Copper
The Hong Kong High-End Audio Visual Show 2021
August 6 – 8 was the weekend of the 2021 Hong Kong High-End Audio Visual Show, organized by Audiotechnique magazine. This show has been an annual pilgrimage for local audiophiles since 2003,...
The Home Entertainment (T.H.E.) Show: People an...
After trade show after trade show were understandably cancelled due to the pandemic, I wondered, which would be the first show to reopen? Signaling the provable reduction in threat, and...
AES Show Spring 2021, Part Two: Psychology and ...
As a result of COVID-19, AES Show Spring 2021, named “Global Resonance,” was conducted online from Europe. This afforded me the rare opportunity to view a number of the presentations,...
AES Show Spring 2021, Part One
Similarly to their AES Fall 2020 New York show, the Audio Engineering Society’s AES Show Spring 2021 convention, though “located” in Europe, was conducted virtually –which allowed a New Yorker...
The Virtual Audio Dealer
Wendell Diller is the marketing manager for Magnepan. Located in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, Magnepan is the manufacturer of Magneplanar loudspeakers. In the 1970s and 1980s, if you bought a...
AES Show Spring 2021, Part Three: Recreating Au...
As a result of COVID-19, AES (Audio Engineering Society) Show Spring 2021, named “Global Resonance,” was conducted online from Europe. This afforded me the rare opportunity to view a number...
AES’ Audio Wonders of the World: Blackbird Studio
The AES (Audio Engineering Society) Show Fall 2020 was of necessity an all-virtual affair. This season’s marquee event was “7 Audio Wonders of the World,” which featured in-depth video tours...
AES Fall Show 2020, Part Three
This fall, the Audio Engineering Society (AES) held its annual convention online because of COVID-19 restrictions. Ordinarily hosted at the gargantuan Javits Center in New York, this had the unforeseen...
AES Show Fall 2020, Part Two
I’d like to commend the Audio Engineering Society (AES) for the depth and choice of topics that online attendees of October’s AES Show Fall 2020 were offered. The tent-pole attraction...
AES Show Fall 2020 Highlights, Part One
The major city lockdowns across the nation because of COVID-19 have created a new paradigm for industry trade shows and conferences. Now it’s all done online using apps like Zoom...
Axiom Audio Celebrates its 40th Anniversary
Canadian loudspeaker and electronics manufacturer Axiom Audio is celebrating their 40th anniversary this year. Located in Dwight, Muskoka, Ontario, the company offers a range of wired and wireless speakers, systems and amplifiers....
In Memoriam: Victor Goldstein
The audio world lost one of its most pre-eminent, wonderful, colorful, passionate people with the passing of Victor Goldstein on May 5. I got to know him well over the...
Tales of an Audio Forum Administrator, Part One
Internet forums are a way of life for many of us. We turn to them for information, education, camaraderie, entertainment and friendship. They provide us a place where we can...
Audio Companies Respond to COVID-19
In a recent video Steve Guttenberg aka The Audiophiliac pointed out that Magnepan, VPI Industries, PS Audio and Emotiva have remained open during the coronavirus crisis. Like most businesses, they’ve had to adapt. It...
Thiel: the Final Chapter
At Copper, we’ve followed the slow-motion demise of Thiel Audio for almost two years. As we’ve mentioned before (perhaps ad nauseam), the company of that name whose junk/assets are now being auctioned off is not...
Sound United Grows Again
Sound United announced the acquisition of Onkyo’s home audio division, which includes the Onkyo, Pioneer, Pioneer Elite and Integra brands. Way back in Copper #28, Industry News announced the acquisition by Sound United of the Denon, Marantz and Boston Acoustics brands from the D+M Group. Subsequently, Sound United acquired Classe’,...
Andrea Brinkmann, RIP
Brinkmann Audio is a highly-regarded German manufacturer of turntables and electronics. From the Brinkmann USA newsletter— In Memoriam: Andrea Brinkmann 1977-2019 “It is with great sorrow that we report the passing...
Sears: the Last Gasp?
We’ve written about the decline and fall of Sears a zillion times in Industry News, most recently in Copper #45, Copper #69, and Copper #70. The dual themes of all these stories have been “how are they staying...
Gibson: Missed It By That Much
Believe it or not, it’s not over yet. Reports of Gibson Brands’ emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy were, as it turns out, premature. In Copper #72 we reported the news that thanks to agreements between the...
Gibson to Close Memphis Factory
Regular readers of Copper, and especially of Industry News, have no doubt noticed that Ye Increasingly-Olde Editor has an obsessive streak big enough to be seen from space. I credit this to three things: growing up...
A Tale of Two Bankruptcies
Not all bankruptcies are alike. The two forms generally seen in business are Chapter 7 and Chapter 11; the “chapter” part refers to the section of the Federal Bankruptcy Code...
Monster and Sonos: Back in the News
Some companies seem to have a hard time staying out of the news: think Gibson, Sears, and Monster Products—which most of us still think of as Monster Cable. We last looked at the bumpy ride of...
What Are They Buying Back?
At this point in 2018, many will argue that stock prices are grievously inflated, and are verging on a crash, as in 2008. I’m certainly not an expert, and won’t...
Sears, Yet Again
It seems like only yesterday when Industry News wrote about Sears CEO Eddie Lampert. In fact, it was two weeks ago—but during that brief period there have been major developments. And yet, really,...
Krell Returns
The title of the article is mildly misleading: strictly speaking, Krell never went away. Earlier this year, however, a lot of murmurring in the audio underground indicated that the company...
The Gibson Saga Continues
We’ve written about the continuing saga of Gibson Brands numerous times, most recently when they filed Chapter 11. As has been the case with many major companies in decline, Gibson financed a...
A Monster Story, and Sonos Goes IPO
Noel Lee was an engineer at the Lawrence-Livermore Laboratory and a drummer when he started his company Monster Cable in 1979, thus becoming one of the founders of the US audiophile cable...
Bang & Olufsen: Back From the Edge?
The last time Industry News looked at 93-year-old Danish manufacturer Bang & Olufsen, there was concern over the company’s future prospects. At that time—back in June, 2017—B & O had just sold its factory in...
Miraculously, Best Buy Lives
Industry News has written many times about brick and mortar consumer electronics stores that have crashed,burned, and disappeared: Radio Shack, hh gregg, Circuit City—even Toys ‘R’ Us, once the 22nd-largest seller of consumer electronics products...
Sonos: Another Killer IPO?
For the last few years, investors have been somewhat cautious regarding new IPOs (Initial Public Offerings of shares, as companies move from privately-held to publicly-traded). So far during 2018, however,...
Toys 'R' Us Is Dead
Back in Copper #56, Industry News featured a Jeremiad of sorts, “Debt Is Death (Sometimes)”. One of the poster children for crippling debt mentioned in that piece was Toys ‘R’ Us. While perhaps not a great...
AT&T Cleared to Take Over Time Warner; Mixed Ne...
While things are momentarily quiet in the audio biz itself, one monumental deal will likely change the landscape of media (including music) and business, forever. Federal District Judge Richard Leon cleared...
Sonos: Bad News and Less-Bad News
Since its founding in 2002, Sonos has stood apart in many ways from other booming California tech companies. For starters, Sonos is headquartered in Santa Barbara— better-known for tourists than tech— and...
New Editor at Inner Fidelity/AudioStream; Pro-J...
Industry News recently reported the sale of Stereophile and its associated magazines and websites. In the wake of the sale, a number of staffing changes occurred, with the departures of longtime Stereophile Music Editor Robert Baird, AudioStream Editor Michael Lavorgna,...
SME Buys Garrard; Shure Kills Cartridges; Gibso...
SME Limited Acquires the Garrard Audio Brand 1st May 2018 – Steyning, England – SME, the British engineering and specialist Hi-Fi company, has acquired the rights to the Garrard audio brand from...
Stereophile, What Hi-Fi? Sold
Consolidation in the publishing world is nothing new, but it is nonetheless an odd coincidence when the sales of two major English-language audio magazines are announced on two sequential days....
Debt Is Death (Sometimes)
Our focus this time in Industry News will be on a thread that connects a number of businesses that have been in the news, including mentions in this column. Businesses run on...
Spotify Files for IPO; Tower Records Founder Dies
Back in Copper #36, we looked at the financial state of Spotify. The short story was that the number of users had grown tremendously over the preceding year, and that trend has continued:...
Sony CEO Steps Down; More Challenges for Gibson
Sony Corporation laid out major management shifts in a recent press-release. CEO Kaz Hirai, widely credited with the company’s return to profitability, began his career at CBS/Sony Music, worked through the video...
Some Good News, Some Bad News
In Copper #51 we wrote about the demise of Thiel Audio. The reality of the situation was that the Thiel that was important to audiophiles and music lovers, died long ago. The company that...
One Down, One to Go
Starting in Copper #40, there have been several occasions when we’ve looked at the activities of two companies that historically have been truly important to the worlds of audio and music—though not...
Qobuz Comes to the US; Circuit City Returns?
If CES is good for nothing else, it’s good for generating press-releases. As we can read in the press-release that will follow, Qobuz (koh-BOOZ, if you’re French; KO-buzz, if you’re...
Circuit City Bankruptcy Enters Tenth Year
Circuit City began by taking over the last few stores of the defunct Lafayette Radio chain, and was once one of the largest electronics dealers in the world, and second only...
Gibson and hh gregg—Yet Again!
We previously wrote about the financial problems of Gibson Brands in Copper #s 45 and 40. Last issue, we reported that Gibson had announced that it was selling its factory near historic Beale Street in...
The Stories that Just Wouldn’t Go Away in 2017
The end of the year is often a time to look back at the significa of the preceding 365 days. Industry News generally features fast-breaking stories that preclude such a retrospective viewpoint—but...
More Bad News for Sears and Gibson
We’ve previously written about the sad, seemingly-inevitable decline of Sears. While it does not directly affect the audio biz, it certainly does affect the retail climate of America. For many years, Sears...
Classe' Closes; Focal CEO Passes Away
As mentioned back in Copper #40, changes were afoot at Classe’, part of the B&W Group. It has since become clear that Classe’ will be shut down, effective this weekend. While this may...
AKG Closes in Vienna; Cavalli Audio Closes
As reported in Copper #42, Harman laid off 650 employees in its Pro Audio divisions. Since Harman’s purchase by Samsung last year, the company has undergone a series of contractions and consolidations, which many...
Massive Layoffs at Harman Pro
Back in Copper #27, we reported legal woes at Samsung and made mention of that company’s purchase of Harman International. As is to be expected when any company is sold to a monolith like...
Conrad-Johnson Sold
Bill Conrad and Lew Johnson were government economists who happened to be dedicated audiophiles—dedicated enough to build their own gear. In 1977 the pair introduced a vacuum tube preamplifier whose...