On Monday, June 6, at Apple's World Wide Developers Conference in San Francisco, Steve Jobs revealed that Apple would switch from its IBM-sourced PowerPC chip to Intel's Pentium D processor beginning in the latter half of 2006. Industry analysts began dissecting this move several days before the announcement in a series of "will they/won't they" articles every bit as breathless as those announcing the splits between Ben Affleck and J-Lo or Brad and Jennifer.
We were walking back from lunch the other day with a fellow audiophile who announced that he was selling his audio-component–quality hard-disk–based recorder without ever having used it.
More consolidation in the audio biz: <A HREF="http://www.dm-holdings.com">D&M Holdings</A>, owner of Denon, Marantz, McIntosh Laboratory, ReplayTV, Rio, and Escient, took another big gulp last week and made a move to acquire <A HREF="http://www.bostonacoustics.com">Boston Acoustics</A>.
Let's face it. Despite the vinyl resurgence amongst the young and not so, the days when <I>analogus collecticus</I> could spend hours scouring record bins, holding product in hand, and reading album notes, are mostly behind us. In response to market evolution, at least three competing computer-based technologies have emerged to steer consumers toward music they will likely enjoy. Each uses a different approach, with one claiming "objectivity."
Assuming you could get any resolution you wanted (we are audiophiles after all) from a music download site, would you prefer to purchase individual tracks
<I>Death to the fascist insect that preys upon the life of the people.—an old SLA slogan</I>
The French-made Kora line has been in and out of American distribution over the past decade. It's currently imported by Norman AV of Aventura, Florida. With the window of opportunity open again, I decided to listen to Kora's modestly priced hybrid integrated amplifier, the Explorer 150SB ($2030).
On Friday morning, March 25, 2005, my friend Maura Rieland, <I>Stereophile</I>'s show coordinator through the second half of the 1990s, e-mailed me to say that she had just learned of the passing of Ken Nelson.
<B>RENÉE FLEMING: <I>Haunted Heart</I></B><BR>
Renée Fleming, vocals; Bill Frisell, guitar; Fred Hersch, piano, arrangements<BR>
Decca B00004406-02 (CD). 2005. Renée Fleming, prod.; Elliott Scheiner, prod., eng.; Peter Doris, Aya Takemura, Brian Montgomery, Anthony Ruotolo, asst. engs. DDD. TT: 63:58<BR>
Performance <B>*****</B><BR>
Sonics <B>****</B>
The first National Critics Conference in US history took place May 25–29 at the Omni Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Subtitled "Critical Unity in Critical Times," the gathering brought together US and Canadian members of organizations devoted to visual arts, dance, jazz, classical music, and theater criticism.