LATEST ADDITIONS

A clear majority of the readers who answered last week's poll think high prices have slowed down CD sales. So what price point feels right to you?

During copyright protection hearings in Washington the last week of February, South Carolina Senator Ernest "Fritz" Hollings labored mightily to please patrons Michael Eisner, CEO of Walt Disney Company, and Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Pictures Association of America (MPAA). Hollings' questioning of panelists from concerned industries was generally even-handed, according to several reports, except for his treatment of Intel executive vice president Leslie Vadasz, whose opposition to government-mandated copy control provoked an especially vindictive outpouring of vitriol from the 80-year-old Senator.

John Atkinson gets high with the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/530/">HeadRoom Supreme headphone amplifier</A> and reports on the results. "The quest to make the headphone listening experience more equivalent to normal speaker listening is not new," writes JA. Has the Supreme made the cut?

If you find yourself spending more time in a car seat than in your audio system's sweet spot each day, the trend pairing high-end audio companies with car manufacturers may offer a little relief. Lexus made a big splash last year by incorporating Mark Levinson technology into its latest cars, joining collaborations between Dynaudio and Volvo among others.

A year ago, Marantz gained full command over its own operations when Philips reduced its participation in the company from 50.5% to 49% by selling 1.5% of the shares to Marantz Japan Inc. (MJI).

The sales slump currently bedeviling the record industry has been blamed on everything from 9/11 to bad music to CD pirates and MP3 file-swapping. What do you think is going on?

An intriguing loudspeaker technology which generates believable surround effects from only two small enclosures will be arriving at stores later this year, according to a February 24 announcement from <A HREF="http://216.87.12.168/enf/nirotek/niroson.html">Nirotek America Corporation</A>.