News

When I visitedhttp://stereophile.com/news/051506nht/">visited; NHT's manufacturing facility in early May, I was struck by a comment managing director Chris Byrne made when describing NHT's Xd">http://stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/1105nht/">Xd loudspeaker, which employs sophisticated digital signal processing (DSP) for its crossovers and equalization functions. "You do realize that we could have never incorporated such complex slopes in a physical crossover," Byrne proselytized.

With no fewer than 42 pages of audio equipment coverage! Astell&Kern's Ultimate potable player is featured on the cover and gets a workout from Mikey Fremer on multiple road trips. On the domestic front, we have reviews of digital products from Naim, Oppo, and Benchmark, Reed's Muse 3C turntable, and amplification from Rogue and Margules, while Jim Austin lives with Devialet's groundbreaking Phantom Gold wireless speakers.

Hitting mailboxes, newsstands, and tablets today, the 204-page October Stereophile, offers 36 pages of audio equipment reports and the revised and updated "Recommended Components" listing. Featured on the cover is VPI's Prime Scout record player, reviewed by Art Dudley, who also offers auditions of speakers from Burwell and Wharfedale. Herb Reichert reviews the AMG Giro turntable, John Atkinson report on his time with KEF's Reference 5 loudspeaker, Robert Deutsch lives with PS Audio's Memory Player, and there are reviews of amplifiers from Dan D'Agostino, Rega, and Linear Tube Audio.

Napster has been taking its share of hits this past week from the music industry and the RIAA as a result of the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling last Monday that will likely pave the way for shutting down the file-sharing service. In its findings, the Court states that "Napster users who upload file names to the search index for others to copy violate plaintiffs' distribution rights. Napster users who download files containing copyrighted music violate plaintiffs' reproduction rights."

As reported">http://www.stereophile.com/news/121308oyaide/">reported on this website on December 9, Joseph Cohen of the Lotus">http://www.lotusgroupusa.com/">Lotus Group, exclusive distributor of Oyaide products in North America, discovered that Chris Johnson of Parts ConneXion was selling counterfeit Oyaide AC plugs at regular Oyaide prices. Given that Johnson had previously signed a contract with the Lotus Group to distribute genuine Oyaide plugs, Cohen immediately attempted to reach Johnson to resolve the matter.

Times are obviously tough for personal computer manufacturers, who, in the quest for new sources of revenue, are increasingly dipping their toes into consumer electronics waters. The latest firm to join IBM, Intel, and Compaq (see previoushttp://www.stereophile.com/news/11066/">previous;) in the rushing stream is Hewlett-Packardhttp://www.hp.com">Hewlett-Packard; which announced last week the expansion of the company's drive into the living room. HP says that its new initiative is intended to "blend interactive product innovations with easy-to-use services and offer consumers new ways to enjoy digital music, streaming video, and Internet information in the living room."

The Philadelphia Orchestra, one of America's prestigious "Big Five" orchestras, has established its own digital">http://www.thephiladelphiaorchestra.com/">digital online music store to directly market its soundboard recordings of current Philadelphia Orchestra performances.