<A HREF="http://www.homeentertainment-expo.com">Home Entertainment 2002</A> is set to open to the public as planned, May 31–June 2, 2002, at the Hilton New York & Towers Hotel in New York City. Show attendees will be treated to numerous free educational seminars and musical performances from a dozen popular jazz, classical, and contemporary recording artists.
At the start of his review of the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/570/">Balanced Audio Technology VK-D5 CD player</A>, Jonathan Scull observes, "<I>Man</I>, has Balanced Audio Technology come a long way in a short time." Scull goes in-depth with the VK-D5 to explain just what he's found.
Jonathan Scull says he likes "stories with happy endings." Will his time spent with the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/565/">Conrad-Johnson Premier 16LS preamplifier</A> leave a smile on his face or a frown? J-10 comments, "As always, after a period of time, I began tweaking until I got the sound <I>just so</I>, then whipped out the laptop and . . . " filed this report.
In his review of the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/560/">Music Reference RM-200 power amplifier</A>, Michael Fremer claims, "Reviewing a vacuum-tube power amplifier is like having your pants pulled down in front of a large crowd of people." MF explains why he reviewed the RM-200 despite the inevitable public humiliation.
"No doubt about it—Linn's top-of-the-line <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/555/">Komri loudspeaker</A> is a queer-lookin' duck," says Jonathan Scull as he set up a pair in his listening lair. The claimed frequency response for the Komri extends out to 40kHz. "Why even <I>bother</I> going out that high, where even the most beautiful of women cannot hear?" J-10 explains why.
Analog audio electronics are approaching "maturity," a state eventually achieved by most technologies, in which almost all the great discoveries have been made and progress becomes a process of increasingly arcane refinements. Digital audio is in no such danger, as evidenced by three new product announcements made the first week of April.
High-end audio and home-theater enthusiasts attending <A HREF="http://www.homeentertainment-expo.com">Home Entertainment 2002</A>, The Hi-Fi and Home Theater Event in New York City on May 31–June 2, 2002, will have an opportunity to participate in a series of interactive seminars and panel discussions on the latest advances in technology—all included with the price of admission.
Back in September of 1986, the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/550/">KEF R107 loudspeaker</A> represented the flagship of KEF's much admired Reference Series. Dick Olsher and a variety of other <I>Stereophile</I> scribes profile this important audio achievement over the course of five years, wrapping up with Tom Norton's 1995 review of the R107/2 "Raymond Cooke Signature Edition."
<A HREF="http://www.madrigal.com">Madrigal</A>'s Proceed line of high-end audio products will be phased out some time later this year, according to an April 3 press release.
At the recently concluded SAE-CEA Digital Car Conference in Detroit, representatives of the recording industry joined <A HREF="http://www.panasonic.com">Panasonic</A> for a DVD-Audio love-fest hailing the format as the "in-car music delivery system of the future." Panasonic's automotive electronics division used the conference and exhibition to introduce and demonstrate its first mobile DVD-Audio systems for OEM distribution. The company also hosted seminars exploring how it imagines DVD-Audio will specifically apply to and benefit the automobile industry.