Music fans are mourning the passing of swing era giant Lionel Hampton. The vibraphonist, band leader, and multi-instrumentalist died August 31 at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan of complications from age and a recent heart attack, according to his manager Phil Leshin. Hampton was 94.

In his review of the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/653/">Conrad-Johnson Premier Twelve monoblock amplifier</A>, Michael Fremer notes, "Conrad-Johnson is one of audio's 'marquee' companies, and charges accordingly." MF uncovers what you really get for your $7000, aside from 140Wpc and a top-shelf name.

Less than a week after launching major copyright-infringement <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/11422/">litigation</A&gt; against several large Internet service providers (ISPs), member companies of the <A HREF="http://www.riaa.com">Recording Industry Association of America</A> (RIAA) abruptly withdrew their lawsuit because an offending offshore music site had even more abruptly gone dark.

All of us at <I>Stereophile</I> were saddened to learn of the death of mastering engineer Denny Purcell, whose body was found Thursday, August 22 in the offices of his Georgetown Masters studio in Nashville. He was 51.

It will probably be years before we can determine the actual effects that Napster and other online file-trading networks have had on the music business. Conflicting evidence suggests that swapping music either <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/11418/">increases</A&gt; or <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/11387/">reduces</A&gt; CD sales.

<A HREF="http://www.sharp-usa.com">Sharp Electronics</A> has come a long way from the household appliances and modest home entertainment products it has long been famous for. (The company's name derives from its first product, a retracting pencil.) Sharp is making a serious, prolonged push into upscale audio and video, as evidenced by the array of new models on display at a dealer and media conference held in late August at the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines, a hotel/golf resort north of San Diego.

Traditional music radio has been taking a beating since the mid '80s, when declining audience numbers entered a ratings freefall. Reader Bard-Alan Finlan argued in his <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/showsoap.cgi?276">Soapbox</A&gt; a few weeks back that perhaps digital radio could cure the market's over-the-air terrestrial broadcast ills, if only it were implemented with adequate bandwidth and marketed correctly.

"I wouldn't characterize my life as 'a search for bigger and better toys,' but I <I>am</I> intrigued by interesting things&mdash;like the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/648/">Impact Airfoil 5.2 loudspeaker system</A>," says Brian Damkroger as he steels himself for another review. BD goes in search of an answer to the Airfoil dilemma: "big toy, new toy, neat toy, better toy?"

<I>The fundamental object of the invention is to provide...the listener a realistic impression that the intelligence is being communicated to him over two acoustic paths in the same manner as he experiences in listening to everyday acoustic intercourse....</I>&mdash;Blumlein, <I>et al</I>, British Patent #394,325, issued June 14, 1933</B>