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The nascent satellite radio industry has entered a critical phase, with both XM">http://www.xmradio.com">XM Radio and Sirius">http://www.siriusradio.com">Sirius Satellite Radio posting losses for the fourth quarter. Combined, the two companies have yet to sign up a half-million subscribers.

Lexington, KY–based Thiel Audio has announced that it will partner with Charlottesville, VA–based Crutchfield to offer its speakers online and in Crutchfield brick-and-mortar outlets. Thiel has been famously reluctant to go online, having established itself through its canny vetting of potential retail partners. It kept its distribution clean.

The entertainment industry has been crying wolf about the impending death of its collective livelihood since the first recording device hit the market decades ago. In spite of those dire predictions, reel-to-reel tape decks, cassette recorders, and VCRs hardly dented sales, and may in fact have contributed to unprecedented world-wide growth.

Crystal Cable has introduced Infinite Dream, a three‑model cable series consisting of power, interconnect, and speaker cables handmade in the Netherlands. Infinite Dream becomes Crystal Cable's flagship line, following the sold‑out, limited-edition Infinity power cable.

The Crystal Semiconductor Products Division of Cirrus Logic Inc. announced last week the availability of the industry's first digital audio transmitters and receivers designed to support the emerging 96kHz digital audio sampling rate. The new mixed-signal receivers and transmitters are targeted at both the professional audio and consumer DVD audio markets.

On August 28, Jon Iverson forwarded an AP">http://www.comcast.net/includes/article/print.jsp?fn=/data/news/html//2… article about Christian Reiter, who claims to have diagnosed Beethoven's lengthy decline and eventual death as lead poisoning caused by a salve laced with lead administered by the composer's doctor.

In an announcement that could stun the neophyte custom CD compilation business and concurrently impact future prospects for the $12 billion music recording industry, superSonic">http://www.supersonicboom.com/">superSonic BOOM has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Ergon Technology for a patented manufacturing process covering customized audio products. Like Open">http://www.openmarket.com">Open Market's announcement last week that it had received patents from the US government for its e-commerce technology, superSonic's announcement raises more questions than it answers.

It's a season of mixed results in the electronics industry. On April 9, Peabody, MA–based Boston">http://www.bostonacoustics.com">Boston Acoustics announced that it has slashed jobs due to a slow fourth quarter, reducing its workforce from 389 to 327 as a result of slowing sales. The loudspeaker manufacturer expects earnings of more than $4.2 million for the year ending March 31, a figure that puts the company in a profitable position despite a loss of close to $1 million for the final quarter.

Despite the best efforts of Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan to extend an unprecedented economic boom, the nation's economy is slowing. The slowdown is causing negative repercussions in many sectors—including the music retailing business and consumer electronics manufacturing.

The continuing recession is hitting Circuit">http://www.circuitcity.com">Circuit City hard.