LATEST ADDITIONS

According to numbers just released by the <A HREF="http://www.ce.org">Consumer Electronics Association</A> (CEA), April audio factory-to-dealer sales shot up by 13% to $611 million, representing a year-to-date increase of 10%. The CEA says that audio revenues in all categories except aftermarket autosound experienced double-digit growth in both monthly and year-to-date sales. Aftermarket autosound remained steady, keeping pace with its record-breaking sales in 1999.

When spying this press release a couple of days ago, I had to read it twice&mdash;this was too good to be true. A couple of years back in the September 1997 (or as JA likes to put it: Vol.20 No.9) <I>Stereophile</I> "Industry Update," I had reported on the then-discovered "synchronicities" phenomena: playing certain classic rock albums, when sync'ed up with certain classic films yielded several uncanny coincidences twixt music and screen. Watching and listening this way could lead one to almost believe that the albums were created as soundtracks to the films.

Back in 1979, most of us had never seen a digital audio product, much less heard one, but J. Gordon Holt knew what was coming: "The beginning of 1979 saw the introduction of the first samples of what will finally, after 79 years of supremacy, lower the curtain on the mechanically-traced disc: The digital recording." In "<A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//asweseeit/240/">High Fidelity at the Crossroads</A>," Holt looks at the new twinkle in Sony's eye and makes some sage observations.

<B>SHOSTAKOVICH: String Quartets 1-15</B><BR> Emerson String Quartet<BR> Deutsche Grammophon 289 463 284-2 (5 CDs). 1999. Emerson Quartet, prods.; Da-Hong Seetoo, eng. DDD. TT: 5:59:19<BR> Performance <B>*****</B><BR> Sonics <B>****</B>

The Richard Gray's Power Company 400S arrived on the audiophile scene last year with a bang. Weighing in at a hefty 20 lbs and at $700 a pop, this four-outlet power conditioner, according to the paperwork, "effectively 'positions' audio, video, and home theater equipment 'electronically closer' to your utility company transformer, without introducing any type of series electronic 'traps' or capacitors into the circuit, which we feel degrade the performance of certain equipment, and severely limit the amount of current they can handle."

Sure, we review a lot of big-bucks equipment in <I>Stereophile</I>, but readers constantly remind us to try the cheaper stuff as well. John Atkinson does exactly that in his review of the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/239/">Acoustic Energy Aegis One loudspeaker</A>. As JA puts it, "Acoustic Energy has introduced the Aegis One; its price is one-tenth that of the AE1 in its current, Signature guise. Does the Aegis One live up to what its heritage promises? I asked the company's US distributor, Audiophile Systems, to send me a pair so I could find out."

Tired of the controversy over whether expensive audio cables might make a difference in your system? The best approach would likely be to try a few sets with your own equipment and room and see for yourself. But cost has prevented more than a few audiophiles from spending quality time with the pricey stuff.