LATEST ADDITIONS

One of the oldest names in American audio is venturing into new territory. Indianapolis, IN&ndash;based <A HREF="http://www.klipsch.com/">Klipsch Audio Technologies</A> has acquired "selected assets" of privately held <A HREF="http://www.mondialdesigns.com/">Mondial Designs Ltd</A>. of Dobbs Ferry, NY, maker of the Acurus and Aragon brands of amplifiers, preamps, and signal processors. Paul Rosenberg, Mondial's co-founder and former vice president, will become a director at his new parent company, with primary responsibilities in marketing and product development for Acurus and Aragon. Mondial chief engineer Adam Gershon and senior engineer Michael Kusiak will also remain with the company. Anthony Federici, Mondial's president, has moved on to form a new company called D & A Labs, which plans to debut a "high-end home theater receiver" this spring, with other quality electronics to follow.

The year was 1948. As a six-year-old, I haunted record stores with my Uncle Stan. A quiet bank teller from Manchester, England, childless himself and quite overpowered by my Aunt Emily, Uncle Stan shared with me his love of music and movies.

<B>LOS LOBOS: <I>El Cancionero Mas Y Mas</I></B><BR> Warner Archives/Rhino RS 76670-2 (4 CDs). 2000. Los Lobos, Luis Torres, T Bone Burnett, Ry Cooder, Mitchell Froom, Hal Willner, others, prods.; Larry Hirsch, Tchad Blake, Bob Schaper, John Paterno, others, engs. AAD? TT: 5:01:49<BR>Performance <B>*****</B><BR> Sonics <B>****</B>

The "Big Five" of the recorded music industry is one step closer to becoming the "Big Four," according to late-January reports from Frankfurt, Germany, home of <A HREF="http://www.bertelsmann.de/">Bertelsmann AG</A>. Bertelsmann is the parent company of <A HREF="http://www.bmg.com/">Bertelsmann Music Group</A>, which has been in merger discussions for several months with the United Kingdom's <A HREF="http://www.emigroup.com/"&gt; EMI Group PLC</A>. Discussions are near completion, according to a BMG official.

After a frustrating late-night duel with evil recording gremlins, JA called it a day. But the next morning he was back at the controls to record Canadian pianist Robert Silverman for what would subsequently become one of <I>Stereophile</I>'s popular audiophile recordings: <I>Intermezzo: Works for Piano by Brahms</I>. In <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//musicrecordings/311/"><I>Intermezzo</I>: The Santa Barbara Sessions</A>, writer Thomas Norton runs down the key events that finally resulted in a completed analog master tape, with engineering from Water Lily Acoustics' Kavichandran Alexander.

Sony may be pretending that DVD-Audio doesn't exist, and Panasonic may be in denial about SACD, but a new chip from <A HREF="http://www.ti.com">Texas Instruments</A> just might help bring the rival formats a little closer together in consumer living rooms and professional recording studios alike.

A billion-dollar loss for the parent company may be a big gain for performers under contract to <A HREF="http://www.wmg.com/">Warner Music Group</A>, who will benefit from cross-promotional efforts aimed at millions of <A HREF="http://www.aol.com/">America Online</A> subscribers beginning this month.