One of Sony's new line of versatile, affordable machines, the DVP-S9000ES, is the company's first combination Super Audio CD/DVD player. The DVP-S9000ES will also play standard CDs, CD-Rs, and DVD-Rs. A dual-laser optical system ensures compatibility…
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The enduring audiophile dilemma about whether to optimize a home-entertainment system for music or movies may no longer be relevant, thanks to new disc players from Sony Corporation and Philips Electronics NV. The machines were introduced at CEDIA Expo 2000, the annual home-theater and custom-installation trade show held in Indianapolis.
As John Atkinson puts it, Meridian usually does things "their way," putting amps and DACs inside of speakers in an all-out attempt at "re-creating the original soundfield, no matter how many speakers and channels it takes to do it right." But as Atkinson finds, the Meridian 518 Digital Audio Processor might be the company's most perverse product: "The $1650 518 offers digital inputs and outputs only. It can digitally perform gain and source selection; it can change data with one digital word length to data with another; and it does all these things with 72-bit internal precision." So JA asks…
When it comes to digital music players and the future of computer-based entertainment, the computer industry appears to be going in two directions at once. Apple Computer has recently made a strong move into the portable music arena with its $399 iPod, a player that can store as many as 1000 songs. The company is also rumored to be developing software and computer-based editing equipment for the pro-audio industry.
Hewlett-Packard is attempting to move into the upscale home music market with its $1000 Digital Entertainment Center de100c (see previous). A computer/audio recorder, the…
In early June, Toshiba will institute a new retailing program that embraces the Internet but favors traditional retailers. The electronics manufacturing giant will have "a defined group of Internet retailers" that will be built on a base of traditional retailers, according to an announcement made in late April. Later, the program will be expanded in stages to include Internet-only retailers. The announcement follows an announcement by Sony Corp. late in January that Sony would begin direct Internet sales this year.
Toshiba plans to keep strict controls over who can and who cannot sell…
Jamo's jammin': At the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Stereophile was entranced by the look of Jamo's striking reference R 909 "open baffle" loudspeaker ($14,999/pair). The dipolar high-gloss R 909 (available in black, red, or yellow) dispenses with the conventional box enclosure, mounting two 15" (380mm) woofers, a proprietary 5.5" (150mm) hard-conical cone (HCC) midrange, and a 1" (25mm) ScanSpeak Revelator tweeter into its raked-back front baffle, which is reinforced by a "flying" rib that lends it rigidity.
Designed by Jamo’s chief acoustic engineer Henrik Mortensen, the R 909…
John Atkinson headed to the Midwest last year to record another audiophile disc. In Deep River: the Cantus Spirituals Project, JA describes the process of capturing a chorus of male voices with high-rez digital equipment. Atkinson notes, "Presented with the magnificent acoustic of Sioux Falls' 1500-seat Washington Pavilion of the Arts & Sciences, the question facing me was how to present what are still fairly intimate works while taking advantage of that supportive acoustic."
From the February 2001 issue, Michael Fremer reviews the Musical Fidelity M3 Nu-Vista integrated amplifier,…
Several manufacturers will be demonstrating state-of-the-art audio products at HI-FI '98---some of which have never been seen by the public before.
Between now and when the Show opens, we'll be running several announcements each week to give you a taste of what to expect. Here's the first assortment:
EgglestonWorks
HI-FI '98 will mark the debut of a brand-new, cost-no-object EgglestonWorks speaker system, its name not to be announced until the Show.
Consisting of a single 1150-lb. enclosure per channel, each cabinet contains 22 drivers, high frequencies reproduced (as in…
Although the deal was announced by both companies only weeks ago, it appears that Audio Advisor will in fact not be distributing Musical Fidelity products in the US after September 1. In AA's place, Musical Fidelity has chosen Kevro International as the exclusive US distributor for its complete line of electronic products. According to Kevro International spokesperson Kathy Ginn, "Musical Fidelity [has] chosen to market [its] products through independent specialists rather than [continue] their previous approach [of distributing the line] through mail order and the Internet. And,…
Note: this article has been updated at the bottom on July 5, 2005 with a statement from Nagra CEO Gérard Beuchat.
We went to lunch with Anthony Chiarella, president of Specialty Sound and Vision, LLC, Audiophile Systems' New York metro rep firm, recently and were surprised to learn that Audiophile Systems would stop distributing the Swiss Nagra electronics and Canadian Verity Audio loudspeaker lines as of July 1.
The decision wasn't caused by unhappiness with the sound quality of either product line, but rather by impact of the weakening dollar and the difference in the expectations…
The need to cut costs may push the music industry to experiment with collaborative manufacturing and distribution, according to reports that emerged the first week of October.
With music sales down both domestically and worldwide, and with a prolonged recession likely, major record labels are seeking ways to save money; joint ventures in CD manufacturing are a strong possibility. At least four of the music industry's Big Five have been reported in discussions about shuttering some CD pressing plants and maximizing production from others. News of the strategy first appeared in late August…