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"Moi? You want <I>moi</I> to review a French audio product?"

The Jeff Rowland Design Group has long been renowned for the exquisite quality of its chassis. The company was one of the first to promote fully balanced topologies in preamplifiers and amplifiers in the high-end market, one of the first to offer a sonically acceptable remote control, and one of the few to offer a battery power option for their amplifier line.

I suppose that most high-end designers dream about making a Statement Product&mdash;their best effort, without regard for price. <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/767">Victor Khomenko</A>, majordomo of Balanced Audio Technology, got the bug and came up with the VK-50SE. This <I>hugely</I> full-functioned line-stage preamp derives its Special Edition (SE) moniker from the eight hot-running, super-hush-hush Russian 6H30 Reflector SuperTubes that populate the circuit board.

Clear Channel Communications, Inc. has settled the first of what could be a long string of lawsuits over its purportedly monopolistic marketing tactics.

RIAA lawsuits continue: Each month the recording industry launches a few hundred more lawsuits against suspected file-swappers, with such tedious regularity that we could simply re-run the previous month's news with a new figure inserted. This time around, the Recording Industry Association of America announced May 24 that it had filed suit against 493 more people believed to have illegally shared music over the Internet. Known only by their screen names and IP addresses, the unnamed defendants are subscribers with Internet service providers in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, Minnesota, Missouri, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Texas. Unlike recent suits, none of the current crop involves college students or university networks. To date approximately 3000 people have been sued by the music industry; 486 have settled, paying damages that averaged $3000 each.

"It costs as much as a car&mdash;and not a used jalopy, either," remarks Michael Fremer. "That's what goes through your head as you contemplate this magnificent $20,190 piece of audio jewelry." The jewelry in question is the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/amplificationreviews/1298jadis">Jadis RC JP80 MC Mk.II preamplifier</A>, which MF compliments for "breathtaking" workmanship and parts quality. He also listens to the thing and reveals what some might consider the most important part: how it sounds.

There are several easy ways to start arguments among music fans: ask for a list of the most significant albums of all time, or who the greatest songwriters are, or the best bands, or ask which albums sported the all-time greatest covers.