LATEST ADDITIONS

You've decided to add a new piece of equipment to your system. Now begins the process of figuring out which make and model you want. How do you test products to make sure you get the right stuff?

An improved digital-audio compression standard has been adopted by the <A HREF="http://www.bmg.com/">Bertelsmann Music Group</A> (BMG) and the <A HREF="http://www.umusic.com/">Universal Music Group</A> for commercial music downloads. "Advanced Audio Coding" (AAC) is said to offer higher audio quality while occupying 30% less bandwidth and storage space than the popular MP3 format, according to an announcement from San Francisco&ndash;based <A HREF="http://www.dolby.com/">Dolby Laboratories</A>.

Music lovers who availed themselves of <A HREF="http://www.mp3.com/">MP3.com</A>'s uploading-archiving-and-accessing services are about to become the next target market for the music industry. Nearing the end of protracted litigation brought against it by the music industry's "Big Five," the online music venture has announced a marketing service that will promote new commercial recordings directly to its users through e-mails. The recordings will be on labels under the control of MP3.com's opponents in the year-long copyright wrangle.

Dynaudio US's president, Al Filippelli, tells Wes Phillips that "Dynaudio speakers are a lot like the Danes who make them. They don't look all that fancy, but they tell the truth and they get the job done. To a lot of audiophiles, that's boring. But there are a lot of people who have been looking for those qualities in a loudspeaker, and for them, boring can be cause for excitement." Phillips takes an in-depth look at the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/262/">Dynaudio Contour 3.3 loudspeaker</A> to determine if "boring" can make <I>him</I> happy.

Spotting another online niche, <A HREF="http://www.Hifi.com">Hifi.com</A&gt; announced the debut of <A HREF="http://www.CustomHifi.com">CustomHifi.com</A&gt; last week. The new site is aimed at custom installers. HiFi.com claims that CustomHifi.com is the first "comprehensive national, Internet-centric marketplace to offer custom electronic design and installation professionals access to leading audio/video products, information, and installation support."

Bonnie and I decided to avoid the crowds last weekend, and instead settled in at home to watch the recent remake of <I>Great Expectations</I>, with Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow. It seemed like a pretty good movie, but before long I found my thoughts drifting to the review I had in progress: my audition and analysis of the Magnepan Magneplanar MG3.6/R. True, <I>Great Expectations</I> is a little slow, and a few explosions or car chases might have better held my attention, but if ever there was an audio product to which the phrase "great expectations" applied, it's the Magnepan 3.6/R.

<B>MAHLER: Symphony 6</B><BR> Manhattan School of Music Symphony Orchestra, Glen Cortese (cond.)<BR>Titanic 257 (CD). 2000. Charles G. Thomas, exec. prod., Jerry Bruck, eng., Michael Karas and Eric Wagner, assoc. engs. AAD? TT: 76:27<BR> Performance: <B>****?</B><BR> Sonics: <B>*****</B>