What comes to mind when you think of VTL? If you're like most of us, enormously powerful tube power amplifiers are inseparable from the name. To contemplate VTL is to think of some of the finest-sounding, most potent amps ever built&mdash;from the late-1980s, 400Wpc Ichiban, the first massively powerful tube monoblock of the audiophile era, to the mighty <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/157/">Wotan</A&gt; and Siegfried amplifiers of today. All well and good, as far as it goes.

What comes to mind when you think of VTL? If you're like most of us, enormously powerful tube power amplifiers are inseparable from the name. To contemplate VTL is to think of some of the finest-sounding, most potent amps ever built&mdash;from the late-1980s, 400Wpc Ichiban, the first massively powerful tube monoblock of the audiophile era, to the mighty <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/157/">Wotan</A&gt; and Siegfried amplifiers of today. All well and good, as far as it goes.

What comes to mind when you think of VTL? If you're like most of us, enormously powerful tube power amplifiers are inseparable from the name. To contemplate VTL is to think of some of the finest-sounding, most potent amps ever built&mdash;from the late-1980s, 400Wpc Ichiban, the first massively powerful tube monoblock of the audiophile era, to the mighty <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/157/">Wotan</A&gt; and Siegfried amplifiers of today. All well and good, as far as it goes.

Whether listeners like it or not, record labels, including major players like BMG and Arista Records, are <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/11734/">now making moves</A> to rein in how their CDs are played and used. Unfettered CDs have been on the shelves for almost two decades, and some industry observers note that changing how they work at this late stage could be a recipe for trouble with consumers.

Wes Phillips slips into his well-worn flame-proof underwear as he bravely introduces audiophiles to the musical merits of the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/934/">Apple iPod</A>. WP finds he likes living at the edge of audio trendiness, exclaiming, "Holy cow! I'm running with the fashionistas! Can I still be an audiophile, too?"

<A HREF="http://www.siriusradio.com">Sirius Radio</A> has added an entertainment industry heavyweight to its board of directors.

Recording artists may soon have improved health care coverage, should an historic agreement be ratified by members of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (<A HREF="http://www.aftra.org">AFTRA</A&gt;).

It was John Atkinson, that legendary ornithologist, who first pointed it out: "Have you noticed how frequently you see women using the iPod?"

It was John Atkinson, that legendary ornithologist, who first pointed it out: "Have you noticed how frequently you see women using the iPod?"