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One of the most common complaints about multichannel audio has nothing to do with sound quality. It's the lack of multichannel switching on most preamps and receivers that irks most audiophiles.

More than 70 producers, engineers, and representatives from consumer and professional equipment manufacturers, record companies, and recording studios recently came together in Europe to discuss new ways to promote and establish Super Audio CD. After a two-day conference in London, the attendees say they have agreed to establish the Super Audio Forum to foster a "supportive environment for the exchange of knowledge and marketing information, as well as providing a platform for industry-wide collaboration."

Brian Damkroger ponders the Class&#233">http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/878/">Classé Omega monoblock power amplifier. "The Classé Omega is expensive, costing $25,000/pair," notes BD. But he also finds the amp a "drop-dead-gorgeous, massive, industrial-art chunk of aluminum and steel set off with a subtle mix of curves, contours, finishes, and textures." And then there is that Classé sound.

Vinyl junkies who missed the first">http://www.stereophile.com/news/11417/">first official Vinyl Record Day celebration last summer should mark their calendars for Saturday, August 16. On that date, the faithful will again converge in San Luis Obispo, CA's Mission Plaza to gawk at LPs, memorabilia, vintage gear, and to meet classic album cover notables.

Whether or not online file-trading has had an effect on compact disc purchases positivehttp://www.stereophile.com/news/11643/">positive; or negativehttp://www.stereophile.com/news/11679/">negative;, a new report published by the International">http://www.ifpi.com">International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) indicates that the real problem facing the music industry worldwide is that fewer and fewer of those CD purchases are of the real thing.

A continuing sales slump has the Tweeter">http://www.tweeter.com">Tweeter Entertainment Group, Inc. projecting losses for the third straight quarter.

Dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century, the music industry may finally be settling into an uneasy acceptance that its market and business model have changed. Only two months after the successful launch of Apple's iTunes Music Store, Billboardhttp://www.billboard.com">Billboard; magazine announced that it would begin accounting for downloads in its weekly music rankings.