Mark Fleischmann

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AAD Fertile as Ever
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 10, 2008
Phil Jones of American Acoustic Development told us about some of his new speaker lines. The 3000 Series, including the 3003 floorstander ($3900/pair), uses a silver tweeter and ring (as opposed to cone) woofer. Why is the baffle so wide? More forward energy, said Phil. The more modestly priced Vi Series including the Vi410 ($550/pair) has a soft dome tweeter and carbon fiber woofer.
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AV Receiver ReviewsTower Speaker Reviews
AAD M Series Speaker System and Rotel RSX-1057 A/V Receiver
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 03, 2007  |  Published: Aug 03, 2007
We could be heroes.

What would your life be like if you'd married the first person you ever dated? If you want a great home theater system, sometimes it pays to dig deeper. OK, American Acoustic Development (AAD) stands in the shadow of larger and more prestigious brands, so this may be the first time AAD's M Series speakers have come to your attention. And you're not likely to find the Rotel RSX-1057 receiver in the big chain stores that fill cavernous spaces with little worth hearing. But these two brands have more to offer than many of their market-leading, deep-pocketed rivals.

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Audio Video News
ABC Fight Prompts Cable Plea
Mark Fleischmann  |  Mar 12, 2010
Following a bare-knuckled fight that interrupted ABC's Oscar telecast to millions of New York area cable subscribers, the major cable operators are petitioning the Federal Communications Commission for new regulations that would prevent future blackouts during retransmission negotiations.
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Audio Video News
ABC to Stream Free HD
Mark Fleischmann  |  May 21, 2007
Free HDTV are two words dear to the hearts of videophiles. We'll have a new source of it this summer when ABC launches a free online high-def channel at abc.com
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CES 2009
Acoustic Energy Has Never Been More Radiant
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 09, 2009
The new Radiance line from Acoustic Energy, one of Britain's finest speaker makers, includes tower, monitor, center, and sub models with varying configurations built around 6.5-inch woofers, 5-inch midranges, and 1-inch tweeters, all aluminum. Thermal management -- that is, letting heat escape -- was a design priority, implemented with a double voice coil that sits both inside and outside the former. The ring radiator tweeter is designed to match direct and reflected sound into a seamless whole. The minimalist crossover uses no resistors. A 5.1 set with towers in the front left and right positions will sell for $6200, while four monitors, center, and sub will go for $4400.
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Bookshelf Speaker Reviews
Acoustic Energy Radiance 1 Speaker System
Mark Fleischmann  |  Aug 03, 2009

Performance
Value
Build Quality
Price: $4,200 At A Glance: Ring radiator tweeter civilizes high frequencies • DXT lens matches tweeter’s dispersion to woofer’s • Subwoofer includes adjustable notch filter

Lord of the Ring

Sometimes a single moment of greatness defines a person or a company, even if other moments of greatness follow. For Judy Garland, it was “Over the Rainbow” in The Wizard of Oz. For Acoustic Energy, a British loudspeaker brand, it was the AE1. The monitor took recording studios by storm when it made its debut in 1988, and it soon became a favorite among consumer-level audiophiles as well.

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CES 2009
Acoustic Technologies Makes One Driver Sound Sweet
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 11, 2009
Say hello to Acoustic Technologies, which made its world debut at CES with a product three years in the making. The Classic is a slim tower using a single three-inch full-range driver. Why not do woofers and tweeters? Because they insert a crossover, and with it various irregularities and ill effects, into the signal path. Don't laugh -- this speaker had a highly natural, pleasing, gentle, ungimmicky sound with a well developed midrange and good soundstaging. Vocals sounded just right. Complementary models will arrive next year to bring the new company into surround territory.
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Audio Video News
Ad Board Nixes Time Warner's Fiber Claims
Mark Fleischmann  |  Feb 11, 2011
The National Advertising Review Board says Time Warner Cable can no longer run ads touting its supposedly "advanced fiber optic network." The ruling is a victory for Verizon, which makes a big deal over its FiOS fiber optic network.

Compliance with the ad-industry watchdog's recommendations is voluntary. However, most major advertisers belong to the National Advertising Review Council, and toe the line when its Review Board issues a ruling.

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CEDIA 2010
ADA Amp Explores a Different Kind of Cool
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 23, 2010
The world-beating PTM series power amps from Audio Design Associates include six- and eight-channel models but nothing in the more popular seven-channel configuration -- till now. The PTM-7150, at 150 watts into eight ohms and 250 into four, uses a new thermal design that combines the company's traditional fan-cooled approach with heat sinking. The amp monitors itself and the fan kicks in when needed. This makes for a quieter, albeit larger, amp that needn't necessarily be banished to a closed gear closet. Price $10,000. Incidentally, the PTM is a tribute to ADA cofounder Peter T. McKean. We still miss him.
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CEDIA 2009
ADA Boasts Thick Pipe and Trinnov
Mark Fleischmann  |  Sep 10, 2009
Why does the cable connecting the Audio Design Associates MPS-502 amp to its external power supply resemble a thick piece of plumbing -- like the pipe under your bathroom sink? Well, it has to carry 100 amps of current, so it can provide five channels with 450 watts each. Introduced in 1992, this was the amplifier on which THX based its amp spec. Throw in the PF-2502 to bring the system up to seven channels. In the present day, ADA is shipping two pre-pros, the Suite 7.1 ($5500) and Cinema Rhapsody Mach IV. You can buy the latter for $4100 but you'd be better off paying $7500 for the version with Trinnov auto setup and room correction. Trinnov will also be built into a separate equalizer product, the TEQ-1. (We are looking forward to trying Trinnov in the long-awaited Sherwood R-972 receiver.)
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