| November 2009  ctober
was a sad month for the audio community as we mourned the passing of Jim Thiel. Kathy
Gornik, president of Thiel Audio, released the following statement concerning the
companys future.
While this is undeniably a very sad time for us at
Thiel, having lost not only one of the best audio engineers in the world but also a great
man who was so very dear to us, we recognize how fortunate we are that he left us such a
rich legacy. Jim was our polestar -- always insisting on the highest of standards in
virtually every aspect of our endeavors. Rest assured, Thiel will continue to forge full
steam ahead. We have enlisted a team of talented engineers who have been charged with
applying Jim Thiels advanced driver, crossover, and cabinet designs to future
products, several of which are already in the pipeline. We are very fortunate that Jim
carefully documented all of his research and design parameters, giving us three decades of
legendary achievements from which to base the companys bright future. Beginning with
some very exciting new-product introductions slated for 2010, Thiel will continue to
showcase leading-edge products that have been engineered and built to the highest
standards.
From everyone at Thiel, we would like to thank all of
our wonderful industry friends and customers for the amazing outpouring of support you
have shown us. It has meant more to us than you could know, and we are so grateful to be a
part of such a wonderful community. We look forward to working and prospering with all of
you in the coming years.
A memorial for Jim will be held at the 2010 Consumer
Electronics Show, in January. A celebration to honor the life and work of Jim Thiel will
be held Thursday, January 7; details to follow.
In our previous coverage of the Sony
PlayStation 3 120GB, we didnt mention that the newer, slimmer, more energy-efficient
version of the Blu-ray-capable gaming console is the first PS3 that can output Dolby
TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio bitstreams. This means that the native bitstreams of these
audio codecs can be output by the PS3 for decoding by a receiver or processor, rather than
being transcoded to PCM by the PS3. This hardware-based limitation of earlier PS3s was one
of the few knocks against it. The PS3 250GB, scheduled to be launched November 3, will
presumably have the same capability.
If you own a Logitech Squeezebox, you
can preview Queens new hits compilation, Absolute Greatest, free until its
official release on November 16. Owners of certain Squeezebox models will also be able to
access track-by-track commentaries by bandmembers Brian May and Roger Taylor, as well as
exclusive band photos. Just select the "Queen" application in the
Squeezeboxs Apps menu to preview the new album. Queen fans who dont own a
Squeezebox can download the commentary track for "Bohemian Rhapsody" in WAV
format at Logitechs website.
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SoundStage! BackStage!
No.126
Hi-Fi Centre, one of Vancouvers
premier high-end audio stores, celebrated its 25th anniversary last month with a gala
event featuring representatives of many manufacturers and distributors demonstrating their
latest products. The event was attended by SoundStage! Network writers Vince Hanada and
Aron Garrecht, and Associate Editor Roger Kanno.
Some of the highlights included a
state-of-the-art home-theater system comprising Classés SSP-800 surround processor
and new CT-series power amplifiers, B&W 800-series loudspeakers, and Wolf
Cinemas stunning DCX projection system. While their newest components were being
demoed in the big home-theater system, Dave Nauber, Executive Vice President of Classé,
was demonstrating B&Ws classic Nautilus speakers amplified by eight channels of
their Delta series of amplifiers. There was also a top-flight system comprising Vienna
Acoustics The Music speakers, McIntosh electronics, and what Transparent Audios Brad
OToole described as "about $80,000 worth of our Opus-series cables."
Naim Audios Ovator S-600
speakers, which we made a ShowStopper in our recent coverage of the Rocky
Mountain Audio Fest, were on display with a new Naim component, a DAC thats
expected to be available starting in November for about $4400 CDN. The Naim DAC includes
an Apple Authentication Chip that allows it to recognize the digital output of an Apple
iPod connected to its front or rear USB port. Not only that, the DAC is said to be able to
play WAV files with sampling frequencies of up to 768kHz from storage devices connected
via USB. The demo included 24-bit/352.8kHz DXD WAV files of Pink Floyds Dark Side
of the Moon, played from a USB thumb drive.
Some of the best sounds of the evening were provided by a
smaller system comprising Vienna Acoustics Beethoven Concert Grand speakers and McIntosh
electronics, the latter including the new MEN220 room-correction system ($4500 USD),
demonstrated by Ron Cornelius of McIntosh. This extremely flexible component, which uses RoomPerfect technology licensed
from Lyngdorf, not only tightened up the bass in the small demo room, it also extended the
depth and width of the soundstage and focused the imaging. And with its separate high- and
low-pass filters, the MEN220 can be used as a crossover for biamping speakers or
integrating subwoofers into a system. Response curves can be customized by the user with
the PC interface, and the room correction can be optimized for a specific listening
position or for a larger, "global" area. The MEN220 is an analog,
two-channel-only component with balanced and single-ended inputs and outputs.
Until next month . . .
Comments?
Let 'er rip to feedback@soundstage.com
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