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Kalman Rubinson fires up the Sonic">http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/769/">Sonic Frontiers Line 2 line preamplifier, commenting, "I began this review grudgingly because I'd made a decision a while back to no longer pursue vacuum-tube electronics." But it's where KR ends up after months of listening that counts.

In Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, the evil overlord's favorite torture was to introduce carnivorous worms into the ear canals of his prisoners. No one who saw the film can forget the agony of the victims, who gradually went insane as the worms ate through their brains.

"How much power do you really need? How much power can you actually use? What's necessary, and what's icing on the cake? And does anyone really need 1000Wpc?" Jonathan Scull takes the Boulder">http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/764/">Boulder 2050 monoblock amplifier into the listening chamber to confront these and other pressing audio dilemmas.

Having a great product at a fair price is mandatory practice in the ever-competitive audio business. But getting the word out and placing those products in front of the customer is just as critical—some might argue, even more important. If this is true, then Canadian speaker company Athena has just made the score of a lifetime.

Heads up RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America): those music dollars skittering away in all directions probably have very little to do with online file trading. That was the message last week as members of two important trade organizations challenged the conventional RIAA view that blames peer-to-peer networks for the record industry's third dismal year in a row.

Clear Channel Communications, the radio industry's 900-lb gorilla, may be getting too big for its britches.

Echo.

Three reviews from January: First, Art Dudley gives us his take on the Final">http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/759/">Final Laboratory Music-4 phono preamplifier, Music-5 line preamplifier, and Music-6 power amplifier. Art writes, "Modern hi-fi is little more than a way of getting electricity to pretend that it's music."

Those who spurn audio discs with built-in restriction technologies should take note: SunnComm">http://www.sunncomm.com">SunnComm Technologies announced last week that its MediaMax CD-3 technology has been utilized to restrict the content on Ike and Tina Turner's new compilation CD entitled The Early Sessions.

Retailing can be a rough ride even in the best of times. In the current climate, it’s especially hard for those trying to make a go of it with recorded music.