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Robert Deutsch tackles the Balanced">http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/749/">Balanced Audio Technology VK-40 preamplifier, noting "Few topics will get audiophiles into an argument more readily than a discussion of the relative merits of tubed and solid-state equipment."

Quad's David Patching was all smiles as he showed off the company's new CD player, called simply the CD-P. No SACD or DVD-A, said Patching, who says they'll wait until either a ton of high-rez discs are sold (not just produced) or until the format war is over and a clear winner emerges.

Back to the Alexis Park for a press conference with Classic Records, which has decided to release its first DVD-Audio disc around February 15. Classic was one of the very first labels to take advantage of the original DVD specification's ability to hold a 24/96 two-channel audio track, and it started releasing DAD discs exactly five years ago. The company's first DVD-A release will be the Vanguard title Songs of the Auvergne, which will feature a 24/192 two-channel DVD-A track and 24/96 two-channel DVD-V track.

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) officially starts Thursday, but tradition has established Wednesday as the day several major consumer electronics manufacturers hold press events, hoping to get their messages across before the full-scale onslaught of dealers.

In a pre–Consumer Electronics Show announcement, Texas">http://www.ti.com">Texas Instruments says it has integrated its FireWire (IEEE1394), multichannel audio digital signal processor (DSP), and digital amplifier technologies in a single board to demonstrate an all-digital audio system from source to speaker.

In a world where brand is everything and making money is the bottom line, it should come as no surprise that if there's a buck to be made, any deal is possible. But who would have imagined, 30 years ago, that the bad boys and girls of rock'n'roll would be married to the then-much-scorned icon of safe, watered-down elevator music?

The use of elliptical plastic ports in some loudspeakers has proven expensive for Harman">http://www.harman.com">Harman International Industries.