Stereophile November 2024

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued two new/newly revised rules relevant—or possibly relevant—to the hi-fi industry. As John Atkinson reported in the October Stereophile (see Industry Update, p.15),1 the FTC recently announced a revision to the “Amplifier Rule,” with changes that took effect in August. It’s the culmination of a process that lasted several years and a significant modification of a rule that has been in place for half a century. Amplifier manufacturers take note. Then in mid-August, the FTC announced the final version of a new rule aimed at banning fake reviews and fake product testimonials. It also forbids companies from intimidating people engaging in critical speech. First, though, the amplifier rule: From the start, the purpose of the rule has been—quoting JA—“to impose uniform, conservative standards…

Bow Wow Records in Albuquerque While leafing through some old copies of Stereophile, I came across one of the great Art Dudley’s last columns, Listening No.208 (April 2020, Vol.43 No.4),1 which included a letter I had written about how small things can make a big difference. The story was about growing up across from Aron’s Records in Los Angeles and how Manny Aron had made a record recommendation that took me years to appreciate. Excited to find this letter, I searched for it online so I could share it more easily. Then I noticed that the electronic version of the story included a footnote, and, scrolling to the bottom of the page, a remembrance by John Atkinson of my store Bow Wow Records, in Albuquerque. I just about jumped out…

ROON HARDWARE WON’T BE SOLD BY HARMAN DEALERS AFTER ALL Jim Austin When Roon Labs was acquired by Harman in late 2023, Harman issued a press release saying, “Roon will operate as a standalone Harman business with its existing team. All Roon operations will stay in place and continue to be dedicated to serving and growing Roon’s community of device partners and customers.” A lot of people, though, including me, assumed that Harman would eventually take over Roon hardware development and distribution—specifically the various Roon Nucleus servers—leaving Roon to focus on what they do best: software. That may happen someday, but it isn’t happening yet. Roon’s newest server products—the budget Nucleus One and the flagship Nucleus Titan—were developed mostly before the Harman acquisition. But when the Titan was introduced earlier…

ATTENTION ALL AUDIO SOCIETIES: We have a page on the Stereophile website devoted to you: stereophile.com/audiophile-societies. If you’d like to have your audio-society information posted on the site, email Chris Vogel at vgl@cfl.rr.com. (Please note the new email address.) CALIFORNIA ◼ Thursday, 5–8pm PST, September through October 24, Common Wave (451 E. 4th St., Suite 106 in Los Angeles) is presenting a series of “Hi-Fi Night School” listening-session events. Each week’s presenter and topic are announced via an email blast the week prior. ◼ Friday, 5–7pm PST: The San Francisco Audiophile Society hosts a virtual happy hour via Zoom. This is open to anyone who’d like to join us to talk about hi-fi and whatever else is on your mind. For more information and registration, visit bit.ly/3RyaqX9. FLORIDA ◼ February…

In a video on his channel Jazz Vinyl Audiophile, Stereophile contributing editor Ken Micallef asks Jeffrey Catalano of High Water Sound1 how he manages to be so consistent—how his rooms wrangle “top 2% sound” at every audio show. The first words out of Jeffrey’s mouth are “I know how to listen.”2 “It’s one of my greatest strengths. I know what music sounds like. I just go inside the music and let it tell me how it’s supposed to be alive, how it’s supposed to live in that space. I know that sounds simplistic and maybe somewhat esoteric, or pretentious even—but it’s not. “I have to sit in that hotel room 10 hours per day for five days, and I need the experience to be good for me—good enough that I…

No one I know enjoys dating. Some friends detest it so much they won’t go near it. Maybe they believe the love of their life is waiting to be discovered at a Zumba class or in line at the King Kullen. Or maybe they’ve quietly given up. Admit it: Dating offers a low probability of success, and if you think too much about just how low, the whole thing begins to seem ridiculous. Yet how do you meet a potential partner without, well, meeting them? My first exposure to the perils of dating happened when I was 12. For my mother’s birthday, my grandparents gave her a membership in a computer dating service. It was the early ’80s, and what the computer was contributing I’m not entirely sure. My mother…