BennyAudio’s New Odyssey Turntable
A new Polish turntable brand, BennyAudio, is poised to enter the United States via the Supreme Acoustic Systems distributorship. Given what I heard in BennyAudio's room at Audio Video Show 2024, aka The Warsaw Show, my audiophile buddy Scott might have gone to heaven and back if he’d been able to join me.
Berklee College Offers Free Online Course on Music Production
Image courtesy the Berklee College of Music
Since its founding, Boston's famed Berklee College of Music has marched to the beat of its own drum section, preferring experienced working musicians over credentialed academics as instructors, and emphasizing practical knowledge over disembodied theory. In collaboration with Coursera, the online learning company, and starting March 1, Berklee will be offering at no charge the course Introduction to Music Production, taught by Berklee instructor Loudon Stearns.Bernie Grundman at RMAF
A Show like last week's Rocky">http://blog.stereophile.com/rmaf2007">Rocky Mountain Audio Fest presents me with conflicts. As a member of the press I should be spending my time covering the Show. However, I am also spending my time as a participant, in this case giving a series">http://www.stereophile.com/news/100807rmaf/">series of presentations in which I allowed Showgoers the opportunity to listen to the hi-rez masters of many of my Stereophile recordings and compare them with CD and MP3 versions.
Bertelsmann Breaks Ranks, Climbs in Bed with Napster
At least one media conglomerate has seen the light. In a surprise move, German giant Bertelsmann">http://www.bertelsmann.de">Bertelsmann AG broke ranks with the music industry and settled its copyright-infringement lawsuit with embattled Napsterhttp://www.napster.com/">Napster;, in effect becoming the startup's tentative partner. The deal, reached on October 31, could mark the real beginning of the music industry's move into the Internet age. Bertelsmann is the parent organization of Bertelsmann">http://www.bmg.com/">Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG), one of the world's major music labels, as well as online music retailer CDnowhttp://www.cdnow.com/">CDnow;.
Bertelsmann Saves Napster
Napsterhttp://www.napster.com">Napster; has been saved from what appeared to be certain death. A last-minute deal struck by German media conglomerate Bertelsmann">http://www.bertelsmann.de">Bertelsmann AG will revive the company, which was reportedly near bankruptcy. It's the end of a long-running soap opera and the beginning of a new era for the company that began the audio file-sharing phenomenon.
Best Buy Expands Empire with Musicland, Magnolia Buyouts
The economy may be slowing down in some parts of the country, but not, apparently, in Minneapolis, where national electronics retailer Best">http://www.bestbuy.com/">Best Buy Co., Inc. announced December 7 its acquisition of both Musicland">http://www.musicland.com/">Musicland Stores Corporation (also of Minneapolis) and Seattle-based Magnolia">http://www.magnoliahifi.com/">Magnolia Hi-Fi, Inc. The buyouts will give Best Buy increased exposure in rural malls and in the Pacific Northwest. The company also announced a plan to open several stores in Canada over the next three years, beginning with eight locations for which leases have already been signed.
Best Buy Reports Record Quarter
Nationwide electronics retailer Best">http://www.bestbuy.com/">Best Buy has reported a record $59 million in profits for the second quarter of its fiscal year. Profits were up 34% from the previous year, according to a September 15 report in the Wall">http://www.wsj.com/">Wall Street Journal. The Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based chain is one of the largest outlets for consumer electronics, and is Circuit">http://www.circuitcity.com/">Circuit City's only serious rival.
Bethesda, MD Dealer Event Saturday
Maryland dealer JS Audio (4919 St. Elmo Avenue, Bethesda) is holding a special event Saturday November 21, starting at 4pm. Featured guests will be John Giolas, director of marketing for Wilson Audio Specialties, and Rich Maez from Boulder Amplifiers. John Giolas will be discussing Wilson's new Alexx loudspeaker and Rich Maez will be introducing Boulder's new 3000 and 2100 series amplification products and the new 2120 DAC.
Better Audio Downloads
Four short years ago, rock band Metallica angered part of its fan base by going">http://www.stereophile.com/news/10746/index.html">going after downloaders who used the online file-trading service Napster. At that time, the band provided Napster with the screen names of 335,000 users reputed to be pirating Metallica's music, and demanded they be removed from the service. The group was also the first">http://www.stereophile.com/news/10725/">first to sue the fledgling company.
Better Luck with the Internet?
Longtime audiophiles no doubt remember Hafler for their early amp and preamp kits, which offered excellent value for the money. The company soon dropped the kits, but continued production with a complete line of popular amps and preamps throughout the '80s and early '90s, only to hit hard times as the audio recession kicked in.