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Spectral Audio , the northern California company whose director of engineering is Prof. Keith O. Johnson, gave the first public preview of its SDR-4000SL Master CD Processor on September 24, at Music Lovers Audio, in Berkeley. Introduced by Johnson and Spectral founder Richard (Rick) Fryer, the $19,000 Spectral Digital Resolution (SDR) model sounded sensational playing 16-bit/44.1kHz, HDCD-encoded files Johnson had made for Reference Recordings, through a system that included Spectral's DMC-30SS preamplifier and monoblock amplifiers, Wilson Audio MAXX 3 speakers, Spectral Ultralink II speaker cables, the MIT Z Duplex conditioner, Synergistic Research's controversial ART system, and other room treatments.

The real-time spectrum analyzer (RTA) has long been one of the audio professional's most useful tools. Until about a decade ago, good RTAs consisted of separate signal generators, calibrated microphones, and bulky oscilloscopes. Then some manufacturers began offering handheld RTAs with inboard microphones and LED or LCD screens.

Music industry executives may have a special dread of this year's Halloween festivities.

On January 23, 2017, telecoms company Sprint acquired 33% of the Tidal music streaming service. According to the press release jointly issued by the two companies, the deal guarantees that Tidal, which now claims a catalog of over 42.5 million songs and 140,000 "high quality videos," will become available to Sprint's 45,000,000 retail customers, who will gain "unlimited access to exclusive artist content not available anywhere else."

Logitech's Squeezebox Network Systems has added a new model, the Duet, which adds a 2.4" color-LCD screen and a scroll-wheel to the unit's hand-held remote (not unlike the Sonos">http://www.stereophile.com/mediaservers/1006sonos/">Sonos system). The screen can display song titles, album art, customized wallpapers—even RSS feeds and radio station IDs.

Few audio products have proved as enduringly fascinating to audiophiles as William Firebaugh's Well-Tempered Turntable design. At once elegantly simple and technically sophisticated, it was an immediate hit with music lovers and critics alike—and was long a staple of Stereophile's "Recommended Components" list. For the greater part of the product's 20-year lifespan, the Well-Tempered 'table has been distributed and manufactured under the direction of Transparent Audio, Inc. However, Carl Smith, the Transparent partner who supervised the manufacture of the Well-Tempered line, decided to retire this year, and Transparent determined that it should concentrate on its cable business.

Sad news this week: We heard from Ken Kessler of the passing of legendary UK engineer Stanley Kelly, who died in his sleep on November 13, after suffering a stroke the previous week. Stan would have been 89 next month. While he was, of course, the "Kelly" of the classic Kelly Ribbon Tweeter, he was also one of the founders of Hi-Fi News and was the only person to have been listed on the English magazine's masthead since Vol.1 No.1, the June 1956 issue. In recent years, Stan had developed a series of high-sensitivity speakers for UK manufacturer Musical Fidelity.