News

Satellite Radio Subs Jump

Jon Iverson Feb 16, 2004 First Published: Feb 16, 2004

Now is clearly crunch time for satellite radio. In the last year alone, over one million new subscribers have been added to front-runner XM">http://www.xmradio.com">XM Satellite Radio's service, bringing its total to approximately 1.4 million. The company projects that it will reach a total of 2.4 million subscribers by the end of 2004, thus ensuring its survival.

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Added to the Archives This Week

Stereophile Staff Feb 16, 2004 First Published: Feb 16, 2004

This week we have two John Atkinson speaker reviews from the February 2004 issue. First, JA gets his hands on the B&W">http://www.stereophile.com/loudspeakerreviews/204bw">B&W 705 loudspeaker, commenting, "When I heard about the company's new 700 series of speakers, based on the technology featured in their cost-no-object Nautilus series but priced to sell in the real world, I asked to review the $1500/pair 705."

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UK Music Sales Rise

Barry Willis Feb 16, 2004 First Published: Feb 16, 2004

Contrary to popular assumption, music downloads and CD sales may reinforce each other. That's one reasonable interpretation of mid-February music industry statistics from the United Kingdom.

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Ultra-high Data Density

Stereophile Staff Feb 16, 2004 First Published: Feb 16, 2004

Pure technology developments don't often have an audiophile angle, but a February 9 announcement from InPhase">http://www.inphase-tech.com">InPhase Technologies caught our attention.

News

Chapter 11 for Tower

Barry Willis Feb 11, 2004 First Published: Feb 11, 2004

UPDATE: On Monday, February 9, Tower Records, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection at the US Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware. Industry observers had predicted the move in the weeks leading up to the filing. MTS, Inc., as the company is officially known, listed "more than $100 million of assets and more than $100 million of debts in its filing," according to a report from Reuters news service. "MTS expects to emerge from Chapter 11 within 45 to 60 days. It plans to swap $110 million of senior debt for $30 million of new senior notes and an 85% equity stake. Existing equity holders would retain a 15% stake," the report continued.

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Added to the Archives This Week

Stereophile Staff Feb 09, 2004 First Published: Feb 09, 2004

In his review of the Cary">http://www.stereophile.com/amplificationreviews/1098cary">Cary Audio Design CAD-572SE monoblock power amplifier, Martin Colloms explains, "It's no accident that low- and zero-feedback triode technology is now the mainstay of the Cary amplifier line." MC then reports on whether or not this approach has succeeded. RObert Deutsch adds some further thoughts.

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Lehmann Gets New Distribution

Jon Iverson Feb 09, 2004 First Published: Feb 09, 2004

Lehmann">http://www.lehmannaudio.de">Lehmann audio has carved out a small niche for itself in the analog market with the Black Cube phono preamp (first noted by Michael Fremer in the October 1998 issue of Stereophile). The company now hopes to reach a wider audience in the US and Canada for the Black Cube and the rest of its products with a new distribution arrangement between itself and Hudson">http://www.lehmannaudio.de/hudsonaudioimports/">Hudson Audio Imports.

News

SunnComm Buys DarkNoise

Jon Iverson Feb 09, 2004 First Published: Feb 09, 2004

SunnCommhttp://www.sunncomm.com">SunnComm; and others have been trying for years to find ways to prevent consumers from copying music discs. While their success in preventing digital copies has">http://www.stereophile.com/news/11754/index.html">has been mixed, lurking in the background was a problem many felt could never be solved.

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Majors Test-market Hybrid Discs

Barry Willis Feb 09, 2004 First Published: Feb 09, 2004

During the first week of February, major record labels quietly launched small-scale test marketing of a new hybrid disc that combines a standard CD on one side with a DVD on the other.

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More New Audio Products

Stereophile Staff Feb 02, 2004 First Published: Feb 02, 2004

FM fans alert: Tuner specialist Magnum Dynalab has introduced its "Triode Series," led by the $3995 MD-106T triode tube tuner. The MD-106T is said to combine great signal
sensitivity and selectivity in channel reception with "exceptional build quality and musical realism." One design feature that's something of a throwback to tube electronics of the 1950s and early '60s is a glowing "Magic Eye" tube indicator for fast, precise tuning. The MD-106T also features "a precisely aligned tunable five-stage RF front end, and a double-thick, gold-plated circuit board to minimize vibration," according to a company announcement. Stereophile's Larry Greenhill is about to embark on a review of the MD-106—stay tuned!