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"Documentary-maker Tim Samuels has been all over Britain recruiting isolated and lonely old people - those who can't leave their flats or who are stuck in rubbish care homes. The finale of the show is this group of lonely old people coming together to stick it back to the society that's cast them aside - by forming a rock troupe and trying to storm into the pop charts."
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If I were to tell you that four months into 2007, I already had a nomination for the year's best-sounding record, you might think me daring. If I told you that it features bandoneon&mdash;a chromatic accordion&mdash;and cello, you'd probably think me barking mad.

The website www.appleinsider.com revealed on <A HREF="http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/04/12/apple_inc_scores_trademar… 12</A> that it had discovered filings with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) showing that record label Apple Corps had granted computer manufacturer Apple, Inc. far more than the right to use the word "Apple" in conjunction with music in February's trademark settlement.

Home Entertainment 2006 in L.A. The weather is fine. The restaurants are cool. The company is tr&#232;s neat. I can't wait to schmooze with manufacturers, writers, dealers, and meet, for the first time, writers of letters to the editor of <I>Stereophile</I>. <A HREF="http://blog.stereophile.com/he2006/060406reina">Play some jazz</A> with <A HREF="http://forum.stereophile.com/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/598">John Atkinson</A> and Immedia's <A HREF="http://blog.stereophile.com/he2006/060406perkins">Allen Perkins</A>&mdash;one <I>smokin'</I> drummer since he's been studying with Peter Erskine (Joni Mitchell, Weather Report, Diana Krall). Of course, my prime objective at the Show is to seek out the best-sounding affordable loudspeakers, to keep my review hopper full for the next year.

System Audio A/S is a Danish manufacturer of loudspeakers that's been in business since 1984, but I must admit that I've never heard of it before&mdash;probably a function of the fact that North American distribution has been spotty. Listening to the new SA Rangers ($4000), I was convinced that the fault was certainly not of the speakers. The sound was open, with a wide and deep soundstage, and a great sense of "quickness." (The system used an Arcam CD source and electronics, and Nordost Valhalla speaker cables.) The SA product literature also convinced me that this is a mature, fully developed product line, with some proprietary technology, including a dome tweeter that weighs just 80mg, making it possibly the world's lightest. Pictured are S/A's sales manager Frits Dalmose (left), Canadian distributor Bruno de Lorimier (right), and the SA Ranger (middle).

Antique Sound Labs' 845-triode-based AQ 1006 monoblock amplifier has been around for a while, but it has recently undergone some significant revisions, and is now in Mk.II designation. It certainly looks different than before, with a new construction that is said to provide better mechanical isolation between the transformer and the actual circuitry. Price remains at $4495/pair. I like the new cage with the concentric metal circles on top.