<B>Prelude</B> <BR> I fell in love with the original Link DAC, as was obvious from <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/234/">my review</A> in the January 1999 <I>Stereophile</I>. I said that "the Link redefines entry into high-quality digital sound," as it provided excellent sound and 24-bit/96kHz conversion for the remarkably low price of $349. It is as firmly ensconced in Class C of "Recommended Components" as it is in my weekend system, where it tames the digital signals from my DMX receiver and my trusty old Pioneer PD-7100 CD player.

Last month I delved into avoiding reflective, parallel-wall slap echoes from ruining your audiophile day. But I've since learned of a perfectly useful workaround that's much less costly and involved than horsing around the Sheetrock. Much to my chagrin, the info came from the same source, George Cardas. When he told me about it, I slapped my forehead so hard I'm sure they heard it in Brooklyn. One caveat: This tweak works best with big, juicy collections of LPs. It could work with CDs...but we'll come to that.

Last month I delved into avoiding reflective, parallel-wall slap echoes from ruining your audiophile day. But I've since learned of a perfectly useful workaround that's much less costly and involved than horsing around the Sheetrock. Much to my chagrin, the info came from the same source, George Cardas. When he told me about it, I slapped my forehead so hard I'm sure they heard it in Brooklyn. One caveat: This tweak works best with big, juicy collections of LPs. It could work with CDs...but we'll come to that.

Spotting another online niche, <A HREF="http://www.Hifi.com">Hifi.com</A&gt; announced the debut of <A HREF="http://www.CustomHifi.com">CustomHifi.com</A&gt; last week. The new site is aimed at custom installers. HiFi.com claims that CustomHifi.com is the first "comprehensive national, Internet-centric marketplace to offer custom electronic design and installation professionals access to leading audio/video products, information, and installation support."

Dynaudio US's president, Al Filippelli, tells Wes Phillips that "Dynaudio speakers are a lot like the Danes who make them. They don't look all that fancy, but they tell the truth and they get the job done. To a lot of audiophiles, that's boring. But there are a lot of people who have been looking for those qualities in a loudspeaker, and for them, boring can be cause for excitement." Phillips takes an in-depth look at the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/262/">Dynaudio Contour 3.3 loudspeaker</A> to determine if "boring" can make <I>him</I> happy.

E<I>ditor's Note: This is Part Two of a six-part series from reader Herv&#233; Del&#233;traz of Switzerland, who is chronicling the development of his DIY (do-it-yourself) audio amplifier. (Part One is <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10825/">here</A&gt;.)</I>

Music lovers who availed themselves of <A HREF="http://www.mp3.com/">MP3.com</A>'s uploading-archiving-and-accessing services are about to become the next target market for the music industry. Nearing the end of protracted litigation brought against it by the music industry's "Big Five," the online music venture has announced a marketing service that will promote new commercial recordings directly to its users through e-mails. The recordings will be on labels under the control of MP3.com's opponents in the year-long copyright wrangle.

An improved digital-audio compression standard has been adopted by the <A HREF="http://www.bmg.com/">Bertelsmann Music Group</A> (BMG) and the <A HREF="http://www.umusic.com/">Universal Music Group</A> for commercial music downloads. "Advanced Audio Coding" (AAC) is said to offer higher audio quality while occupying 30% less bandwidth and storage space than the popular MP3 format, according to an announcement from San Francisco&ndash;based <A HREF="http://www.dolby.com/">Dolby Laboratories</A>.

Bright April Sunday sunshine beams through the bay window of my listening room. The light catches four loudspeakers on stands, two stacks of electronic equipment, a small video monitor, black cables strung behind furniture, and a pile of freshly opened DVDs. I sit in the center in a large, overstuffed chair covered in blue velvet, listening to an array of six loudspeakers and a TV monitor playing <I>The Haunting</I>'s DTS soundtrack. The floor rumbles as the sounds of creaking timbers come up from below.