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I used to be an audio cheapskate even worse than Sam Tellig. Anytime I saw an interesting device for sale, I immediately began to figure out how I might build it for myself for a fraction of the cost.

It's not unusual for a high-end audio company to originate in another segment of the high-tech electronics world, but it <I>is</I> a bit unusual when the spin-off is a cable company. That's the case with Empirical Audio, whose founder, Steve Nugent, spent 25 years as a digital hardware designer for Unisys and Intel. The key is that, in addition to standard design work, he chased "the more esoteric sides of design, namely grounding, shielding, ESD (electrostatic discharge), EMI (electromagnetic interference), transmission-line effects, and power delivery." <I>Voil&#224;</I>&mdash;cable design.

Imagine two people who have been audiophiles for 20 years. When they first met, Audiophile #1 had just decided that he would do his best to buy a system that he could keep for the indefinite future, without anxiety about upgrades. Let alone get <I>off</I> the "equipment upgrade" merry-go-round, he never wanted to get on it in the first place. Audiophile #1 also decided that having a truly great music system in his home was more important to him than buying a new car every three years. He found a dealer who sold systems based on value rather than on price. He ended up both exhilarated and intimidated, not only at the amount of money he had spent but at how good his stereo system sounded. He then stopped messing with it, sat back, and enjoyed the music.

<I>We get so confused department:</I> Officially, it's day one of the show, even though we've already been here a whole day. But&mdash;as we keep having to remind ourselves&mdash;it's not all about us. Today was the day the showgoers arrived.

Day one of the Home Entertainment Show is always set aside for the press (and "the industry," which is an apparently elastic term meaning "everybody else"), but this year it seems as though there's more press than ever. Every press conference&mdash;and there was a steady stream of them&mdash;was standing room only and the halls were already thronged with showgoers. It looks like HE2005 is already a hit.

The Consumer Electronics Association announced last week its finalists for the 2005 "Demmy Awards," a collection of audio demonstration music that the group puts together for retailers and manufacturers. The panel of judges for the awards include <I>Stereophile</I>'s own John Atkinson.

For some folks, it might be polka tunes; for others, that tuba quintet CD they were given as a birthday gift. What single recording have you acquired that has proven to be the most annoying?