loudspeakers, amplifiers, and digital source components, while "Music in the Round" columnist Kalman Rubinson offers practical advice on setting up a…

The Digital Den Emerges

Most audiophiles are generally loathe to think that they'd run their main audio systems from a computer. Last time we ran a poll, answers such as this one from David L. Wyatt, Jr. were typical: "Why in the world would I hook my computers to my stereo? If I want to make a compilation CD of the music I have purchased, I'll just burn one."

And yet, there were still quite a few readers who have made the leap and are exploring ways to get their computers to perform audiophile chores. Among the big draws for doing this is the ability to connect a system to the Internet for either music downloads…

Can't Name That Tune?

For the millions of fans who search the Internet for their favorite music, one thing always required is the name of the artist or song sought. But what if you don't know exactly what you want to hear, and would rather search for the kind of music that suits your mood?

Last week, CantaMetrix announced the launch of its music search, recognition, classification, and recommendation engine. The company claims that the engine employs a proprietary computational approach to music retrieval that allows for purely sound-based searches, "which creates a more enjoyable and inherently personalized…

Sony Will Embrace Internet Sales, Aoki Announces

Where Sony goes, the electronics industry follows. And Sony is going on the Internet—not merely with product information and links to dealers, but with sales direct to consumers. The announcement was made late in January by Sony Electronics president Teruaki Aoki. "We cannot neglect the customers' viewpoint," Aoki said, acknowledging that serving consumers is a higher priority for the electronics giant than protecting dealers.

Sony is the most widely recognized brand name in the world. The company has long been selling its personal computers and a few hard-to-find products on the…

More "Recommended Components" Corrections

Despite our best efforts, things can still go awry with Stereophile's "Recommended Components" listing, the most recent edition of which appears in the current, April 2002 issue. I reported a couple of errors a couple of weeks ago and now, sadly, I have more corrections to offer.

When we check the current prices, we also ask every manufacturer whose products are included in the listing to let us know if any of those components have been discontinued or are no longer available. In their answering fax, Canadian amplifier manufacturer Bryston let us know that the 9B-ST amplifier was no…

CEMA: Holiday Shopping Season Looks Promising

The holiday retailing picture looks promising, according to several recent reports. Both the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association and the Recording Industry Association of America were predicting up seasons after mid-year numbers came in higher than expected. Overall, retail sales were up 0.6% in November, reported the Wall Street Journal on Monday, December 14.

A strong increase in online sales has been accompanied by plenty of traffic in traditional stores and shopping malls. The ongoing comic opera in Washington, a military attack on Iraq, and economic crises in Asia and…

Bang & Olufsen America's Retail Bet Appears to have Paid Off

We reported last year about the new direction that Bang & Olufsen America has taken in distributing its products: the company has recently opened a series of branded BOA stores around the US. The strategy seems to have paid off. The company reports increased sales of more than 60% in the first quarter of its current fiscal year, and claims that individual shops reported an average sales increase of 20%.

BOA says it plans to open more than 185 shops in the US, Canada, and Mexico in the next three years, having recently celebrated the opening of its 40th store, in Dallas, Texas. The…

Added to the Archives This Week

From the January 2004 issue, Robert J. Reina surveys the Epos ELS-3 loudspeaker, reporting at the outset, "I have not been this excited about an entry-level speaker in years." BJR explains, "In three areas, it exceeded in performance what I've heard from its competition."

Next we have Larry Greenhill listening carefully to the $14,799/pair Piega C8 LTD loudspeaker. LG writes, "It was only natural to test whether this Swiss full-range speaker could deliver 'what you should hear.'"

Also from the January issue, we file Paul Bolin's take on the Legacy Audio Focus 20/20 loudspeaker.…