LATEST ADDITIONS

Looked at from one viewpoint, DVD-Audio and SACD appear to be exercises in sheer profligacy. In the case of DVD-A, why provide a <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/features/282">maximum bandwidth</A> almost five times what is conventionally taken to be the audible frequency range, and couple it to a dynamic-range capability far in excess of that achievable by the microphones used to record the sound? In the case of SACD, why provide a potential bandwidth in excess of 1.4MHz, only to fill more than 95% of it with <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/features/374">quantization noise</A>?

We were startled to receive an email announcement recently informing us that Scot Markwell, long-time set-up and equipment maven for <I>The Abso!ute Sound</I>'s erstwhile editor Harry Pearson, had joined the staff at <A HREF="http://www.themusic.com">www.themusic.com</A&gt; to manage its Gear Shop division.

The Home Entertainment 2004 Show (HE2004) is coming to NYC May 20&ndash;23, 2004 at the Hilton New York Hotel & Towers. HE2004 is open to the public&mdash;consumers will not only have the opportunity to see, hear, and demo the finest high-performance products consumer electronics has to offer, they can also attend a dozen free educational seminars on a variety of topics and enjoy live music daily from jazz and blues artists during relaxing breaks for lunch. The educational seminars and music luncheons will be offered all three days of the Show. Seminars will be moderated by some of the consumer electronics industry's most respected editors, manufacturers, and custom-installation professionals.

"Clean Slate" ends: As of early April, the US music industry no longer offers amnesty to confessed downloaders. Begun in September by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the "Clean Slate" program's intent was to discourage music fans from continuing to gather freebies online by promising exemption from copyright infringement lawsuits if they signed statements that they had removed shared music files from their computers. More than 1100 music fans signed, but Eric Parke of Novato, CA sought an injunction against the program on the grounds that it was a "fraudulent business practice." The RIAA responded by halting the amnesty effort and asked the judge in the case to dismiss Parke's lawsuit. Trade group officials promised to uphold their part of the bargain for those who signed.

Audiophiles are faced with a sonic and musical quandary: Are we looking for an absolutely faithful reproduction of a recorded work, regardless of its inherent defects, or are we willing to tune our component choices and room to euphonize everything across the board&mdash;at the expense of over-glossing the better titles in our collection?

Pundits claim that home theater has taken over the consumer electronics market. We're curious to see what effect it has had on our readers. How would you describe yourself?

One reason I have never felt the need to invest in a high-end home-theater system is that it is all too easy for me to go 'round to Tom Norton's house. As well as contributing the amplifier measurements and the all-too-rare component review for <I>Stereophile</I>, Tom is technical editor of our companion book, <I>Stereophile Guide to Home Theater</I> (footnote 1). As you might expect, he has access to video equipment that the rest of us can only dream about.