In May, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) <A HREF="http://stereophile.com/news/052206xmtrials/">sued</A&gt; XM Satellite Radio over the <A HREF="http://www.xm-radio-satellite.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=… Inno</A> portable player, which has a 1GB recording capacity, but no way of porting the recordings outside the player.

Audio professionals and "prosumers" with home studios have long sung the praises of NHT's compact powered monitor, the M-00 (affectionately called "the moo"); powered subwoofer, the S-00 (don't make us say it); and passive volume control, the PVC (a JA favorite). Until July 18, however, these products were only available at studio suppliers and professional audio sales centers. NHT, acceding to "growing demand and an evolving market," will now allow its specialty audio dealer network to offer the formerly Pro products to their clientele as part of NHT's PC Hi-Fi line.

As it has for the last 10 years, <A HREF="http://www.fatwyre.com/">The Cable Company</A>, along with many of its vendors, is dedicating August to help some of "the poorest people in the most ravaged regions of the world."

I am a Revel junkie. Their <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/302">Ultima Studio</A>s have been my reference loudspeakers for years, and I've spent many happy hours with their <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/244">Performa F-30</A>s and <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/89">Ultima Gem</A>s. They're all great speakers. When the original Gem was launched, it was made clear that all the corporate and economic weight of Revel's parent company, Harman International, was behind the development of this new line. When I visited Revel some years back, I saw cutting-edge design and development, in-house manufacturing of the most critical parts under the tightest scrutiny, and quality control of nearly compulsive meticulousness. All of this was reflected in the speakers' prices, which were reasonable for their quality and performance.