In <I>Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan</I>, the evil overlord's favorite torture was to introduce carnivorous worms into the ear canals of his prisoners. No one who saw the film can forget the agony of the victims, who gradually went insane as the worms ate through their brains.

The new year ushered in several significant personnel changes for the audio industry.

Hilary Rosen's 17-year tenure with the <A HREF="http://www.riaa.com">Recording Industry Association of America</A> (RIAA) will come to an end this year.

<A HREF="http://www.liquidaudio.com">Liquid Audio</A> has been under attack for most of its short life, first from competitors and then from <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/11144/">its own shareholders</A> and corporate raiders. But the tumultuous journey may finally be coming to an end as the company reports that it is settling some of its lawsuits and shareholder claims while selling its remaining assets.

Retailing can be a rough ride even in the best of times. In the current climate, it&rsquo;s especially hard for those trying to make a go of it with recorded music.

Those who spurn audio discs with built-in restriction technologies should take note: <A HREF="http://www.sunncomm.com">SunnComm Technologies</A> announced last week that its MediaMax CD-3 technology has been utilized to restrict the content on Ike and Tina Turner's new compilation CD entitled <I>The Early Sessions</I>.

Three reviews from January: First, Art Dudley gives us his take on the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/759/">Final Laboratory Music-4 phono preamplifier, Music-5 line preamplifier, and Music-6 power amplifier</A>. Art writes, "Modern hi-fi is little more than a way of getting electricity to pretend that it's music."

Modern hi-fi is little more than a way of getting electricity to pretend that it's music. Of course, good source components remain all-important, and even if loudspeakers <I>are</I> imperfect, most of us can find one or two that suit our tastes, if not our rooms and the rest of our gear.

Modern hi-fi is little more than a way of getting electricity to pretend that it's music. Of course, good source components remain all-important, and even if loudspeakers <I>are</I> imperfect, most of us can find one or two that suit our tastes, if not our rooms and the rest of our gear.