We were startled to receive an email announcement recently informing us that Scot Markwell, long-time set-up and equipment maven for <I>The Abso!ute Sound</I>'s erstwhile editor Harry Pearson, had joined the staff at <A HREF="http://www.themusic.com">www.themusic.com</A> to manage its Gear Shop division.
Considering that not that long ago there wasn't even a product category for balanced AC line conditioners, we seem to now enjoy a plethora of the critters. Cinepro offers the PowerPRO 20 (reviewed in <I>Stereophile</I>, November 1998, Vol.21 No.11). And Equi=Tech, which caters more toward the pro end of the field, offers one that I have yet to hear. Now Audio Power Industries weighs in with their own approach to the genre.
Few audio products have proved as enduringly fascinating to audiophiles as William Firebaugh's Well-Tempered Turntable design. At once elegantly simple and technically sophisticated, it was an immediate hit with music lovers and critics alike—and was long a staple of <I>Stereophile</I>'s "Recommended Components" list. For the greater part of the product's 20-year lifespan, the Well-Tempered 'table has been distributed and manufactured under the direction of Transparent Audio, Inc. However, Carl Smith, the Transparent partner who supervised the manufacture of the Well-Tempered line, decided to retire this year, and Transparent determined that it should concentrate on its cable business.
It's only a CD-R with a self-adhesive label and computer-generated inserts, but it's what the major record labels are <I>really</I> scared of.
Julian Hirsch, the man who personified the state of audio criticism for nearly half a century, died on November 24 after a long illness.
From <I>The Audio Catechism</I>:<BR><B>Q: <I>What is a subwoofer?<BR></B>A: </I>A large, ugly device that must be placed in the most inconvenient location in the listening room—for instance, in front of the only door.<BR><B>Q: <I>What is the purpose of the subwoofer?<BR></B>A: </I>To produce prodigious amounts of low-frequency sound and to glorify its owner, who can rest safe in the knowledge that <I>his</I> is the <I>biggest</I>.
Johnny Cash, the 71-year-old American icon, died September 12 of respiratory failure caused by complications from diabetes. The singer/songwriter had been released from the hospital the preceding day after a two-week struggle with an unspecified stomach ailment.
Sam Phillips, the Memphis recording engineer who was acclaimed by many as one of rock and roll's inventors, died of respiratory failure July 30. He was 80.
One of the cooler toys being shown at the Westin–St. Francis is the $199 hp digital media receiver en5000. This nifty remote-controlled Ethernet device connects to any TV and stereo in your home and links it to your home computing network. After you've loaded its software onto the network's computers, it will instantaneously communicate with all of them, allowing you to access all digital media contained on any of them. You can create playlists, slideshows, or show movies from, say, the room containing your hi-fi without needing to have a computer in the space at all. This struck us as precisely the sort of product David Hyman was recommending in his keynote address on day one. Best of all, no noisy fans in the listening room!