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Arizona-based Rockford">http://www.rockfordcorp.com">Rockford Corporation announced last week that it has acquired loudspeaker designer Now">http://www.nhthifi.com">Now Hear This (NHT) from Recoton Corporation. Previous Rockford acquisitions include Fosgate, Hafler, Acoustat, and MB Quart. The company says that specific terms of the new agreement are confidential.

NHThttp://nhthifi.com/">NHT; is back. Less than five months after the veteran speaker company, aka Now Hear This, declaredhttp://www.stereophile.com/news/nht_takes_a_break/">declared; that it would sell off remaining inventory, pay its bills, and spend time rethinking its future, it has regrouped and returned with a new marketing approach.

On an early Thursday morning on November 10th, 2011, NHT’s John Johnsen presented his new SuperPower powered desktop loudspeaker ($398/pair) to members of the hi-fi and consumer electronics press.

"It's time to turn down the lights: NHT is going quiet."

The NHT Xd DSP powered speaker demo was held at the Plaza Hotel in New York City last week and representatives from NHTwww.nhthifi.com">NHT; and its supporting cast, DEQXhttp://www.deqx.com/">DEQX; and PowerPhysicshttp://www.PowerPhysics.com/">PowerPhysics;, opened by explaining the philosophy behind the new product and the essential components they each contributed (also see previoushttp://www.stereophile.com/news/022304nht/index.html">previous;).

"Whole-house entertainment systems" and "ease of use" may be anathema for many audiophiles, but they bring joy to the lives of many music lovers—as they seem to do for manufacturers with a keen eye on the bottom line.

If you read Stereophile's audio news regularly, you'll frequently see items such as XYZ Audio Acquired by Megalomart, Inc. Have you ever wondered about what that really means? I haven't, and I write those stories. Heck, now that I think about it, over the last eight years, Stereophile has even lived one of those stories.

As digital distribution grows, the protection of copyrighted material---music, film, video, photographic images, paintings, drawings, and text---becomes ever more important. Tied to this are widespread concerns about maintaining security during online transactions---keeping credit-card numbers and customers' identities hidden from would-be thieves.

Friday, February 17, 5–9pm: David Michael Audio (4341 Delemere Court, Royal Oak, MI) will host an Evening of Turntables and Vinyl featuring outstanding new pressings from ORG. In addition, all ORG releases will be available for purchase. Space is limited. For more info, e-mail info@davidmichaelaudio.com, call (586) 244-8479, or visit David Michael Audio.

The courtship between two music-retailing giants is over. CDnowhttp://www.cdnow.com/">CDnow; and Columbia">http://www.columbiahouse.com/">Columbia House have decided to call off a merger that had been in discussionhttp://www.stereophile.com/news/10496/">discussion; since last summer. The official explanation from executives close to the deal was a sharp decline in Columbia House's profitability over the past several months.