"That sounds really great—what are you listening to?" my wife hollered to me from her home office, adjacent to my listening room.

"That sounds really great—what are you listening to?" my wife hollered to me from her home office, adjacent to my listening room.

Live music from popular recording artists is on tap for attendees at the Home Entertainment Show coming to NYC May 20—23, 2004 at the Hilton New York Hotel. And best of all—all performances are FREE to all Show attendees!

In one of his old comedy routines, Steve Martin imagines himself hauled into court for bank robbery. He seeks dismissal of the charges on the grounds of forgetfulness. "Your Honor," he pleads, "I <I>forgot</I> that bank robbery was a crime."

As we <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/010904ces/">discovered earlier</A> this year, Microsoft is trying to make friends with audiophiles. Need more proof? The software behemoth recently announced broad support for what it has termed the "Universal Audio Architecture" (UAA) initiative, which, the company claims, "will help to ensure an improved audio experience and improved audio device driver support for users of Windows."

In a ground-breaking article from May 1990, Robert Harley uncovers the real digital story with "<A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/reference/590jitter">CD: Jitter, Errors & Magic</A>." Confusion about CD tweaks leads RH "to conduct a scientific examination of several CD 'sonic cure-all' devices and treatments. I wanted to find an objective, measurable phenomenon that explains the undeniable musical differences heard by many listeners where, at least according to established digital audio theory, no differences should exist."

Running audio signals around a home's AC power wiring has been a <A HREF="integrated
Integrated http://www.stereophile.com/news/10754/index.html">consumer electronics goal</A> for several years. The reasoning goes that most folks live in homes that cannot be easily rewired for multiroom audio or multichannel surround, so why not use the AC wires that are already in the walls? Think of it as the ultimate solid-core interconnect.

Nowhere is the inflationary cycle spinning faster than in concert ticket prices. The best tickets for performances by major pop and rock stars this summer will be priced in the low-to-mid hundreds. No, that's not a misprint, and it doesn't include "service charges" and other bogus fees tacked on by ticket agencies. Good seats for Eric Clapton's summer tour will be more than $250 each; similar seating at Simon and Garfunkel's "Old Friends" show at the Hollywood Bowl will go for $700, according to "Parsley, Sage and $350 Seats," a revealing look at skyrocketing ticket prices by Ethan Smith in the May 7 issue of <I>The Wall Street Journal</I>.

<B>HESP&#200;RIAN XXI: <I>Villancicos y Danzas Criollas de la Iberia Antigua al Nuevo Mundo (1550-1750)</I></B><BR>
La Capella Reial de Catalunya, Hesp&#232;rian XXI, Jordi Savall<BR>
Alia Vox CD 9834 (CD). 2004. Nicolas Bartolom&#233;e, prod.; Nicolas de Beco, eng. DDD. TT: 77:03<BR>Performance <B>****&#189;</B><BR>
Sound <B>*****</B>