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In his review of the Clearaudio">http://www.stereophile.com//analogsourcereviews/888/">Clearaudio Champion 2 turntable and Unify tonearm with Benz Micro L2 phono cartridge, Paul Bolin notes, "Turntables are intrinsically cool. Maybe it's that I am of the pre-CD generation, for which the acquisition of one's first really good turntable marked an audiophile's coming of age." Bolin explains why the Clearaudio is a really good player.

An old adage has it that "when Sony sneezes, the whole electronics industry catches cold." If that's so, there could be an epidemic brewing. Sony's profits plunged an astounding 98% in the first quarter of its current fiscal year. Thomson, Samsung, and some large retailers also reported big drops.

As digitally recorded music moves through the recording and production chain, it can be handed off to a variety of studios, musicians, producers, record label executives, and mastering engineers. Sometimes this is done with a recordable CD or DVD, sometimes with a portable hard disk, and sometimes via a high-bandwidth Internet connection. Somewhere along the way, a good percentage of those files (some estimate up to 80%) get copied in an unauthorized manner and quickly end up on">http://www.stereophile.com/news/11585/">on the Internet or on the street as pirated CDs before any official discs are released.

Listening room not up to snuff? Kalman Rubinson fires up the Rives">http://www.stereophile.com//accessoryreviews/883/">Rives Audio PARC 3-Band Parametric Equalizer to see whether it can tame a wild acoustic beast. KR reports that at "low frequencies, electronic EQ can be implemented without introducing significant distortion or noise in the midrange, where the ear is most sensitive."

Will the threat of lawsuits have any effect on the file-sharing phenomenon? The music industry hopes and prays that it will. As of July 19, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) had sought and obtained "at least 871 federal subpoenas against computer users . . . with 75 new subpoenas being approved each day," according to an Associated Press report.

One of the most common complaints about multichannel audio has nothing to do with sound quality. It's the lack of multichannel switching on most preamps and receivers that irks most audiophiles.

More than 70 producers, engineers, and representatives from consumer and professional equipment manufacturers, record companies, and recording studios recently came together in Europe to discuss new ways to promote and establish Super Audio CD. After a two-day conference in London, the attendees say they have agreed to establish the Super Audio Forum to foster a "supportive environment for the exchange of knowledge and marketing information, as well as providing a platform for industry-wide collaboration."