LATEST ADDITIONS

Believe it or not, there are reportedly several "audiophiles" out there who still refuse to accept that an extremely expensive amplifier can justify its price. "For them, the very idea of a $20,000 pair of monoblocks must seem absolutely ridiculous," writes Wes Phillips. "All I can say is that they should steer clear of the Mark Levinson No.33H, or else risk having their tidy little hypotheses shattered into tiny little pieces." For the complete review, take a look at the latest equipment report to hit the Archives: <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/115/">Mark Levinson No.33H monoblock power amplifier</A>.

It wasn't too long ago that rock band Pearl Jam set their lawyers after the dozens of independent websites pre-releasing pirated versions of the band's album <I>Yield</I>, hoping to curtail its availability on the Internet. How times change. On June 4, any consumer with access to the Internet and a <A HREF="http://www.real.com">RealNetworks</A&gt; G2 player will have the opportunity to visit the world's "ultimate listening posts" when the Red Hot Chili Peppers' new album, <I>Californication</I>, and Def Leppard's <I>Euphoria</I>, will be available in their entireties for streaming on the Web---four days prior to their official June 8 release.

Streaming multiple channels of music has proven a big hit with satellite customers, so it seems natural that <A HREF="http://www.dmxmusic.com">DMX</A>---a subsidiary of TCI Music (soon to be renamed Liberty Digital), and the company responsible for bringing audio to 2.6 million dish owners---would move to the Internet. Last week, DMX announced a multi-year, multi-phase global distribution agreement under which the DMX music service will be transmitted on <A HREF="http://www.lycos.com">Lycos</A>&#039; network of websites.

Providing another boost to the nascent DVD-Audio market, <A HREF="http://www.zoran.com">Zoran Corporation</A>, a provider of integrated circuits (ICs) and software for digital video and audio applications, announced last week the availability of a new DVD decoder IC chip, the <A HREF="http://www.vaddis.com">Vaddis IV</A>. Zoran says the chip is optimized for fourth-generation DVD players and will include integrated DVD-Audio decoding. According to the company, the new Vaddis IV decoder enables the design of flexible and advanced---yet affordable---new DVD players.

Radio broadcasts are still among the most useful resources for finding new music. They are also among the most frustrating. It's a rare occurrence anymore for announcers to tell you the name of a song and who performed it. Often, if you really want to know, you have to call the station and ask. If you're really lucky, someone might be willing to answer your question.

Sony and Philips claim that a big advantage to SACD is that the high-resolution SACD discs can be back-compatible with regular CD players. DVD-Audio proponents say that DVD-Audio discs can be made back-compatible with CD players as well if consumers want it. Do you want it?

C<A HREF="http://www.cello-us.com/">ello Music and Film Systems</A> is not merely one of the world's most prestigious names in audio and video. This week, a plush restaurant is opening at the company's new headquarters at 53 East 77th Street (212 517-1200) on Manhattan&rsquo;s Upper East Side. Cello, as the bar/restaurant/garden is appropriately named, will serve dinner by invitation only until mid-June, when it will be opened to the public, according to Florence Fabricant in the May 19 edition of the <A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/"><I>New York Times</I></A>.