search

Good Guys Take a Dive

The West Coast's Good Guys aren't feeling so well. The 79-store chain reported a 31% drop in net earnings for the quarter ending December 31. Gross margins dropped to 23.4% of sales, as compared to 24.7% in the same period the previous year.

Same-store sales were down 2%, an especially disturbing trend for Good Guys stockholders. Consumer-electronics retailers typically do the bulk of their annual sales volume during the period leading up to the winter holidays. The company's stock closed Friday, February 5 at $4.03, far below its 52-week high of $15.75.

Good Guys president Robert…

Three Go Universal

For quite a while now, Pioneer and Marantz have stuck their necks out with the few universal SACD/DVD-A/DVD/CD players available. Not any longer, as Onkyo, Teac and Yamaha join the club with new machines, aimed at consumers hedging their bets as to who will win the high-rez format wars.

Last week Onkyo officially announced the introduction of the DV-SP800 universal player, which decodes SACD, DVD-Audio discs, and MP3 CDs in addition to conventional DVDs and CDs. The company says the progressive-scan DV-SP800 is the company's top-of-the-line DVD player.

For audio reproduction,…

Added to the Archives This Week

Kal Rubinson gets right to the point: "I am biased: On very little evidence, I remain convinced that, in the near future, high-quality music reproduction will be multichannel." The Meridian Digital Theatre surround-sound music system is therefore a product that puts Kal's vision to the test. Kal details the system, which consists of two DSP6000 front L/R speakers, one DSP6000C center-channel speaker, two DSP5000 speakers used for surround, the Reference 800 DVD/CD player, and the Reference 861 System Controller. But does the Meridian system live up to his expectations regarding the…

Home and Car Audio Connect

Imagine this: You're a modern kind of audiophile, and your music library is loaded and sorted (without any compression, of course) onto a hard-disk–based audio system which is networked throughout the house. You've also got a hard-disk–based audio system in your car.

When planning a trip, you create a playlist on your home audio system and, using a wireless connection, send the tunes out to your garage and directly onto your car's hard-disk player. To get a few extra hours worth of music ready for the road, you also use a little judicious compression, which is hardly noticed in the car's…

Copyright or Copywrong?

It seems that all of the forces in the music industry have lately been conspiring against the music lover and audiophile. The record labels and their hired gun, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), have so far blocked digital outputs on high-resolution audio players, insisted that watermarks be inserted into both high- and low-resolution audio data, and have even started to restrict consumer's fair use of compact discs and digital downloads.

The National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM) is one of the few official voices standing up for the music-buying public…

Added to the Archives This Week

Wes Phillips is hesitant as he takes a listen to a revised version of the first speaker he ever reviewed for Stereophile. Will the new ProAc Response One SC loudspeaker vindicate his original positive assessment of its predecessor, the ProAc Response One S? Phillips admits all.

With his last installment of "Undercurrents" for Stereophile, George Reisch digs deep into the audiophile psyche with Painting Or Photography? When it comes down to it, what are music lovers—from musicians to audiophiles—really doing while looking for audio nirvana? Brushing or snapping? Reisch offers enlightenment…

Group Forms for Consumers' Digital Rights

Copy-protection hysteria in the entertainment industry is driving possible changes in copyright laws that could make what is legal today illegal tomorrow. Legislation such as Senator "Fritz" Hollings' to-be-introduced Security Systems Standards and Certification Act could erode long-established "fair use" provisions that allow consumers to make compilation CDs and video recordings of favorite TV shows.

Hollings and others in the Senate (notably, California's Diane Feinstein) have swallowed Hollywood's mantra that without legal constraints on digital copying capabilities, the entertainment…

Added to the Archives This Week

The audiophile Rosetta Stone? From the December issue, Kalman Rubinson goes looking for the perfect all-purpose audio player as he reviews the Linn Unidisk 1.1 universal disc player. As KR notes, "Even more important than comprehensive compatibility will be any truly universal player's ability to optimally play back all of these formats without robbing Peter to pay Paul."

For his first Krell review in 17 years, Michael Fremer hits play on the Krell SACD Standard multichannel SACD player to see what it's got. MF first comments, "Despite its relatively modest price of $4000, Krell's SACD…

Working Man by Day, Audio Artist by Night

A good part of each day around here is spent perusing the internet for all things audio: manufacturer sites, audio news, newsgroups, equipment reviews, etc. What's found ranges from the good-intentioned to the well-financed, and much of what's out there also represents the labors of love many audiophiles lavish on their favorite hobby.

Which brings me to an impressive find that hit my screen out of the black last week. Searching through the rec.audio.opinion newsgroup, this simple announcement popped up:

"For those (few) that have been following my page, I have a new 'interface'…

RIAA Targets Small Retailers

The music industry intends to leave no stone unturned in its war on piracy. Just a week after reports emerged about crackdowns on sales of pirated CDs at flea markets and swap meets, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced a campaign to eliminate sales of unauthorized discs at gas stations, grocery and convenience stores, and small independent music outlets.

On Monday, December 16, the RIAA issued cease-and-desist letters to 80 retailers throughout the US, threatening them with lawsuits if they don't stop making, distributing, and selling pirated music. Alleged…