According to the CEA's press release, distributed March 23, exhibitors in the new, combined home-…
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The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the producer of the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), has finally confirmed the rumors that have been circulating for many weeks: The industry sector that CEA terms "high-performance audio" will move from its customary venue at the Alexis Villas (originally the Alexis Park) to the Venetian Hotel in 2007. In addition, "high-performance audio" and "high-performance home theater" will now be represented under the same umbrella.
One of the most esteemed labels in the audiophile universe should soon be back in business. Online retailer Music Direct has purchased remastering and re-release specialty company Mobile Fidelity, according to an announcement made April 24.
Sebastapol, CA-based Mobile Fidelity built a large and loyal following in the audiophile community, beginning with high-quality half-speed remasterings of popular recordings in the 1970s. The company embraced the CD revolution in the 1980s with a series of extremely successful "gold" reissues, but in the late 1990s began to suffer a cash crunch…
Plenty of noteworthy new audio products are making their debuts here at HI-FI '99. EveAnna Manley has unveiled her prototype DAC/preamp, the Wave, featuring an UltraAnalog-based 20-bit D/A converter and a tube line-stage. With four digital inputs, four analog inputs, a processor loop, and three variable outputs, the fully remote-controllable unit should appear at dealers in late summer at a suggested price of $7000. Manley says an optional 24/96 pop-in circuit board is in the works.
Nashville's Nearfield Acoustics has unveiled its Pipedreams Model 15 tower loudspeakers. The upper-…
For many audiophiles, the reasonably priced "universal" DVD-Audio/SACD/CD player is the magic combination that will trigger a jump into the new high-resolution audio formats. As an answer to those universal player prayers, Wolfson Microelectronics, UK–based developer of audio ICs for multimedia and communications applications, announced the introduction of two new six-channel audio DAC chips last week—one of which brings the contentious formats together in one box.
Wolfson claims that the WM8746 and the WM8756 audio DACs provide the same high-performance audio traditionally found in higher…
The band that built a cult following on good vibes is feeling a trifle dysfunctional of late. Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh is at odds with fellow bandmembers over how best to put the group’s 35-year musical archive on the Internet. Grateful Dead Productions has been consulting about the prospect of making their vault available for computer download with several Silicon Valley companies, many of whose executives are Deadheads eager to affiliate themselves with the legendary rockers by sponsoring the venture.
The idea of affiliation appeals to all the members except Lesh, who is…
Everybody's favorite writer (according to the latest Stereophile poll), Sam Tellig, reviews the Conrad-Johnson MV60 power amplifier and explains "hanging beef." "For $2795, I loved the Conrad-Johnson MV60," says Tellig.
Muse Kastanovich digs into the Pass Labs Aleph 3 power amplifier, wondering, "What's the big deal? What is it about these relatively low-powered contraptions that could make everybody so nutso?" (He finds out.)
"Amazingly, here was a $395 70Wpc amplifier that could hold its own against the best I have heard!" exlaims J. Gordon Holt as he listens to the popular B&K…
The darTZeel NHB-108 power amplifier garnered effusive praise from Stereophile's John Marks in his September 2003 Fifth Element column, including the comment "the sweetest-sounding solid-state power amplifier I have ever heard." There was only one problem: the amp was hard to find in the US.
That should soon change with the recent announcement that darTZeel and Blue Light Audio have worked out a partnership to import and distribute darTZeel's audio products in North America. Based in Switzerland, darTZeel is the brainchild of Hervé Delétraz, who says his aim is the creation of nothing less…
Name change: Ultimate Acquisitions Partners, the company that operates the Colorado-based Ultimate Electronics chain, has announced that it is converting all nine of its Colorado SoundTrack consumer electronics superstores to the Ultimate Electronics brand name this September. That will allow all 32 of the company's retail stores to "deliver a consistent, unified message to consumers in all of its markets and more clearly communicate its offerings and store experience," according to a press release.
Randall Baumberger, Ultimate Electronics' president and chief operating officer, stressed…
Members of San Francisco's legendary Grateful Dead have announced plans to reunite for a six-week, 25-city tour beginning in June. The group---whose core consists of original Dead members Phil Lesh (bass), Bob Weir (guitar), and Mickey Hart (drums)---will call itself The Other Ones, after an old Dead tune. The group will headline the third annual "Furthur" tour.
Group members have pursued various solo projects since the death of lead guitarist Jerry Garcia in 1995. Recently, several of them have performed together informally at Bay Area venues: the Fillmore Auditorium and the Shoreline…
The Adcom GFA-555 power amplifier has long been regarded as a classic design and still commands decent prices on the used market. Anthony H. Cordesman and various other Stereophile writers check in with their opinions.
The surprisingly affordable Linn Tukan loudspeaker was reviewed by Robert Harley back in 1997. Harley explains what $799 can buy, pointing out, "Choosing a small speaker for a small room has musical as well as acoustical advantages."
In his feature article, Dead Man Walking: Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally, Wes Phillips gets the story behind a major new opera whose…