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Sony describes the $700 TA-P9000ES as "a pure audio multichannel preamplifier equipped with two inputs for 5.1 analog multichannel audio sources, enabling selection, volume control, and amplification." A relay with twin gold-plated crossbars switches the two six-channel sources. Then follows a class-A solid-state push-pull amplifier in discrete configuration. Separate transistors, resistors, and capacitors populate the printed circuit boards. An oxygen-free copper shield surrounds each channel to prevent crosstalk between the channels. In addition, there is a relay-controlled gain stage offering 0, +6, and +12dB amplification.

The titles are starting to trickle out in both the SACD and DVD-Audio formats. But as far the public is concerned, they don't really exist. What is your suggestion for kick-starting the high-resolution audio market?

A heavy second-quarter loss for Sony Corporation is only part of the gloomy financial picture for the consumer electronics industry. The numbers are down worldwide for manufacturers and retailers alike, and aren't expected to rebound until spring 2002 at the earliest.

Kalman Rubinson says he "anticipated the installation of the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/437/">TacT Audio RCS 2.0 digital equalizer/preamplifier</A> with mixed emotions." Would his hard work at setting up the perfect listening environment be rendered irrelevant in the face of digital signal processing? Or would the future of audio unfold at his feet?

Times are tough in the online audio delivery market, with long-established start-ups struggling to keep pace with competing formats from Microsoft as well as the ever pervasive MP3. Particularly hard hit has been <A HREF="http://www.liquidaudio.com">Liquid Audio</A>, which along with competitor Real Audio, has for the last few years attempted to create the <I>de facto</I> standard for online music commerce.

Record stores are devoting a diminishing amount of space to classical music, to the dismay of music lovers. Online distribution may offer hope for the genre, according to an <A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/21/arts/music/21TOMM.html">in-depth report</A> by Anthony Tommasini in the October 21 edition of the <I>New York Times</I>.

People come to high-end audio with different needs and expectations&mdash;some fairly reasoned, some slightly more highfalutin. Some listeners want to get as close as possible to an immersion experience, be it of a live performance or of some more idealized studio ecstasy. Others are enraptured by the status and sex appeal of big, hot-rod components, and simply dig <I>gear</I>&mdash;much as they might dig the visceral rush of a high-performance car. Still others compulsively upgrade their equipment in search of some unattainable perfection. But no matter the initial motivation, all roads eventually lead back to a love of music.