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John Atkinson flapped his bushy eyebrows at me and smiled slyly. "Hey, J-10, why don't <I>you</I> do the Sony SCD-C333ES SACD carousel player for April?" Usually, when JA gets that look on his face, I seek shelter. The phone bripped suddenly in my office, but I knew it was too late. "Oooo-<I>kay</I>..." I smiled back, thinking of <I>Stereophile</I>'s recent covers and the hubbub, bub, thick as it comes, that they'd produced. (See "Letters" in the February and March issues.)

Satellite radio goes high-end: Beginning early next year, <A HREF="http://www.krellonline.com/">Krell Industries</A> will enter the booming market for satellite radio receivers with an XM Radio tuner. The $4000 unit will reportedly also receive traditional AM and FM broadcasts; an optional module will let it stream Internet audio via 802.11g wireless connection to a broadband modem, according to the September 27 edition of <I>This Week in Consumer Electronics</I> (<A HREF="http://www.twice.com">TWICE</A&gt;). The tuner will join Krell's line of custom installation products. In a similar but less expensive vein will be new Sirius tuners from <A HREF="http://www.russound.com/">Russound</A&gt;. At $699 and $999, the two new models will also include AM/FM tuners.

There's a certain commercial symbiosis between audio companies and public performance spaces. Tokyo has its <A HREF="http://www.yamaha-hall.co.jp/">Yamaha Hall</A>; New York has its Avery Fisher Hall (<A HREF="http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/abram/abram.html">1</A&gt;, <A HREF="http://www.lincolncenter.org/visitor/halldescriptions_afh.asp?ws=">2</A…;), named for the hi-fi pioneer whose products were among the best available in the early 1960s.

Last week we reported Dolby's <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/092704mlp/">announcement</A&gt; that varying versions of their audio technologies have been selected as "mandatory formats" for <A HREF="http://www.dvdforum.org">HD DVD</A> and <A HREF="http://www.blu-raydisc.com">Blu-ray</A&gt;. Significant for audiophiles is that MLP and high-resolution PCM audio will be available both as two-channel and surround formats on HD DVD.

It's one of leading audio controversies: Do different audio cables

The official designation for FM is Frequency Modulation, but <I>I</I> think FM stands for Fresh Music. Since before the age of recorded time, FM has been where you go to hear new music, be it the latest Jimi Hendrix album or a recent release from the Kronos Quartet.

"Speakers are difficult," says Lars.