LATEST ADDITIONS

According to the <A HREF="http://www.cemacity.org">Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association</A> (CEMA), the month of August saw hot increases in the sales of audio products. Factory sales of audio products rose 7%, to $694 million, equaling year-to-date revenues of $4.7 billion, slightly ahead of the first eight months of 1998.

<B>TAJ MAHAL & TOUMANI DIABATE: <I>Kulanjan</I></B><BR> Hannibal HNCD 1444 (CD). 1999. Joe Boyd, prod.; Jerry Boys, eng. AAD TT: 59:02<BR> Performance <B>*****</B><BR> Sonics <B>*****</B>

So here I am expounding on the tendency of audio components---especially tubes, capacitors, and resistors---to become microphonic, and you're wondering how you can find out if there's any of that shakin' goin' on in your system. And you want to do it easily and for next to nothing. The first thing you do, then, is listen carefully to Victor Tiscareno of AudoPrism. The following is his big idea, and a damn good one it is.

These are perilous times for the independent audio dealer. With customers being siphoned off by large megastores and, eventually, the Internet, success will favor the dealer with a few clever tricks up his or her sleeve. One of those tricks for dealers in Dallas, Texas is a new group formed by Stephen Slaughter of <A HREF="http://www.theaudioconsortium.com">The Audio Consortium</A>.

The man who signed the Beatles to their first recording contract has joined <A HREF="http://www.garageband.com/">garageband.com</A&gt;, an online venture for musicians. On October 21, the San Francisco-based website announced that Sir George Martin has assumed the position of chairman of its advisory board. The board's membership includes some of the music industry's best-known professional and creative talent, according to garageband.com co-founders Tom Zito and Jerry Harrison.

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.worldspace.com/">WorldSpace</A&gt; announced that it has launched what it describes as "the world's largest digital audio broadcast system." The new system is based on a satellite radio service that recently began transmitting a wide array of multilingual radio programming across the entire African continent.

When we asked folks last week about the age of their equipment, many pointed out that their oldest stuff was now in System #2 or #3. Do you have more than one system?