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One of the keys to SACD's potential acceptance within the mass market is the hybrid disc format, ensuring that all of those Stones, Dylan, or Pink Floyd discs can be purchased by consumers with regular CD players. Although the DVD-Audio camp has played">http://www.stereophile.com/news/11515/index.html">played with the idea of hybrid discs for its format, nothing has made it past the testing stages yet.

John Atkinson gets his mitts on the PSB">http://www.stereophile.com/loudspeakerreviews/1103psb">PSB Platinum T8 loudspeaker and remarks that "talented loudspeaker engineers do not stand still, and neither do the resources and technology available to them." Does PSB's new flagship design live up to JA's expectations? All is revealed.

One of the visual highlights of the 2003 Consumer Electronics Show and HE 2003 in San Francisco was the Penaudiohttp://www.penaudio.fi">Penaudio; speakers, sporting a unique sliced-wood veneer wrapped around diminutive two-way designs. While the speakers were easy on the eyes, it wasn't so easy to find a pair to audition in the US.

Back in the 1990s, I lusted mightily for the large ESP speakers with their tall, slim shapes and their angled driver panels. A large-room demo of the Concert Grands with Sonic Frontiers electronics still reverberates in my memory. Unfortunately, just as I evolved to the point where I could consider buying a pair of Concert Grands, the company folded its tents. Recently, I heard a rumor that ESP might be returning, and an email exchange with founder and designer Sean McCaughan has confirmed the good news.

The 2004 Stereophile Buyer's Guide hits the newsstands this week. Within its 228 jumbo-sized and color-coded pages you'll find listings of every audio component currently available in the US (other than boomboxes and other portable players), along with their specifications and prices. It also includes what we feel is the most complete listing of audio manufacturer websites on the planet.

John Gourlay, Stereophile's publisher since 1998, left the company at the beginning of November. John had been a valued collaborator and the moving force behind the launch of the 2004 Stereophile Buyer's Guide (see related story). We all wish him well in his future career.

Sony Music Entertainment and Bertelsmann Music Group could soon be one.

A recent study by analysts Customer Growth Partners has found that department stores, specialty retailers, and other chains that fill US shopping malls accounted for just 19% of total retail sales in 2002, down from 38% in 1995. Mall-based retailers accounted for 22% of 2001's retail sales.

National">http://www.npr.org">National Public Radio is in no danger of going off the air any time in the next century, thanks to a massive gift from the estate of philanthropist Joan B. Kroc, widow of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc.

The first part of our subwoofer review trilogy finds Larry Greenhill plumbing the depths with the Paradigm">http://www.stereophile.com/showarchives.cgi?955">Paradigm Reference Servo-15 powered subwoofer. Greenhill says that the wide range of adjustments available on the Servo-15 can help it blend into most environments—but having all that choice can cut both ways, notes LG.