The 2nd Annual Southern California Hi-Fi Swap takes place on Sunday, February 22, 9am-1pm, at the Sequoia Athletic Club and Conference Center, 7530 Orangethorpe Avenue in Buena Park, one block north of Knotts Berry Farm and the 91 freeway on the corner of Beach and Orangethorpe.
Death. It's something we all wonder about. Ever try to imagine your own? There you are, flinging yourself out of the trenches and over the top, clutching your blunderbuss and your copy of Alice Cooper's <I>Killer</I>. Or perhaps you wake up, the room's in flames, and you scurry about, choking, one arm around your cat, the other around your Leopold Stokowski boxed set. Or maybe you envision a mythic/gothic/celtic/druidic Bergmanesque kind of death—you, the leaden sky, your copy of <I>Saxophone Colossus</I>, and black-draped Death, all pasty and balding, leaning on its scythe with the same easy grace shown by members of the New Mexico Highway Department when they slump over their shovels.
The <A HREF="http://www.cema.org">Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association</A> (CEMA) announced on January 23 that total November audio sales bounced back modestly from an anemic October, but were still off by 1% for both the month and year to date. Total dollars for the first 11 months of 1997 stand at $7.2 billion, compared to $7.3 billion at this time in 1996. Nevertheless, spectacular sales of audio systems are singlehandedly offsetting the lackluster sales in all other areas.
On January 28, <A HREF="http://www.carver.com">Carver Corporation</A> announced the resignations, effective January 21, 1998, of Mr. Thomas C. Graham and Mr. John F. Vynne as directors of the company so each can devote more time to his respective business. Carver Corp. also announced the resignation of Mr. Stephen M. Williams as a director of the company effective January 27, 1998. Mr. Williams is pursuing other business opportunities that preclude his continued service as a director of Carver Corp.
Attention all you amateur speaker designers furiously creating the world's next revolutionary crossover or cabinet design in your garage: <A HREF="http://www.iserv.net/~meniscus">Meniscus Audio</A>, a manufacturer of loudspeakers that sells directly to consumers through mail-order marketing programs, has announced a loudspeaker design contest that offers the winner the opportunity to have his or her design developed for distribution as a kit. First- and second-place prizes will also be awarded.
B<i>illboard Magazine</i> announced an agreement this week with Liquid Audio, a developer of secure music-delivery systems on the Internet, to make <i>Billboard</i>'s extensive database of album reviews and audio previews available through <A HREF=" http://www.billboard.com/">Billboard Online</A>. The audio portion will be provided in <A HREF=" http://www.liquidaudio.com/">Liquid Audio</A> format by the Music Previews Network, the company that provides Music Previews for Billboard Online.
The <A HREF="http://www.pbs.org">Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)</A> and <A HREF="http://www.warnerbros.com/">Warner Bros. Records</A> announced January 8 that they have entered into a five-year record and television program funding partnership. The arrangement launches the PBS Records label, a new venture that will fuel the production of PBS performance programs and companion recordings. In addition, PBS Records will present music soundtracks from major PBS nonfiction series.
This is a somewhat different twist on other "Recommended Recordings" lists you may have read. Rather than a selection of all-time (or year's) best recorded performances---which are common enough---or a list of audiophile reference recordings---common enough in the audiophile press, at any rate, and a good thing, too---this is a list of stereo recordings that are both musically <I>and</I> sonically impeccable---in other words, the best, the tops, to die for---each item briefly described in a hundred or so words (except for JA, LA, and JGH, whose couplets runneth over).
On Monday, January 5th, <A HREF="http://www.govideo.com">Go-Video, Inc.</A> announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire <A HREF="http://www.calaudio.com">California Audio Labs LLC</A>. Under the California Audio Labs and Cinevision brand names, Cal Audio designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes digital audio and video products marketed to the high-end home entertainment systems market.
In the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10054/">first set</A> of prophecies, we foresaw the effects of DVD-Audio, high-end sales around the world, and tweak multidisc CD. For the second installment, we look into our crystal interconnects and foresee new audio data-distribution methods for the coming year.