LATEST ADDITIONS

We <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10339/">reported last year</A> about the new direction that <A HREF="http://www.bang-olufsen.com/">Bang & Olufsen America</A> has taken in distributing its products: the company has recently opened a series of branded BOA stores around the US. The strategy seems to have paid off. The company reports increased sales of more than 60% in the first quarter of its current fiscal year, and claims that individual shops reported an average sales increase of 20%.

At last, a SACD machine from someone other than Sony! This time, it's a Marantz&mdash;the Reference Series SA-1, described as a no-compromise "ultimate-quality" player.

<B>CHARLES LLOYD: <I>The Water is Wide</I></B><BR> Charles Lloyd, tenor saxophone; Brad Mehldau, piano; John Abercrombie, guitar; Larry Grenadier, Derek Oleszkiewicz (one track), bass; Billy Higgins, drums<BR> ECM 1734 (CD). 2000. Manfred Eicher, prod.; Michael C. Ross, eng. AAD. TT: 68:29<BR> Performance <B>*****</B><BR> Sonics <B>*****</B>

I left you last month 104 miles from Santa Fe, New Mexico, heading east on I-40 accompanied by a dog and two cats, with 1946 miles to go to reach <I>Stereophile</I>'s new editorial home, New York City. To cut a long story short, I did arrive in New York (covered in dog and cat hair). After a nerve-wracking delay, so did our furniture. We will be living out of boxes for a while <I>chez</I> Atkinson, but that's a mere inconvenience compared with the Great Adventure of setting up a new listening room.

Audio Research's first 21st-century, audiophile-quality line-stage preamplifier combines retro-tech vacuum-tube amplification and power-supply circuitry with innovative, remote-controlled gain, balance, tape monitoring, and signal routing. The price is also 21st-century: $9995. As in ARC's Reference phono section, the Reference Two's pair of vertically mounted circuit boards results in a single, relatively tall chassis.

One of the industry's most ambitious digital distribution programs has been announced by <A HREF="http://www.timewarner.com/corp/about/music/wmg/index.html">Warner Music Group</A>. In November, WMG will make more than 1000 albums and singles available as downloads through several online music retailers, using <A HREF="http://www.realnetworks.com/">RealNetworks</A>&#039; RealPlayer software. Music fans in the US and Canada are the target audience for the download program, according to a September 11 press release.

Last week, the <A HREF="http://www.ce.org">Consumer Electronics Association</A> (CEA) released numbers indicating that factory audio sales (as opposed to sales through to consumers) for the first six months of 2000 have surpassed all previous mid-year dollar sales. The CEA adds that the $3.85 billion in sales to dealers put audio sales 12% ahead of the same time last year.