LATEST ADDITIONS

Classical music fans will be happy to learn that Vivendi Universal has decided to give two of its classical labels a state-of-the-art web facelift. <A HREF="http://www.deccaclassics.com">Decca</A&gt; and <A HREF="http://www.philipsclassics.com">Philips Classics</A> are combining their resources and launching a single new site this month designed by trendy web developer Razorfish.

For many audiophiles, the reasonably priced "universal" DVD-Audio/SACD/CD player is the magic combination that will trigger a jump into the new high-resolution audio formats. As an answer to those universal player prayers, <A HREF="http://www.wolfsonmicro.com">Wolfson Microelectronics</A>, UK&ndash;based developer of audio ICs for multimedia and communications applications, announced the introduction of two new six-channel audio DAC chips last week&mdash;one of which brings the contentious formats together in one box.

I'll never forget my first encounter with the Krell LAT-1 loudspeaker. Late one Friday night last fall, on City Island in the Bronx, it was time for the monthly meeting of the Westchester Audiophile Society and I was late. I rushed through the door past a group of audiophiles and headed straight for the two new black loudspeakers already set up and ready to play. Music writer and society member Sid Marks made a sound. I turned to him and he pointed across the room: "Go tap on that enclosure." I walked over to one of the black speakers and did so. There was no sound&mdash;no give, no nothing. It was as if I'd knocked on a granite boulder. "See what I mean?" said Sid. I nodded. There was nothing to add.

We were sitting around the office the other day making bets about how many online readers also subscribe to the paper magazine. Since most of our estimates were miles apart from each other, we thought why not run a poll?

Now that satellite radio services <A HREF="http://www.xmradio.com">XM Radio</A> and <A HREF="http://www.siriusradio.com">Sirius Radio</A> have their "birds" in position, they are encountering a slew of unexpected roadblocks here on earth. Among the problems: loss of signal in tunnels and urban canyons, interference with wireless communications, and a lighting technology that emits strong radio waves close to the broadcasters' assigned bands.

Don't smirk, but a lot of audiophiles, including this writer and our esteemed editor John Atkinson, spend a considerable amount of time listening to music on their computers, especially at work. In fact, the results from our <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/showvote.cgi?208">recent online poll</A> about computers and listening habits indicate that at least 60% of our readers listen this way as well, with half of those using their PCs for music playback "quite often."

Have the format wars begun in earnest? Only a few days after Warner Brothers announced the DVD-Audio release of Paul Simon's <I>You're the One</I>, <A HREF="http://www.umusic.com">Universal Music Group</A> announced its plan to release titles in the Super Audio CD format.