LATEST ADDITIONS

With high-end audio dealers getting scarcer, audiophiles often turn to the Internet or mail-order for products. Would you buy something you hadn't yet heard?

According to a study published by anesthesiologists Chakib Ayoub, Laudi Rizk, Chadi Yaacoub, Dorothy Gaal, and Zeev Kain at the Yale School of Medicine, music reduces intraoperative sedative requirements in patients who received surgical procedures under anesthesia.

<I>May the Web be with you:</I> You'd think that forward-thinking tech-savvy companies such as those involved in high-end audio would be among the first to <I>get</I> how well the Internet works at spreading the word about their products. In nine cases out of ten, you'd be wrong. Companies introduce new products, upgrade old models, and venture into entirely new technologies without ever changing their websites.

Jimmy Martin, the self-styled "King of Bluegrass," died at a hospice near his home in Hermitage, TN on May 14. Martin had been diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2003, but the progress of the disease was slow, and the first of two hospice stays was cut short by an apparent recovery. Significantly, Martin never gave up his plans to perform at this year's Bill Monroe Bluegrass Festival in Bean Blossom, IN.

Another chapter has closed in the saga of the Dorian Group, but the story seems far from over. As we <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/040405dorian/index.html">reported last month</A>, Dorian had filed for bankruptcy and unsuccessfully attempted to auction its assets. The creditors and former owners of Reference Recordings were also nipping at Dorian's heels to get their label back.

<I>Nothing is wonderful when you get used to it.&mdash;E.L. Howe</I>

Although Mark Levinson Audio Systems components continue to be produced, the company's headquarters moved in late 2003 from the Madrigal plant in Middletown, Connecticut, to Harman Specialty's facility in Bedford, Massachusetts. There ML shares manufacturing and sales space with Harman's other high-end lines, Revel and Lexicon.