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Many audiophiles&mdash;especially owners of Hales loudspeakers&mdash;have wondered whether or not the brand will be revived, in view of a <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10918/">recent announcement</A> by Audio Video Research of Ann Arbor, Michigan that it has acquired the assets of Wadia Digital and plans to resume production and product development of the revered name. Wadia acquired Hales (two of whose products were still <I>Stereophile</I> "Recommended Components" as of October 2000) last year, just a few months before financial difficulties put Wadia into a nosedive from which it could not recover.

English manufacturer Monitor Audio has been around for just about as long as people have been putting "high-end" and "audio" together&mdash;they opened their doors in 1972. Back in the mid '80s, when I was a young and carefree (and impoverished) consumer of hi-fi reviews, I'd read about the gold-deposited metal tweeters that Mo Iqbal was concocting and think, "Man, that's some exotic, far-out stuff!"

Last week's question about car systems prompted many readers to respond that their car is the only place where they can crank up an audio system. Are you restricted to quieter-than-ideal listening levels at home?

According to a recent report released by the <A HREF="http://www.recordingmedia.org">International Recording Media Association</A> (IRMA), with the gradual introduction of players for the developing DVD-Audio format finally taking place, the software replication industry can expect an "accelerated growth rate" for DVD-A titles around the world in the next two years.

Briefly <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10843/">gone</A&gt; but not forgotten, Wadia Digital will return as a division of Audio Video Research, Inc. (AVR) of Ann Arbor, Michigan, a new company formed in December, 2000 by combining the assets of Wadia and Digital Imaging Corporation. Wadia products, including the 861 and 831 CD players and 27<I>ix</I> processor, will be shown at CES in January, 2001.

Thirteen months after announcing its <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10593/">return</A&gt; to manufacturing, Memphis-based speaker maker <A HREF="http://www.egglestonworks.com/">EgglestonWorks</A&gt; is back in a big way, with plans to debut a "radical" and "visually provocative" reference loudspeaker at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.

Robert Deutsch asks, "How can you tell an audiophile from a normal person?" RD's answer involves the name of the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/296/">Vienna Acoustics Mahler loudspeaker</A>, which Deutsch reviewed for the April 2000 issue of <I>Stereophile</I>. Deutsch writes, "I find Gustav Mahler's music to be on the ponderous side, but when I heard the Vienna Acoustics Mahlers at HI-FI '99, I was sufficiently impressed that I began the process of getting a pair for review." The results of his careful listening are not ponderous at all.