LATEST ADDITIONS

Every month, we get dozens of press releases about new developments in the audio industry. Many of them, detailing minor changes in product design, company policy, or personnel, are less than newsworthy. A disturbing number are written in an odd variant of English&mdash;PR Speak&mdash;In Which Every Word Is Capitalized And Quotes Are Used "For Emphasis." Others clearly have been penned by folks not fully in command of the language: <I>Many are thus improved features of great desire and will invite happiness to include in next model.</I>

It may be true that baby-boomers yearn to relive their childhoods, but how many aging wanted-to-be rock stars and music lovers still like to play with dolls? <A HREF="http://www.spawn.com">McFarlane Toys</A>, which made its mark creating and marketing Spawn merchandise, is hoping quite a few.

A year without profits, a revolving door on the top floor, and potentially massive layoffs all spell trouble for <A HREF="http://www.bmg.com">BMG Entertainment</A>.

Few topics will get audiophiles into an argument more readily than a discussion of the relative merits of tubed and solid-state equipment. A <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/showvote.cgi?189">poll</A&gt; on the <I>Stereophile</I> website showed 53% of respondents choosing solid-state as their preferred amplifier design, while 38% indicated a preference for tubes&mdash;the remainder choosing "other," which presumably means digital amplifiers. (There has been no corresponding survey regarding preamplifier designs.) Opinions tend toward the dogmatic, with one respondent declaring "solid-state is more accurate," another stating unequivocally that "tubes sound closer to the real thing."

"Preaching to the converted," I sighed to myself as I read the manual for the Stax Omega II Earspeaker headphone system. I fondly recalled my headphone reference for all time&mdash;the Most Fabulous and Seductive Sennheiser Orpheus tubed electrostatics, which Thomas J. Norton reviewed for <I>Stereophile</I> in 1994. I recalled the Orpheus's heady, open, fast, and colorfully wideband sound, and clutched my palpitating heart.

Making good on a promise <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10923/">reported</A&gt; back in December of last year, <A HREF="http://www.threshold-audio.com">Threshold Audio</A> has returned the Threshold brand to the market with a new stereo power amplifier.

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.asahi-kasei.co.jp/akm/index.htm">Asahi Kasei Microsystems Semiconductor</A> (AKM), which supplies audio ICs for professional and consumer products, announced its line of Direct Stream Digital (DSD) Digital-to-Analog converters capable of supporting both Super Audio CD (SACD) Direct-Stream Bigital and 24-bit/192kHz LPCM DVD-Audio formats.