Stereophile Staff

Microsoft Acquires Pacific Microsonics Inc.
News
Stereophile Staff  |  Sep 24, 2000  |  0 comments
Software giant Microsoft Corporation has acquired Pacific Microsonics, Inc. (PMI), developer of High Definition Compatible Digital (HDCD) technology. The deal was announced in a joint press release issued September 18. Financial details were not disclosed.
Continue Reading >
Added to the Archives This Week
News
Stereophile Staff  |  Sep 24, 2000  |  0 comments
Choice is good, or so would go the common wisdom. But as John Atkinson points out in "The Crazy You Get from So Much Choice," when applied to diapers and DVD-Audio, choice can quickly develop into a nightmare in which comsumers simply walk away from the shelves, unable to make a decision. Will DVD-Audio suffer such a fate?
Continue Reading >
Warner Music's Ambitious Download Plan
News
Stereophile Staff  |  Sep 17, 2000  |  0 comments
One of the industry's most ambitious digital distribution programs has been announced by Warner Music Group. In November, WMG will make more than 1000 albums and singles available as downloads through several online music retailers, using RealNetworks' RealPlayer software. Music fans in the US and Canada are the target audience for the download program, according to a September 11 press release.
Continue Reading >
Mid-Year Audio Sales Revenues at All-Time High
News
Stereophile Staff  |  Sep 17, 2000  |  0 comments
Last week, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) released numbers indicating that factory audio sales (as opposed to sales through to consumers) for the first six months of 2000 have surpassed all previous mid-year dollar sales. The CEA adds that the $3.85 billion in sales to dealers put audio sales 12% ahead of the same time last year.
Continue Reading >
Added to the Archives This Week
News
Stereophile Staff  |  Sep 17, 2000  |  0 comments
Michael Fremer writes, "I've never heard a pair of the Italian Sonus Faber speakers I didn't like. What I've never liked was the US price: too high. And then you have to put them on costly stands." In his review of the floorstanding Sonus Faber Concerto Grand Piano loudspeaker, Fremer grapples with the price/performance ratio of this $3500/pair speaker and answers the important audiophile question: Enough magic for the money?
Continue Reading >
Study Predicts $42.8 Billion Music Market by 2005
News
Stereophile Staff  |  Sep 10, 2000  |  0 comments
The global market for music could reach $42.8 billion within five years—more than $7.5 billion higher than the present level, according to a recent study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Wilkofsky Gruen Associates. In the about-to-be-released study, The Global Entertainment & Media Outlook: 2000–2004, the firms make their prediction based on buying patterns and other economic factors in several regions of the world.
Continue Reading >
Added to the Archives This Week
News
Stereophile Staff  |  Sep 10, 2000  |  0 comments
Jonathan Scull writes that "with its latest series of FPB (Full Power Balanced) amplifiers, Krell is taking careful aim at the seam between classic high-power two-channel systems and quality multichannel installations where sound is yet paramount. Nevertheless, Krell founder Dan D'Agostino was adamant: Krell's Class A components were designed for music playback. 'I'm a purist, like you, Jonathan!' he told me." In his review of the Krell Full Power Balanced 350mc monoblock amplifier, Scull determines whether or not Krell has struck its musical target.
Continue Reading >
Home Entertainment 2001 Finds a Time and a Place
News
Stereophile Staff  |  Sep 10, 2000  |  0 comments
Home Entertainment 2001 (formerly The HI-FI Show) is heading back to the heart of New York for the first time in five years. Described as "a unique hands-on event where attendees will see and hear the newest and the best in home audio and home theater," HE 2001 will take place May 11–13 at the Hilton New York.
Continue Reading >
Added to the Archives This Week
News
Stereophile Staff  |  Sep 03, 2000  |  0 comments
Dynaudio US's president, Al Filippelli, tells Wes Phillips that "Dynaudio speakers are a lot like the Danes who make them. They don't look all that fancy, but they tell the truth and they get the job done. To a lot of audiophiles, that's boring. But there are a lot of people who have been looking for those qualities in a loudspeaker, and for them, boring can be cause for excitement." Phillips takes an in-depth look at the Dynaudio Contour 3.3 loudspeaker to determine if "boring" can make him happy.
Continue Reading >
Added to the Archives This Week
News
Stereophile Staff  |  Aug 27, 2000  |  0 comments
Back in 1997, DVD-Audio was still miles away—and it may still be! But, as John Atkinson writes, "After a decade of stability, with slow but steady improvement in the quality of 16-bit/44.1kHz audio, the cry among audio engineers is now '24/96!'—meaning 24-bit data sampled at 96kHz. Not coincidentally, DVD offers audiophiles a medium with the potential for playing back music encoded at this new mastering standard." The dCS Elgar D/A processor was one of the first consumer units able to decode 24/96, and still stands as a benchmark product. JA gives the details.
Continue Reading >

Pages

X