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Large companies may be chopping jobs by the thousands, but there are signs elsewhere that the economy is still booming. Recent figures from electronics retailers Best">http://www.bestbuy.com/">Best Buy and the Tweeter">http://www.tweeter.com/">Tweeter Home Entertainment Group and from Sony">http://www.sel.sony.com/SEL">Sony Electronics indicate only a partial slowdown in spending for quality audio/video gear.

You know the trouble with show reports? You read them after the show. So let me give you a brief report on Home Entertainment 2001 before the Show.

A recent email soliciting acquisition partners has given rise to a rumor that George Tice is leaving audio. "Far from it," said the AC power-conditioning pioneer from his Jupiter, FL office. "I want to accomplish three things: move this company to the next level; devote more of my energy to research and engineering; and spend more time with my family." These goals are going to require a well-organized team effort, he insists.

Loudspeaker designer and manufacturer Richard Vandersteen has heard enough: He is embarking on a crusade to right an egregious wrong he sees being perpetuated by the marketing scribes and salesfolk working in the consumer electronics business. Though he was miles away, at his company headquarters in Hanford, CA, his passion for spreading the audiophile word came through the telephone loud and clear.

The EE">http://www.eetimes.com/">EE Times is reporting that the DVD Forum is getting close to finalizing a specification that would allow audio signals to be available via digital outputs on DVD-Audio players. Audiophile frustration with the new DVD-A format has mounted in the months since its introduction, with lack of access to a high-resolution digital signal from players, which currently have analog-only outputs, and the possibility of watermarked discs.