As rules of thumb go, this one is pretty infallible: By the time we've heard about it, a trend's hippest participants will think it's on the decline. That means that <I>mashups</I>, or the manipulation of the musical genetic material of several different songs to create a new song, may be on their way out, because <I>we've</I> become infatuated with them.

Depending on who you talk to, so far in the US, DualDisc has either been a success (according to the record labels) or a stumble (according to the press and manufacturers). Now Europe gets a chance to see what the fuss is all about.

Just what <I>is</I> the absolute sound, and how do you get there from here? What the heck are we looking for as we endure the mirth of others while purposefully setting up our high-end systems? Is it, indeed, the sanctified sound of acoustic instruments in real space? Can we ever really achieve that? Or is it the accurate realization of the signal on the master tape? Or&mdash;as was recently suggested at the New York Noise single-ended lovefest, covered in this issue's "Industry Update"&mdash;are some of us looking for the emotion and the artist's intent?

Although the term "professional" is often used as part of model designations in consumer electronics, the actual overlap between the audiophile consumer market and the <I>real</I> pro market is quite small. There are speakers in common use as studio monitors that no self-respecting audiophile would want to be caught dead listening to, and the typical audiophile loudspeaker would go up in smoke if asked to pump out the kind of volume that pro application routinely demands. To a lesser extent, the same applies to amplifiers: pro is pro and consumer is consumer, and ne'er the twain shall meet.

Although the term "professional" is often used as part of model designations in consumer electronics, the actual overlap between the audiophile consumer market and the <I>real</I> pro market is quite small. There are speakers in common use as studio monitors that no self-respecting audiophile would want to be caught dead listening to, and the typical audiophile loudspeaker would go up in smoke if asked to pump out the kind of volume that pro application routinely demands. To a lesser extent, the same applies to amplifiers: pro is pro and consumer is consumer, and ne'er the twain shall meet.

The Canadian audio industry has been mounting a challenge to other high-end manufacturers over the past few years. Ask any audiophile about Canadian audio manufacturers and chances are that he or she will have no trouble rattling off a string of respected names&mdash;Class&#233;, Museatex, Sonic Frontiers, Mirage, PSB, Paradigm, Energy. And Bryston.

The Canadian audio industry has been mounting a challenge to other high-end manufacturers over the past few years. Ask any audiophile about Canadian audio manufacturers and chances are that he or she will have no trouble rattling off a string of respected names&mdash;Class&#233;, Museatex, Sonic Frontiers, Mirage, PSB, Paradigm, Energy. And Bryston.

The Canadian audio industry has been mounting a challenge to other high-end manufacturers over the past few years. Ask any audiophile about Canadian audio manufacturers and chances are that he or she will have no trouble rattling off a string of respected names&mdash;Class&#233;, Museatex, Sonic Frontiers, Mirage, PSB, Paradigm, Energy. And Bryston.

The Canadian audio industry has been mounting a challenge to other high-end manufacturers over the past few years. Ask any audiophile about Canadian audio manufacturers and chances are that he or she will have no trouble rattling off a string of respected names&mdash;Class&#233;, Museatex, Sonic Frontiers, Mirage, PSB, Paradigm, Energy. And Bryston.