07 / 31 / 02
WAVAC Audio Lab
has just introduced their new MD-805m monoblock amplifier. Producing 55 watts, this single-ended triode design are based on their reference level HE-805 and features a
gorgeous "EC" series solid chassis for excellent rigidity. Other features include direct coupling with no coupling capacitors within the signal's path, one 805 transmitting triode output tube per channel, high quality inverted interstage transformer, self-biasing for ease of use, custom Tango-Wavac ultra-wide bandwidth SET output transformers, and RCA input with volume control. Frequency
response it rated at 20Hz to 55kHz with output taps for both 4 and 8 ohm loads.
Arizona based car audio company Lightning Audio
is now shipping their Strike Dead Skin Mat. This material is said to be excellent at reducing unwanted vibrations on surfaces. In fact many DIY and high-end audio companies use such devices on the inside top of their enclosures to insure it does not "ring", thereby negatively affecting the music reproduction quality of their products. "Lightning Audio is the leader in high performance accessories, and Dead Skin Mat is just the latest tool Lightning offers so your install is the best that it can be," says Mark Lieber, Lightning Audio accessory product specialist. "Specifically designed to reduce the ill
effects... Dead Skin silences panel vibration... up to 10 dB over the competition..." Also available from
Lightning Audio is their DSAE aerosol spray and DS1Q brush on liquid that also reduces vibrations.
07 / 30 / 02
Enjoy the
Music.com has released the August 2002 edition of our
Review Magazine. Our much anticipated second annual
Product of the Year Awards have been chosen! Come see our reviewer picks for 2002. Equipment reviews include the Blue Circle CS integrated amplifier, B&W's Nautilus 800 loudspeaker, Cary's CD-303/200, the Omega TS2 single driver loudspeaker and TG Audio Lab's SLVR Power Inlet cords. Our diverse music reviews include Patricia Barber
Verse, Herbie Hancock, Igor Stravinsky The Rite of Spring, Violent Femmes, Lucinda Williams, two Mozart vinyl goodies from Cisco Music, a review of Hyperion Knight as he performed at the recent NYC
PRIMEDIA Show plus much more. Please see the Review Magazine at by
clicking here.
Please note that in only a few days we will begin our exclusive São Paulo, Brazil show coverage. Come see all the great gear and lovely ladies of South America
by clicking here.
07 / 29 / 02
Yugoslavia based NAT Audio has announced
their Se3 single-ended triode monoblock amplifier (€19,000) that employs 211/VT4C output tubes to produce 75 watts. With a zero feedback design, the Se3's cathode coupled output transformer is said to increase damping factor up to 50 versus the usual 3 to 5 of other designs. Driver section has two 6N1P-EV and one 211/VT4C while other
supporting parts include Caddock power resistors, WIMA polypropylene high voltage capacitors, plus WBT input and output connectors.
Specifications:
Output Type: Single-Ended "Class A"
Power Output: 75 Watts @ 4 or 8 ohms
Frequency Response: 5 Hz to 100 kHz
Input impedance: 100 kohms
Input Sensitivity: 1.8 V RMS for full power output
Signal To Noise Ratio: 90 dB
Damping Factor: >50 (zero feedback)
Dimensions: 11.8" x 29.1" x 12" (WxDxH)
Weight: 100 lbs. each
Longtime music lover and
Jazziz magazine publisher Michael Fagien has decided to turn one of his dreams into a reality. As publisher of the magazine for over twenty years, Mr. Fagien has chosen to open a $6 million jazz club called Jazziz New Orleans that is located at 214 Decatur St. in New Orleans (across from the House of Blues) with hopes of having eleven more clubs throughout the U.S.A. in the future. Both music and food will be served up to patrons. "Jazz clubs do a wonderful job attracting talent and putting on performances," said
Mr. Fagien. "We are focusing on all the areas they typically fall short.... Jazziz New Orleans will be a real hip place to hang and dine... We have been approached to open up jazz clubs since
Jazziz became a formidable name in the jazz industry."
07 / 26 / 02
The Cable Company
is once again
bringing hope to many as they conduct their seventh annual Summer Against Hunger fund
raiser. The Cable Company is donating 5% of their total sales in August to two humanitarian relief organizations, CARE and International Rescue Committee. To aid in this donation, a large group of The Cable Company's suppliers are matching this 5% donation for sales of their products during August. Robert Stein, President of The Cable Company noted, "This annual fundraiser is one of those rare occasions where a good cross section of the companies involved in our part of the electronics industry participate together to support a worthy cause. Our industry is made up of companies and consumers who care about many things, only one of which is their audio/video equipment. Summer Against Hunger gives us an opportunity to offer something important to that half of the world which can never participate in our industry because they are too busy figuring out how to survive. As the CEO of Tom's of Maine put it, "You can be a hard-assed competitor and still run a company with a soul." Contributions including matching funds for the first six years of the Summer Against Hunger program
totaled in excess of $85,000. Other Summer Against Hunger participating vendors include:
Acoustic Zen Technologies
Analysis Plus
Arcici
Audience
Audio Desk Systeme
Audio Magic
Audioprism
Audioquest
Aural Symphonics/Univocal
Camelot Technology
Cardas Audio
Echo Busters
Furutech
GRADO Laboratories
Harmonic Technology
HAVE Sound & Video
Hovland Company
Immedia
JPS Labs
Kimber Kable
The Last Factory |
Magnan Cable
May Audio
Nirvana Audio
Nitty Gritty
Nordost Corporation
Polycrystal
Purist Audio Design
Shakti Innovations
Signal Guard
Siltech America
Shunyata Research
Sound Anchors
Straight Wire
Symposium Acoustics
Synergistic Research
Van Den Hul
Walker Audio
Wireworld
|
This month marks the one-billionth DVD software title shipped to retail outlets according to the DVD Entertainment Group. Over 272 million DVD units were shipped from January to June 2002. This is an impressive 80 percent increase over the same time period last year. To help support this growth in software, 8.1 million DVD players have been sent to retail outlets from January to June 2002 alone to now total 40 million units. "If growth continues at the current rate, DVD will be in more than 40 million households by the end of 2002," said Reid Sullivan, DVD Entertainment Group board member and Panasonic Consumer Electronics Co. vice president, entertainment group. "When you also include the growing number of PCs with DVD-ROM drives and game consoles with DVD capability, nearly 50 percent of U.S. homes will have the format by year-end."
07 / 24 / 02
We take a break
from our hiatus to
report on this important news... The Home Entertainment Show
(T.H.E. SHOW) will be held at the San Remo Hotel with continuous free shuttles
between it and the Alexis Park hotel. A recent e-mail received by Mike
Maloney, CEO of T.H.E. Show, said "T.H.E. SHOW also has super low sleeping room rates. With continuous free shuttle service to Alexis Park T.H.E. SHOW in not only THE place to be, it is also THE place to stay.
January 3rd through January 8th is $42.00
January 9th is $59.00
January 10th and 11th is $79.00
January 12th through 15th is $42.00
PRESS DAY: T.H.E. SHOW 2003 will run Thursday, January 9th through Monday, January
13th. I have polled a number of reviewers and so far their collective answer has been a resounding YES they need an extra day to see all the exhibits they must see in Las Vegas. But that is not the only reason why a FIVE-DAY show is a good idea. Many high-end dealers can stay because they are closed Monday, room rates drop to next to nothing, it is easier to get a taxi or restaurant reservations, and leaving Las Vegas is a breeze because all the main convention center goers and weekend gamblers are gone.
Our website will be updated on Monday, July 29th and we encourage us to join us on-line at
http://www.the-show.net.
Best regards,
Mike Maloney, CEO
The Home Entertainment Show"
07 / 22 / 02
Enjoy
the Music.com's Industry News page will begin
normal updates on Friday, July 26th. During this very slow time of
year we conduct system maintenance and other infrastructure upgrades while
also choose our Best Of 2002 Award components. These hand selected pieces of
equipment will be announced within our August Review
Magazine. Please feel free to see our Best
of 2001 Awards by clicking here.
07 / 19 / 02
Loudspeaker manufacturer B&W
have released their new Series 3 of the DM line. The DM line features midrange and bass/midrange drivers made of woven Kevlar cones, yet with improved mechanical matching between voice coil and cone. Bass-only drivers are said to now benefit from
being made of rigid aluminum that is further stiffened by B&W's 'mushroom' construction. Tweeters have also been improved for ultrasonic performance and use Nautilus tube loading for clarity and openness. To help extend bass, B&W's Flowport is standard across the DM line while revised crossover components and new style
wire terminals round out the DM line improvements. Two finishes, light oak 'Sorrento' and Black Ash, are available. Pictured here is
the top-of-the-range DM604 S3 -- the only full three-way system in the DM series. A dedicated Kevlar cone midrange driver is housed in its own isolated chamber within the cabinet while twin 7-inch
aluminum cone bass drivers produce the lower frequencies while the DM series
tweeter reproduces the uppermost frequencies.
American Acoustic Development
(AAD) have released their new Q1000 self-powered subwoofer. With 400 watts of "Class AB" power, dual 10-inch long excursion high
output woofers produce frequencies from 12Hz up to 200 Hz (+-3dB). While the front of the cabinet features the woofers, the rear has four specially tuned ports and electronics. The included electronics package offers both stereo pre-amplifier inputs (RCA) or loudspeaker level and pas through. Variable
volume level and phase control and also provided for to insure matching to virtually any existing
system. A built-in equalizer allows for +-7dB adjustment of various frequencies (20, 35, 50, 80, and 150Hz).
07 / 18 / 02
Italy based loudspeaker company Monolite is now offering their Gold model that features advanced construction to produce a very solid
cabinet, yet also very pleasing to the eye. An aluminum dome tweeter and Kevlar woofer are mounted within a ported cabinet for an overall frequency
response of 40Hz to 20kHz. Cabinet colors available include grey/grey black , metallic grey, and silver. A bookshelf version called the Micro Gold 3010 will be available soon. No
specific prices given at time of this writing.
While the European recording industry is said to be valued at 12.1 billion Euros according to the
International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the 'Music for Free' mentality is said to be hampering the European recording
sector. At a recent meeting in Brussels, music composer and musician Jean Michel Jarre was
adamant about making the public aware of the damage this new type of mentality is causing. Jarre said: "I am a great believer in the value of music and the vital role it has to play in European culture. The talent and creativity of our artists is celebrated all over the world. But this success should not be taken for granted. If music is to continue to support the livelihoods of artists, it cannot be taken without the permission of artists. Governments can help support European music by promoting public awareness that when people take music that doesn't belong to them they undermine the future of those very artists whose work you enjoy. The EU could also show its support for the recording industry by lowering the high rate of VAT on CDs. Music should be treated the same way as other cultural goods that benefit from low VAT rates."
The Chairman and CEO of the IFPI Jay Berman said during the Brussels meeting
" 'Music for Free' may sound attractive, but when it is taken without the permission of artists it comes at a high price for the entire music business and society in general. 'Music for Free' means less new music, fewer new artists, less choice, thousands less jobs and a poorer European culture. This is a critical issue in which European governments have an important role to play in terms of legislation and creating public awareness of the problem. The future success of the European music industry is at stake."
It is estimated that 182 million music CDs were burned in Germany during 2001, compared to 185 million CD album sales according to a survey from March 2002 by market research firm Gfk. In Spain, 71 million albums were sold in 2001 compared to an estimated 52 million blank CDs used to burn music, according to a survey by Millward
Brown/Alef.
07 / 17 / 02
Microsoft
is looking to
enhance their usage in everyday life. Previewed during the 2002
CES, XP Media Center will soon be preinstalled on many new computer systems. This
operating system (OS) will allow the use of wireless remote control and other devices
enabling a computer to be a source unit for home-wide entertainment systems. This includes not only music discs and DVD-Audio/Video, but also MP3, WMA, TV/PVR and other types of
leisure activities. The ability to record TV programs for later viewing (time shifting) is also standard. Hewlett-Packard, NEC and Samsung have been said to be very interested in including XP Media Center to their 2002 computers
shipping later this year.
Meanwhile Microsoft is hoping to become part of a mobile, in car entertainment system. As
first launched by Clarion years ago with their AutoPC format, the Windows CE system has been enhanced and can integrate everything from DVD-Audio/Video to e-mail, GPS, cellular phone, address book, traffic alerts and other mobile needs. Unlike many other
automotive systems, Microsoft's system is
enhanced with voice recognition for full hands-free usage. Editor of Enjoy the
Music.com Steven R. Rochlin has been a Clarion AutoPC user for many years and
is hoping to review the newest systems as they become available. Steven has been active in the mobile entertainment field
for well over a decade including operating a custom mobile audio retail outlet and
as a sound quality judge for the International Auto Sound Challenge Association (IASCA).
ATC Loudspeaker Technology
has announced their new SCM 12 bookshelf/stand mountable two-way loudspeaker ($1,950/pr). The high quality soft-dome tweeter features a 25mm neodymium magnet to "provide a smooth and detailed high frequency response". The latest version of ATC's hand-built 6-inch bass/mid range drive unit employs an "over-sized" 7-inch very high flux, super linear magnet to "achieves absolute linearity and low distortion". ATC's short edge-wound copper voice coil is said to aid in high power handling and increase the overall dynamic range. To insure imaging over a wide listening area, an 80° coherent flat response horizontal dispersion is part of the SCM 12 design. The high density Medite cabinet is available in real cherry wood veneer, professional black, or other custom finishes.
07 / 16 / 02
For those who enjoy vinyl replay, a new
online database is now available! Record Store Review
"caters to the avid music buyer". Listings include those from Canada, Germany, Netherlands, United States and the United Kingdom. Soon the
database will be available via WAP as well for those who enjoy portable internet on the WAP enabled device.
Marking the 40th anniversary of the Beatles successful
career, A Hard Day's Night DVD ($30) and VHS ($15) planned for release on September
24th will include many hours of music and many bonus features. The two-disc
DVD edition will have very rare and some new footage plus the movie A Hard Day's
Night joined by the new Give Me Everything! that is a companion anthology to The Beatles' first film. In addition to a new half-hour documentary, there are thirty interviews. Twelve now-famous Beatles compositions are also on this release and include "A Hard Day's Night," "Can't Buy Me Love," "She Loves You", "All My Loving," "And I Love Her," "If I Fell," "I Wanna Be Your Man," "I Should Have Known Better," "Tell Me Why," "Don't Bother Me" and "Ringo's Theme" to name a few.
Click here for our news from
07/01 to 07/15
High-Performance Audio Reviews
