<I>"As I was saying before I was interrupted..."</I>&mdash;Jack Paar, 1918-2004

<I>"As I was saying before I was interrupted..."</I>&mdash;Jack Paar, 1918-2004

<I>"As I was saying before I was interrupted..."</I>&mdash;Jack Paar, 1918-2004

"Ah, I see what the problem is. Your ear canals are larger in diameter than normal."

"Ah, I see what the problem is. Your ear canals are larger in diameter than normal."

"Ah, I see what the problem is. Your ear canals are larger in diameter than normal."

Friday, the first public day of HE2004, was entirely different from the press-only day that preceded it. Friday, the audiophiles arrived and the excitement was palpable. Rooms filled with music lovers; halls thronged with excited gear-heads. Now <I>that's</I> entertainment.

Renowned Canadian pianist Robert Silverman will be signing copies of his
<I>Stereophile</I> CDs at noon on Saturday May 22 at Home Entertainment
2004. Recorded in audiophile sound quality by <I>Stereophile</I> editor
John Atkinson, Robert's recordings include <A
HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/musicrecordings/315"><I>Concert</I></A&gt;,
live performances of works by Bach, Chopin, Schumann, and Schubert; <A
HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/musicrecordings/131"><I>Sonata</I></A&gt;,
featuring Frans Liszt's heroic B-minor Sonata; and the <A
HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/musicrecordings/298">complete Beethoven
Sonatas</A>.

Today marked the opening of Home Entertainment 2004 East, held at Manhattan's Hilton Hotel on 6th Avenue in Midtown. By long tradition, the first press conference in The Home Entertainment Show's busy press day has always been occupied by Sony and this year was no different. As we entered the Sony Suite, we were greeted by a wall display of over 2000 SACD titles&mdash;surely enough to be considered a down-payment on the critical mass that will be necessary for any high-rez format to survive. But any hopes that Sony would address SACD were quickly dashed in the press conference itself, which was primarily devoted to news of Sony's new broadband "location free" video systems, which allow consumers to carry 12.1" or 7" LCD video tablets anywhere they might wish to access their home-entertainment options. The data transfer is accomplished through the dual-band IEEE 802.11a/11g protocol. The 12" LF-X1 will retail for $1500 and the 7" widescreen LF-X5 will go for $1000.

The sales picture has improved for Tweeter Home Entertainment Group, but not the bottom line. The Canton, MA&ndash;based retailer reported a 4% increase in sales for the second quarter ended March 31, with comparable store results up 3%. The increase lifted Tweeter's total revenue to $189.3 million, but the company reported an operating loss of $4.6 million, almost twice the $2.5 million loss posted in the same period the previous year.