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Celestion Takes the Online Plunge

One by one, the name brands of audio are confronting the difficult issue of whether or not to take their products online. Recent brands to join the club include Roksan, Chord Electronics, Harman/Kardon, and PS Audio. Now it's time to add one of audio's deeply rooted loudspeaker marques, Celestion, to the list.

Last week, Celestion America and Hifi.com, sister company to Cambridge SoundWorks (itself founded by Henry Kloss of KLH fame), announced an exclusive agreement whereby Hifi.com will be the "first and only e-tailer of Celestion products."

While some have characterized online…

Added to the Archives This Week

First up is Stereophile's 2000 Products of the Year. This is an important resource for readers, and Stereophile editor John Atkinson has once again decided to post this oft-requested article in our online archives in the same month the original appears in the paper edition.

Next we've got Michael Fremer's review of the Infinity Prelude MTS loudspeaker. MF writes: "The brand seemed to founder for a while as Infinity's speakers didn't catch fire with the core audiophile market. Then someone made the decision to carefully rebuild the Infinity franchise as a premier line of innovative…

Added to the Archives This Week

John Atkinson and Stephen Mejias tally the writer and editor votes to present "The 2002 Products of the Year." As JA comments, "For more than a decade now, Stereophile has recognized components that have proved capable of giving musical pleasure beyond the formal review period."

Next, Larry Greenhill says it came as a surprise when he learned that the Bryston 14B-SST power amplifier was a bridged-output design. But after some careful listening, LG explains why "bridged amplifiers can sing."

"Aristotle, what a guy," is how John Marks begins "The Fifth Element #13" from November. As…

NARM Releases Annual Survey Results for 1998

The National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM) has released its Annual Survey Results for the 1998 business year, indicating that gross dollar volume for all music products grew by 10%, to $9.69 billion, with the CD market (83.3%, or $8.1 billion) continuing to build on its dominance. The report reveals that DVD sales "literally exploded in 1998," up a staggering 400% to $259 million.

A total of 32 member companies representing 3745 total stores are included in the survey, with 1660 of those stores in malls and the remaing 2085 in strip or freestanding locations. The average…

Industry Bits & Bobs

Good Morning America: The war for listeners between XM Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio has seen MLB go to one broadcaster (XM) and Howard Stern to the other. On June 21, Sirius announced an agreement that will put the BBC's popular Radio 1 on a time-shifted broadcast schedule. The time-shift will enable American listeners to hear Radio 1's broadcast day "as it was intended—with Chris Moyles' Breakfast Show in the morning, Scott Mills' show in the afternoon, and kicking off the weekend with Pete Tong's Friday night Essential Selection," according to a press release.

BBC Radio 1 mixes…

Industry Update

May the Web be with you: You'd think that forward-thinking tech-savvy companies such as those involved in high-end audio would be among the first to get how well the Internet works at spreading the word about their products. In nine cases out of ten, you'd be wrong. Companies introduce new products, upgrade old models, and venture into entirely new technologies without ever changing their websites.

Don't count NHT among them, however. The Benecia, CA–based firm has decided to harness the dynamic nature of the Web by creating three new sites dedicated to its multipronged marketing scheme. At…

Added to the Archives This Week

Build the audiophile kingdom and they will come . . . or do we need to get out there and proselytize? In "Fine Tunes" #22, Jonathan Scull looks at the debate both ways and comes to a conclusion.

Can the ultimate in 24/96 as well as 16/44 digital decoding be had on the cheap? In a recent review, Kal Rubinson delves into what makes the MSB Technologies Link D/A converter tick. His well-researched conclusions are sure to surprise.

As a bonus, we here update a previous Archive article, Markus Sauer's "God is in the Nuances." After receiving several reader comments (included at the end…

Buy Cables and Feed the Hungry

Once again, audiophiles can help themselves and others at the same time by participating in The Cable Company's eighth annual "Summer Against Hunger" campaign. The Cable Company and a wide cross-section of its vendors (listed below) have set up a program by which up to 10% of The Cable Company's August sales are donated to CARE and the International Rescue Committee, with contributions to be used to assist the worldwide disaster relief efforts of those humanitarian organizations.

The Cable Company's Robert Stein explains: "We dedicate our August each year to doing something for all those…

Industry Update

Audica MPS-1: Audica, the Cambridge, UK–based manufacturer founded by Kieron Dunk (formerly of Mission, Denon, Cyrus, Infinity, and Klipsch, to name but a few) is finally shipping its stylish MPS-1 desktop audio system ($400). The MPS-1 consists of two diminutive extruded aluminum loudspeakers and a 25Wpc amplifier/control center with three 3.5mm inputs (one high sensitivity for portables and other low-output sources; the others with lower sensitivity and higher input impedence). The MPS-1 control center also has USB and FireWire connections to facilitate recharging portable players'…

Meridian Commits to FireWire and Digital Harmony

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 10---Meridian has announced its intention to license Digital Harmony's IEEE 1394 (FireWire) technology. "Digital Harmony embodies the technology we can implement to produce the next generation of digital systems for home entertainment." So said Meridian's Bob Stuart, in an announcement sure to be a turning point for the high-end audio industry.

FireWire, a digital interconnnecting and interoperability technique originated at Apple Computer in the mid-1980s, has just recently begun to be adopted by large numbers of computer makers. Ease of operation is the philosophical…