LATEST ADDITIONS

Last week we posted reviews of the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/86/">Linn Sondek CD12 CD player</A> and the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/85/">Linn AV 51 system</A>. This week we add a review of the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//analogsourcereviews/88/">Linn Linto phono preamplifier</A>, as well as John Atkinson's report on the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/89/">Revel Ultima Gem loudspeaker & Ultima Sub-15 subwoofer</A>, and Tom Norton's review of the complete <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/90/">Revel Home Theater</A> speaker system.

After dozens of thorny issues slowed its progress (see <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10281/">previous report</A>), last week the <A HREF="http://www.dvdforum.com/">DVD Forum</A> announced that its Steering Committee has approved Version 1.0 of the DVD-Audio Disc specifications, making it the fifth of the DVD format family after DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, and DVD-R. According to a statement, the DVD Forum says it will soon publish the DVD-Audio Format Book, which contains the detailed specification of the format, and make it available to authorized companies by "early spring of this year."

Because online music retailers like <A HREF="http://www.cdnow.com">CDNow</A&gt; and <A HREF="http://www.Amazon.com">Amazon.com</A&gt; have likely taken a bite out of record-club sales, last week Internet company <A HREF="http://www.aol.com">America Online</A> and direct music marketer <A HREF="http://www.columbiahouse.com">Columbia House</A> announced a marketing agreement for both online and offline advertising and promotions, including product bundling, direct-mail initiatives, and co-marketing and advertising campaigns. Under the multi-year agreement, Columbia House, with more than 13 million members, will promote its music, video, and DVD clubs on AOL's Shopping Channel, as well as on AOL.com, CompuServe, Digital City, and Entertainment Asylum.

It was the weirdest orchestral balance I'd ever heard. The gentle woodwind chords that begin Mendelssohn's incidental music to <I>A Midsummer Night's Dream</I> were as loud as the climactic "Wedding March" that ends the piece. The radio broadcast was obviously being compressed to hell. Yet, sitting at the wheel of the rented Vauxhall Vectra I was driving down to Cornwall for an old friend's surprise 50th birthday party, I was actually glad for the compression. Had Classic FM broadcast the Mendelssohn with its true dynamic range intact, the quiet passages would have been irretrievably buried in the road noise and the loud passages would have had me lunging for the volume control, to the possible danger of those sharing England's congested A303 trunk road with me.

<B>BECK: <I>Mutations</I></B><BR> DGC 25309-2 (CD), Bong Load 004 (LP). 1998. Nigel Godrich, Beck Hansen, prods.; John Sorensen, eng. AAD/AAA. TT: 49:17<BR> Performance <B>*****</B><BR> Sonics <B>****</B>

After a particularly tough year, Carver Corporation announced last week that it has executed an agreement with founder Bob Carver, who had sold his interest in the company and then started up privately held Sunfire Corporation (<A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10254/">see previous story</A>). The new agreement places Sunfire in charge of the development, manufacturing, marketing, and distribution, under the Carver brand name, of a new line of home and car products that will incorporate "new" technologies. The agreement also establishes a new manufacturer's representative and independent dealer network to rebuild Carver Corporation, and for Bob Carver to assume full operational control of the company.

Last week, the Analog Option Coalition, a loose-knit umbrella group that sponsored forums on analog recording during the 1997 and 1998 AES conventions, annouced that it has restructured as Analog Options Consulting, a division of Wavelength Communications.