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I like stories with happy endings.

We were sitting around the office the other day making bets about how many online readers also subscribe to the paper magazine. Since most of our estimates were miles apart from each other, we thought why not run a poll?

Now that satellite radio services <A HREF="http://www.xmradio.com">XM Radio</A> and <A HREF="http://www.siriusradio.com">Sirius Radio</A> have their "birds" in position, they are encountering a slew of unexpected roadblocks here on earth. Among the problems: loss of signal in tunnels and urban canyons, interference with wireless communications, and a lighting technology that emits strong radio waves close to the broadcasters' assigned bands.

In his review of the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/398/">Cary Audio Design CAD-300SEI integrated amplifier</A>, Robert Harley admits up front that he's been "biased against single-ended tube amplifiers because of their quirky measured performances." Can the Cary redeem itself and the SET approach with a single hearing? Harley reports, with a "Follow-Up" from Jonathan Scull.

Don't smirk, but a lot of audiophiles, including this writer and our esteemed editor John Atkinson, spend a considerable amount of time listening to music on their computers, especially at work. In fact, the results from our <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/showvote.cgi?208">recent online poll</A> about computers and listening habits indicate that at least 60% of our readers listen this way as well, with half of those using their PCs for music playback "quite often."

Have the format wars begun in earnest? Only a few days after Warner Brothers announced the DVD-Audio release of Paul Simon's <I>You're the One</I>, <A HREF="http://www.umusic.com">Universal Music Group</A> announced its plan to release titles in the Super Audio CD format.

Music lover Dennis Cassidy had an itch years ago to start an audiophile label dedicated to releasing the particular kinds of music he liked with the best vinyl and packaging available. Cassidy was involved with music distributor Sound Advice at the time, which sold the standard audiophile favorites from Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs, and others.

Last week's vote addressed the new formats and buying a CD player, but what is holding you back from buying into the new formats?

First, the bad news: Sales of stand-alone, two-channel audio products declined in the month of June by 1.8% to $164 million, according to recently published statistics from the <A HREF="http://www.ce.org">Consumer Electronics Association</A>.

Two years after they were first announced, DVD-Audio discs may finally be on their way from major labels.