LATEST ADDITIONS

When <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/232">Ken Kantor</A> helped to found Now Hear This, Inc. (most commonly referred to by its initials, NHT) in 1986, he brought with him a wealth of design and production experience learned from stints with NAD and Acoustic Research. He also brought a desire to build and market products that a wide range of people could afford. NHT began by producing small, two-way designs distinguished by the angled front baffle which remains the company's trademark. The latter is no gimmick, but was designed to optimize the loudspeakers' radiation pattern, a matter of keen interest to Kantor ever since his undergraduate thesis work at MIT. This interest continued at AR, where he was responsible for the MGC-1 loudspeaker&mdash;probably his best known pre-NHT loudspeaker design.

<B>HistoriCAL Introduction</B>
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California Audio Labs is a child of the digital age. Originally, they made a noise by offering <A HREF="http://stereophile.com/digitalsourcereviews/654">modified CD players with tube output stages</A>, a practice for which I found no intellectual justification. On the other hand, the results were successful, even if (probably) due to the CAL units' softening of the harshness of early digital sound.

Jim Fosgate fits the category of Classic American Inventor to a T. This softspoken, quietly intense man has earned 18 patents and founded three successful electronics companies. In the late 1970s, he pulled out of the car audio business to follow his quadraphonic bliss, and designed the Fosgate Tate 101, arguably the finest quad decoder of the era. He also created the best-selling matrix surround processor of all time, Dolby's Pro Logic II, and in 2003 won an Emmy for the Development of Surround Sound for Television. He now serves as a senior executive consultant for Fosgate Audionics, a division of the Rockford Corporation.

In a decision delivered in late December, China's top court has elevated intellectual property theft from misdemeanor status to felony. The move may be a sea change for the giant Asian nation, where piracy has long been a way of life.

<A HREF="http://www.meridian.co.uk">Meridian Audio Ltd.</A> is the latest electronics maker to weigh in on the continuing DualDisc controversy.

It is often said that audiophiles enjoy a lonely hobby. Do you have a spouse who shares your audiophile tendencies?

You dodged a bullet.