LATEST ADDITIONS

One of the nicest things about communicating online is the potential for immediacy. One person can offer up a statement, another can respond within seconds, and voilà: instant town hall.

Anyone over 40 who's worked in a hi-fi or record store will remember the Pfanstiehl catalog, a pulpy thing that most shopkeepers chained to their counters, like a phone book. Pfanstiehl made replacement styli for virtually every record-playing device of the day, and their catalog contained page after page of tiny line drawings of nothing but phonograph needles, all lovingly rendered in three-quarter view. You couldn't browse it without being brought up short: My God, how many different needles <I>are</I> there? And how is it possible that a single company could tool up for so many products and still make a profit?

For better or for worse, appearances can make a profound first impression. Think of the bold, muscular curves of an Audi TT coupe, the planes and facets of a Lamborghini Murcielago, the sleek lines of a Gulfstream jet. In these vehicles, function and art are combined with smooth facility and perfect aesthetic balance.

Reader Mark Gdovin is curious. How many of you have professionally worked in the field of audio as "retail salespersons

Starbucks is taking its signature compilation CDs to the next level&mdash;the personal one.

From the March 2004 issue, John Atkinson finally gets to listen to the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/loudspeakerreviews/304sonus">Sonus Faber Cremona loudspeaker</A> and explains, "it took rather longer than I had expected to set the Cremonas up in my listening room. But, like everything worth experiencing, the wait was worth it."

Audiophiles interested in experimenting with upconverting the digital data on their CDs to higher resolutions will find a recent announcement from the Netherlands of interest. Dutch company <A HREF="http://www.eximius.nl">Eximius</A&gt; revealed last week a new product tagged "DVD+Audio Creator" for converting CDs to either upsampled PCM or compressed MP2 files.