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There's always a certain amount of jockeying for position at the very top of the High End. Every few months, a new star burns brightly, getting all the attention. While the constant turnover at the cutting edge helps to define the state of the art, audiophiles should keep their eyes on the longer term. It's a company's track record—examined over a period of years—which defines its position in the market and the credibility of its products.

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?

When Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Goldman Sachs decided to <A HREF="http://stereophile.com/news/092407harman/">call off</A> their <A HREF="http://stereophile.com/news/043007harman/">projected $8 billion takeover</A> of Harman International Industries, Inc., industry experts predicted the audio company would take the two financial firms to court, if not to gain the $225 million termination fee, to force them to abide by their material adverse effect statement and complete the transaction.

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.)

I've written before about my immense regard for Garry Trudeau's <I>The Sandbox</I> milblog. Today, Owen Powell (<I>aka</I> SGT Roy Batty) posts about his experiences in DC promoting the book <I>Dunesbury.com's The Sandbox</I>, visiting the Pentagon, the Vietnam memorial, and Walter Reed Hospital.

Uh oh, that never turns out well.