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The Next Big Thing?

Wes Phillips Jun 19, 2006 First Published: Jun 19, 2006

When I visitedhttp://stereophile.com/news/051506nht/">visited; NHT's manufacturing facility in early May, I was struck by a comment managing director Chris Byrne made when describing NHT's Xd">http://stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/1105nht/">Xd loudspeaker, which employs sophisticated digital signal processing (DSP) for its crossovers and equalization functions. "You do realize that we could have never incorporated such complex slopes in a physical crossover," Byrne proselytized.

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Telarc Scores Big

Jason Victor Serinus Jun 19, 2006 First Published: Jun 19, 2006

Classical music in general, and audiophile label Telarc in particular, scored big in this year's annual Outmusic Awards. Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Del Tredici, whose music has recently found an ardent champion in conductor Robert Spano, won Outstanding New Recording: Instrumental for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's Telarc recording of Paul Revere's Ride. Telarc veteran and Grammy Award-winning producer Thomas C. Moore, who assisted in the recording, received the Outstanding Producer award. In addition, soprano Melissa Fogarty received Outstanding New Recording: Debut Female for Handel: Scorned & Betrayed (Albany Records).

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Billy Preston: 1946–2006

Wes Phillips Jun 11, 2006 First Published: Jun 11, 2006

Billy Preston, the keyboard player, singer, and songwriter frequently credited as "the fifth Beatle," died June 6 in Scottsdale, AZ from respiratory complications from improperly treated pericarditas he experienced in an LA hospital visit on November 21, 2005.

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Genesis Advanced Technologies and Arnie Nudell Part Ways

Wes Phillips Jun 11, 2006 First Published: Jun 11, 2006

On June 6, as we traveled back from HE">http://blog.stereophile.com/he2006/">HE 2006, we received near simultaneous press releases from Genesis Advanced Technologies and Arnie Nudell describing the same event.

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Sony BMG Root Kit Settlement Approved

Wes Phillips May 28, 2006 First Published: May 28, 2006

On Monday, May 22, federal judge Naomi Reice Buchwald granted final approval to the settlement of the class action suit brought against Sony BMG for embedding intrusive and crippling digital rights management (DRM) software into its CDs. Not only did the software load secretly onto users' computers, it opened them to malware invasions, in addition to reportedly sending Sony information about consumers' computers.

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Hans Fantel: 1922–2006

Wes Phillips May 28, 2006 First Published: May 28, 2006

It was announced this week that Hans Fantel, a founding editor of Stereo Review and long-time consumer electronics columnist at The New York Times, died in early May from injuries sustained in a automobile accident.

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HE 2006 Next Week

Stereophile Staff May 22, 2006 First Published: May 22, 2006

Home">http://www.he2006.com">Home Entertainment 2006 is only days away, taking place June 1–4 at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel in Los Angeles, CA. Attendees will find a wide variety of special events, product demonstrations, and entertainment options throughout the show.

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Industry Update

Wes Phillips May 21, 2006 First Published: May 21, 2006

Laser turntable launch: Despite its having been available on a limited basis for several years (and having been written about in magazines like Stereophile since 1988), the ELP Corporation's laser">http://www.elpj.com/main.html">laser turntable was officially introduced into the North American market on May 18.

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All of XM's Trials

Wes Phillips May 21, 2006 First Published: May 21, 2006

On May 17, XM Satellite Radio was sued by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which alleged that Pioneer's personal portable XM device, the">http://www.xm-radio-satellite.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=… Inno, infringes on copyrights and essentially represents a digital download device.

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Tube Supplies Under Siege

Jason Victor Serinus May 20, 2006 First Published: May 20, 2006

It may read like a page out of a classic corporate crime thriller, but the threat is real. ExpoPul, a company whose factory in Saratov, Russia manufactures vacuum tubes under the brand names Sovtek, Electro-Harmonix, Tungsol, Svetlana, Mullard, and others—tubes that include the 6H30 "super tube"—is threatened by one of the many Russian corporate "raiders" who are increasingly stealing businesses from their rightful owners. If the threatened hostile takeover proves successful, two-thirds of the world's supply of vacuum tubes—tubes vital to the sound of audiophile gear and instruments from such well-known companies as McIntosh, Audio Research, BAT, Jadis, Fender, KORG, Peavey, Vox, Soldano, Carvin, Ampeg, and Crane—could become a thing of the past.