Electronics Retailing Slow in July
Summer is traditionally the slowest time of the year for electronics retailers. July 2001 confirmed the pattern, with sales figures down significantly from previous months.
Stereophile Staff
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Wes Phillips is hesitant as he takes a listen to a revised version of the first speaker he ever reviewed for <I>Stereophile</I>. Will the new <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/386/">ProAc Response One SC loudspeaker</A> vindicate his original positive assessment of its predecessor, the ProAc Response One S? Phillips admits all.
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Larry Greenhill says he'll never forget his first encounter with the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/382/">Krell LAT-1 loudspeaker</A> at a meeting of the Westchester Audiophile Society. Suitably impressed, Greenhill reports, "I'd been bitten. I made arrangements to continue the audition in my own listening room." His complete analysis awaits.
Numbers Up for Harvey, Tweeter; Good Guys Stagnant
The year has been a good one so far for New York's Harvey Electronics and for national electronics retailer the <A HREF="http://www.tweeter.com">Tweeter Group</A>. The news isn't so rosy for West Coast chain the Good Guys.
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While doing research for his analysis of the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/378/">Totem Acoustic Forest loudspeaker</A>, Larry Greenhill uncovered a legacy of great reviews for the company's previous products each ending with a final "but . . ." comment. But . . . does Greenhill discover any killer "buts" with the Forest? He explains in detail.
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Several months back, <I>Stereophile</I> editor John Atkinson asked David Rich to investigate the technical merits of SACD. With <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//features/374/">Super Audio CD: The Rich Report</A>, DR discovers that there is both more and less than meets the ear to the new format, including why it is being promoted in the first place.
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Brian Damkroger finds that, while struggling unsuccessfully to fit the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/370/">Conrad-Johnson Premier 17LS line-stage preamplifier</A> into his preconceived notions of the company and its products, a paradigm shift in his thinking occurred. Damkroger explains that "it was only during a marathon session of listening and comparing the C-J to a couple of other preamps that the truth dawned on me . . . I went back and forth between the C-J and the other units several times over the course of the next week, and one evening it hit me." The truth awaits.
Primedia To Acquire emap usa
On Monday, July 2, 2001, Primedia announced that it has agreed to acquire emap usa from Emap plc. This transaction, which will create the second largest magazine company in the United States, is currently under a customary regulatory review. It is expected to close during the third quarter of the calendar year.
Multi-Channel DSD On a Chip
Last week, <A HREF="http://www.asahi-kasei.co.jp/akm/index.htm">Asahi Kasei Microsystems Semiconductor</A> (AKM), which supplies audio ICs for professional and consumer products, announced its line of Direct Stream Digital (DSD) Digital-to-Analog converters capable of supporting both Super Audio CD (SACD) Direct-Stream Bigital and 24-bit/192kHz LPCM DVD-Audio formats.
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As John Atkinson puts it, Meridian usually does things "their way," putting amps and DACs inside of speakers in an all-out attempt at "re-creating the original soundfield, no matter how many speakers and channels it takes to do it right." But as Atkinson finds, the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/367/">Meridian 518 Digital Audio Processor</A> might be the company's most perverse product: "The $1650 518 offers digital inputs and outputs only. It can digitally perform gain and source selection; it can change data with one digital word length to data with another; and it does all these things with 72-bit internal precision." So JA asks, "How does the 518 fit within a conventional high-end audio system?" Read along as he figures it all out.