LATEST ADDITIONS

This is not a new component, but like most others that aspire to very high standards of performance, it has undergone some changes (for the better) since it first went into production.

The invitation looked intriguing: "We are happy to welcome you to The Netherlands in September for the offical introduction of the Siltech Pantheon Loudspeaker." <A HREF="www.siltechcables.com">Siltech</A&gt; introducing a loudspeaker? I was well familiar with the Dutch company, celebrating its 25<SUP>th</SUP> anniversary next year, as a cable manufacturer. Indeed, some of the first high-end cables I had found to sound better than what I had been used to were Siltechs, back in the mid-1980s. Paul Bolin had been impressed by his <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/cables/1004siltech">auditioning of more recent G5 models in 2004</A>. And Siltech's founder, Edwin van der Kley, is married to the irrepressible Gabi van der Kley, principal of Crystal Cable with whom I had had a rather intense breakfast meeting with during last May's <A HREF="http://blog.stereophile.com/he2007">Home Entertainment 2007</A>. (<I>All</I> conversations with Gabi are intense.) But loudspeakers?

A consortium of media and Internet companies announced a set of guidelines to protect copyrights online on October 19. Among the group, which has been negotiating for nine months, were Walt Disney Co.; Microsoft; NBC Universal; Viacom, Inc.; CBS Corp.; News Corp.'s MySpace and Fox constituents; Veoh Networks, Inc.; and Dailymotion S.A. Noticeable for its absence was Google, including YouTube, which has recently been sued for $1 billion for infringement by Viacom.

I was visited yesterday by Steve Krampf, CEO of Chestnut Hill Sound and designer of the George sound system. As we walked from our 6th floor lobby down the long hall to my office, the conversation somehow turned to various loudspeaker drivers. (That's just something that happens when you're in our office.)

Dr. Lajos Nagy offers cosmetic surgery that shapes your pinnae to points. Why? I'll let the good doctor tell you.

Uh oh, that never turns out well.

So Bagheera don't stare.