LATEST ADDITIONS

<I>Note: These photos are a companion scrapbook to Wes Phillips' <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/images/newsletter/405stph.html">eNewsletter report</A>.</I>

Yamaha Electronics Corporation has introduced four new A/V digital home-theater receivers equipped with XM Satellite Radio capability (XM-Ready). The $649.95 RX-V757, $549.95 RX-V657, $449.95 RX-V557, and $349.95 RX-V457 will allow users to plug an XM Connect-and-Play home antenna into the Yamaha XM-Ready A/V receiver and activate the XM service to receive 150-plus digital radio channels&mdash;no other accessories or installation are required. Using XM's industry-leading chipset technology, as well as a new proprietary chip and signaling protocol, the XM Connect-and-Play home antenna is capable of receiving XM's satellite and terrestrial signals, in addition to performing channel tuning, decoding, and audio transmission functions.

On March 22, it was announced that the Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association (CEDIA) had received another ruling in its favor from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board in the action brought against it by Bose Corporation to cancel CEDIA's trademark registrations for the phrase "Electronic Lifestyles." The Board denied Bose's motion for summary judgment and declined to consider fraud claims against CEDIA regarding the registrations.

In a a <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/031405discs">recent article</A>, <I>Stereophile</I>'s Jon Iverson cited the increase in broadband usage as an indication that more folks may get their music via download than disc in the future. What do you think?

The first thing you notice about Walter Sear's <A HREF="http://www.searsound.com">legendary Manhattan studio</A> is that it feels so darn comfortable. Sear Sound doesn't have a wall of gold records, gleaming million-dollar consoles, or the latest high-resolution digital workstations, but a quick stroll around the three studios reveals a treasure trove of tube and analog professional gear: a pair of <I>Sgt. Pepper</I>&ndash;era Studer recorders plucked from EMI's Abbey Road studios; an early Modular Moog synthesizer Sear built with Bob Moog; and a collection of 250 new and classic microphones.

Vienna is a beautiful city known for many things, but the design and manufacturing of audio equipment is not one of them. Waltzes and strudel, yes; loudspeakers, no. One exception is Vienna Acoustics, a company that has introduced a line of loudspeakers named after composers: Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, and Haydn. At the 1996 Las Vegas WCES, Sumiko, US distributor of Vienna Acoustics products (footnote 1), demonstrated the second-from-the-top Mozart, and <I>Stereophile</I> reviewers as diverse in their approaches as Jonathan Scull, Tom Norton, and Sam Tellig (as well as yours truly) were unanimous in our admiration of the sound.

Consider the lowly spork, that modern marvel of versatility: half spoon, half fork. In theory, you should be able to eat just about anything short of a flank steak with it. But the sad fact is, whether you're eating soup or salad, you might as well try to shovel it in using a tongue depressor. The damn thing's so versatile, it almost doesn't work at all. There's a lot to be said for specialization.