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A while back, out of the blue, I was contacted by audio distributor May Audio Marketing. They wanted to know if I was interested in reviewing any models from the Genius line of German manufacturer ASW Loudspeakers. I have a lot of time for distributors such as May Audio, whose primary role is to promote lesser-known European audio products on this side of the pond. All of May's principal clients—Castle, Enigma, and Gradient speakers; Sonneteer and Sphinx electronics; and Roksan turntable systems—are much better known in their home countries than in the US.

Has any modern designer of high-performance speakers extracted more music from a two-way box than ProAc's Stewart Tyler? His early-1990s stand-mounted <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/792proac">Response 2</A> (later upgraded to the Response 2S) was an instant classic, and while his tiny <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/0484proac">Tablette</A&gt; proved controversial for being bass-shy and relatively pricey, his track record of two-way speakers remains unassailable.

Holding them felt safe. Maybe they lacked that luxurious lifestyle appeal of the fancier cables with their shiny colors and intricate woven designs, but that's not what I was looking for. I wanted quality, I wanted sturdiness, I wanted comfort. Only to encourage these feelings of security were the locking banana plugs.

With the popularity of home-theater systems, subwoofers have proliferated. Because multichannel AV receivers are designed to provide a properly filtered, line-level subwoofer, or low-frequency effects (LFE) signal, many subs no longer come with built-in high- and low-pass filters for insertion into two-channel audio systems. However, the PB13-Ultra subwoofer from SV Sound does include these, which is what piqued my interest in it. After Ed Mullen, SV Sound's director of sales, assured me that the PB13-Ultra was capable of reproducing solid 20Hz organ-pedal notes in my listening room, I asked for one to review.

<I>Snobbery is a disease of the imagination.</I>&#151;Peter Straub, "Little Red's Tango"

The music industry is responding to our recent enthusiasm for vinyl, <a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/business/la-et-vinyl18-2008au… the Los Angeles Times</a>. Original Recordings Group, a small vinyl-only label, needed only 24 hours to sell 4000 copies of TV on the Radio's excellent <i>Return To Cookie Mountain</i>. The label is on the way to grossing their first million dollars, and expects to double its vinyl output in 2009. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. has increased their vinyl production from 2000 copies per title to up to 15,000 copies. Such increases, of course, have a dramatic impact on pressing plants. Record Technology Inc's average pressing per title has doubled to 3000 units over the last few years.

Fans of the Fiery Furnaces will be happy to know that the band is releasing a collection of live material. Charmingly titled <i>Remember</i>, the album brings together songs from the entire Fiery Furnaces catalog, digging way back to 2005 and even including tracks from last year's <i>Widow City</i>. With 51 tracks in all, <i>Remember</i> will be available as a triple-LP gatefold, and will include a coupon for free MP3 download. Pretty artwork, too.