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Kalman Rubinson had tried to get his hands on the Revel">http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/244/">Revel Performa F30 loudspeakers back in January 1999, but was thwarted until later in the year, when J-10 decided to send them his way. Kal was clearly excited about these speakers, and explains in detail exactly why.

With new high-end audio formats hitting the shelves and MP3 and Napster dominating the online music news, developments in the world of radio have taken a back seat lately. But two announcements this week offer a peek at where the broadcast business might be headed.

The bad news for the music industry: Teenagers bought less music last year, according to a recently released survey commissioned by the Recording">http://www.riaa.com/">Recording Industry Association of America. The good news: Middle-aged folks bought more, according to the same survey.

DVD-Audio has been "almost here" for so many months that it seemed almost anticlimactic when the first players finally emerged on dealer shelves this week. Late in May of this year, Panasonichttp://www.panasonic.com">Panasonic; announced (see previous">http://www.stereophile.com/news/10757/">previous story) that they would be releasing two players, one under the Panasonic banner and the other under the company's Technics brand, in July. It looks as if they've finally made good on their promise.

Judging from the e-mails we get, some folks wonder why Stereophile's website continues to cover the advance of such lo-fi formats as MP3 as well as the problems encountered by companies like Napster as they tangle with the music business. But consider this: a new study reports that the market for digital music players will grow to $6.4 billion in 2005—more than 34 times 1999 shipments—which is also nearly 80% of the $8 billion reported for sales of all audio products, including portables, from last year (see previous">http://www.stereophile.com/news/10677/">previous article).

While Thiel Audio is primarily known for highly refined floorstanding speakers, John Atkinson thought it might be a good idea to give the stand-mounted Thiel">http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/243/">Thiel PCS loudspeaker a spin. In doing so, he confirmed, once again, that wire is not wire when it comes to speaker cables. But what of the speaker? JA's conclusions may surprise a few audiophiles.

Back when DVD players were first released in the US, Classic">http://www.classicrecs.com/">Classic Records was among the first companies to exploit the fact that early machines, though intended for the video enthusiast, could play a 24-bit/96kHz audio recording as well as movies (see previous">http://www.stereophile.com/news/10072/">previous story). These early high-resolution discs, which Classic called DADs, were intended to hold us over until DVD-Audio (then thought to be just around the corner) would finally hit the market. More than two years later we're still waiting for DVD-A, but Classic intends to be ready when it finally appears.