Ramblings.

Welcome to Issue #92, another one of those issues with a little bit of everything--component reviews, speaker reviews, show reports, CD reviews, SACD reviews, and a bunch of other stuff, to be precise. Think of it as the Great Summer Grab-bag Issue. Great to take to the beach or to the campsite (you never know when you might have to swat a sand fly or start a fire).

Time to Retire? Although many readers may think that the time for me to think about retirement was actually a long time ago, the past couple of days have made me pause for thought. When we get more Forum letters about Shakira than any other topic, I can't help but think I am slipping hopelessly out of touch with our readership. Yes, I said Shakira...

A Technology That Needs to Be Retired: I finally got around to picking up Big Swing Face, the new (and very interesting) Bruce Hornsby CD. Playing it in my car, I was surprised at the style, which seemed to be derivative of rap and jumprope. I was even more surprised when I popped the CD into my computer at work and it refused to play. Yep, it was one of those new-fangled protected discs. Thanks, guys, for this brilliant technology. I'm sure this will stimulate sales for you, because there is nothing I would rather buy than a CD I cannot play on my computer while I am working. (Sigh...)

How to Communicate with Us: To order a new subscription, change an address on an existing subscription, order back issues, or take care of other subscription-related matters, our business telephone is [phone], our business fax is [phone], our business address is 403 Darwin Drive, Snyder, NY 14226, our business e-mail address is [e-mail], and our website is www.sensiblesound.com. To correspond about any editorial matters, submit equipment for review, pass along hot audio gossip, put us on your mailing list, or just blow off steam, please write KWN directly at 9775 Mills Road, Ostrander, OH 43061. To submit a classified ad or inquire about display advertising, please give Don Nowak a call at [phone] or send him e-mail at [e-mail].

Previews of Coming Attractions: Among the equipment we have in or have been promised for review are speakers/subwoofers from Ascend, Bugtussel, Energy, EOSS, Legacy Audio, Martin-Logan, SV Subwoofers, Triad, and Von Schweikert; and much more, including plenty of music reviews and our vain attempt to understand the audiophile implications of Shakira.

--KWN

One Last Thought: "I'm just beginning to find the deep beauty that resides in the music and how the music dances on a lot of shores."--Charles Lloyd