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Jonathan Scull says he likes "stories with happy endings." Will his time spent with the Conrad-Johnson">http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/565/">Conrad-Johnson Premier 16LS preamplifier leave a smile on his face or a frown? J-10 comments, "As always, after a period of time, I began tweaking until I got the sound just so, then whipped out the laptop and . . . " filed this report.

Record companies are having a tough time making new friends these days as they toy with ways to restrict consumer use and distribution of their products. Amid sliding sales, mediocre new releases, high prices, and failed attempts at implementing restricted-use CD technology, the big labels clearly need some advice on getting back on track.

It is with regret that we belatedly note the passing of Joanna Nickrenz, one of the most respected American producers of classical recordings, on February 9. Within the small world of those who passionately care about the sound of recorded music, Ms. Nickrenz, along with her partner Marc J. Aubort, was a legend. Many audiophiles—including Stereophile's editors—considered the names Nickrenz and Aubort on a project a guarantee of natural, dynamic, accurate sound.

In his review of the Music">http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/560/">Music Reference RM-200 power amplifier, Michael Fremer claims, "Reviewing a vacuum-tube power amplifier is like having your pants pulled down in front of a large crowd of people." MF explains why he reviewed the RM-200 despite the inevitable public humiliation.

Like the companies in most high-tech industries, audio businesses are a volatile lot, with startups, mergers, acquisitions—and the occasional bankruptcy or flame-out—not uncommon. In that ongoing tradition, at the 2002 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Ultralink">http://www.ultralinkcables.com">Ultralink Products announced on January 7 its intention to purchase the assets of cable manufacturer XLO">http://www.xloelectric.com">XLO Electric.

No one knows what online music services may ultimately look like, but new models continue to pop up for consumers to test-drive.

What's a home-entertainment show without an assortment of state-of-the-art audio demonstrations? EgglestonWorkshttp://www.egglestonworks.com">EgglestonWorks; has announced that its next generation Andra II speaker will be featured as part of what it calls an "unprecedented" demonstration of multichannel Super Audio CD (SACD) to be conducted during the upcoming Home">http://www.homeentertainment-expo.com">Home Entertainment 2002 Show May 30 through June 2 at the New York Hilton.