When it's time to audition that new preamp, living in the big city with plenty of audio stores can be an advantage. But sometimes, no matter where you live, finding the products you want to consider before purchase can be a challenge.
Jonathan Scull takes a gander at the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/454/">dCS Purcell D/D converter</A>, and tries to make sonic sense out of the merits of upsampling. Scull writes, "So while the true differences between upsampling and oversampling remain murky, my pleasant mission is to report on the sound of the Purcell and compare it to the latest version of the pro-audio version, the 972."
Purported <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/11074/">financial difficulties</A> haven't prevented <A HREF="http://www.towerrecords.com">Tower Records</A> from developing a massive new flagship store in Los Angeles. Occupying more than 33,000 square feet, the new store in the renovated Sherman Oaks Galleria features a "state-of-the-art" performance stage and a Super Audio CD demonstration room.
Record label attempts at restricting the potential uses of their CDs have hit another bump in the antipiracy road. Music label BMG had announced earlier this year that it would try to find ways to restrict its CDs, in an effort to stem piracy and the trading of MP3 files. But those plans appear to have backfired, so far.
Citing poor sales in North and South America, <A HREF="http://www.emigroup.com">EMI</A> reported that it lost $77.6 million during the first six months of its business year, ended September 30, compared to a loss of $44.3 million for the same period last year.
The economic downturn doesn't appear to be hurting <A HREF="http://www.tweeter.com">Tweeter Home Entertainment Group</A>.
Classé's Mike Viglas watched the audiophile skies, scratched his chin, and thought about his business. As he gazed, it occurred to him that if everyone in audio was moving downmarket to invade <I>his</I> territory, why not take his company and head <I>up</I>market? Thus was born Classé's much-lauded Omega series.
Nestled south of the North Downs in England's southeast, the Kentish dormitory town of Sevenoaks is about as sleepy a place as you can imagine. Yet 20 years ago, in the unlikely circumstances of the back room of a Sevenoaks pub, I witnessed the world of consumer loudspeakers changing. Meridian's Steve Hopkins was showing a pair of the company's active M2 loudspeakers connected directly to a 101 preamplifier.
Some folks can take months, if not years, to finally buy that new amp, while others can make a "love at first sight" judgment in a matter of minutes. How long does it take you to go from quest to quenched?
Sad news this week: We heard from Ken Kessler of the passing of legendary UK engineer Stanley Kelly, who died in his sleep on November 13, after suffering a stroke the previous week. Stan would have been 89 next month. While he was, of course, the "Kelly" of the classic Kelly Ribbon Tweeter, he was also one of the founders of <I>Hi-Fi News</I> and was the only person to have been listed on the English magazine's masthead since Vol.1 No.1, the June 1956 issue. In recent years, Stan had developed a series of high-sensitivity speakers for UK manufacturer Musical Fidelity.