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When your pals come over to hear your audio system, what do you pull out to impress them?

The inclusion of "hyperlinks" in music CDs that direct music lovers to Sony-affiliated online sales sites has angered the <A HREF="http://www.narm.com/">National Association of Recording Merchandisers</A>, a trade organization representing more than 1000 music retailers. NARM has filed suit against <A HREF="http://www.sonymusic.com/">Sony Music Entertainment</A> and Sony Coporation of America, seeking an injunction against the use of hyperlinks and charging that the practice of including the links in CDs is a violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. Asking retailers to sell discs with such embedded links is the "equivalent of asking Tower Records to put posters for rival Musicland in their stores," said NARM president Pamela Horovitz.

Blaming a falloff in CD sales on the popularity of CD burners, <A HREF="http://www.bmg.de/">BMG Germany</A> recently issued approximately 100,000 copy-protected discs in an attempt to thwart the problem&mdash;and had to take a substantial portion of them back because consumers said the discs wouldn't perform in car players and in some home audio systems.

Visitors to the <A HREF="http://www.listen.com">Listen.com</A&gt; website will find a headline on the home page: "Your Guide to MP3 and More." MP3 recordings, while a big hit with young music fans, have not been a favorite of the music business. The key to Listen.com's financial future as a download site is likely whatever ends up falling under "and more."

Last week, the <A HREF="http://www.ce.org">Consumer Electronics Association</A> reported that sales of audio products during November constituted the largest monthly increase since August 1994. Total revenues for the month reached $901 million, representing a 16% increase over last year's figure. The CEA adds that November's sales brought total year-to-date sales to $7.5 billion&mdash;2% ahead of the same period last year.

When I describe the Thiel CS7.2 to friends, the word that gets the biggest reaction is "simple." Veteran audiophiles protest, noting the big Thiel's multiple drivers, complex cabinet, and elaborate, zillion-element crossover. Nonaudiophiles just glance at the 5'-tall speaker, smile sympathetically at Bonnie, and roll their eyes.

One of the challenges I faced in optimizing the performance of the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/216/">Thiel CS7.2</A> loudspeakers that I reviewed in February 2000 was controlling and tuning their interaction with my listening room. Intuition, experience, trial and error&mdash;all came into play, as did several of the procedures and calculations covered by Jonathan Scull in his "Fine Tunes" column.