LATEST ADDITIONS

Last week, in <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//reference/101/">Book Review: <I>High Fidelity Audio/Video Systems: A Critical Guide for Owners</I></A>, we ran Corey Greenberg's scathing review of an audio book that misses the mark by a wide margin. This week, in <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//reference/102/">Book Review: <I>The Complete Guide to High-End Audio</I></A>, we examine a book written by erstwhile <I>Stereophile</I> consulting technical editor Robert Harley. He does not emerge unscathed!

Last week, the <A HREF="http://www.riaa.com">Recording Industry Association of America</A> released its annual demographic survey of 3051 music purchasers in the United States. "Several interesting profiles emerged in 1998, including the boom in R&B and Gospel, as well as the sharp decline in Rock sales," said Hilary Rosen, RIAA president and CEO. "Demographic shifts also continued, with women outbuying men for the second year, and a drop in purchases among 15-to-29-year-olds, contrasted by significant growth among those age 35 and older." Last month, the RIAA released its annual year-end shipments statistics, which revealed the size of the domestic sound-recording industry in 1998 to be $13.7 billion.

On a very special Saturday night in early September&mdash;late winter in Australia&mdash;I was deeply moved by hearing Brahms' Symphony 1 in the concert hall of the Sydney Opera House complex. Perhaps it was Marek Janowski's fiery, inspired conducting, but I keep recalling the hall itself. Earlier that day, I had photographed&mdash;first from my hotel room, later from a ferry&mdash;the huge, nesting sail-like roofs, covered with a million white ceramic tiles, that enclose an opera theater, concert hall, and restaurant. Twenty-five years in construction and costing over $107 million, the Sydney Opera House is described in my <I>Fodor's '98 Australia</I> guide as "the most widely recognized landmark of urban Australia." Attending the concert that night&mdash;all 2679 seats were occupied&mdash;I found the acoustics lovely, dark, and rich.

What fascinates me about the High End are the electric personalities behind it. Manufacturers typically invest so <I>much</I> of themselves in the products they make. It's a divine madness&mdash;they do it because they have to. They're <I>driven</I> to it with a real sense of mission and excellence. But God forbid you <I>criticize</I> any of their offspring...<I>ooo-la-la!</I>

Last week's "Soapbox" stirred up a hornet's nest of comments. Kevin Wilkinson postulated that high-resolution technical developments like DVD-Audio and SACD might spell doom for the High End. On the other hand, they could contribute to its rebirth. What do <I>you</I> think?

Myles Astor, publisher of <A HREF="http://www.ultimateaudio.com/"><I>Ultimate Audio</I></A>, recently announced that former <I>Stereophile</I> contributing editor Jack English has joined his publication as a senior editor.

Owners of Apogee Acoustics loudspeakers are apparently being left to twist in the wind by <A HREF="http://www.adst.com/">a/d/s/</A&gt;, the company that took over Apogee and subsequently shut it down (other than to apply the brand to a range of switch-mode power amplification modules). Service will no longer be available for the ribbon speakers, according to Apogee owner <A HREF="mailto:mcarnicelli@bigfoot.com">Matt Carnicelli</A>.