NAD showcased a DVD player and an A/V receiver, both new at this year's CES. NAD's first DVD machine is called the T550 and will retail at $799. In addition to built-in Dolby Digital is a feature sure to please audiophiles using the machine as a music source: separate high-quality audio outputs when used with a 24/96 source. The T760 receiver includes both Dolby Digital and DTS and is modestly rated at 60W for all five channels. (NAD is known for conservative power ratings.) The T760 will retail for $999.

Despite the apparent eagerness of consumer electronics manufacturers to bring out new, improved, and much cheaper high-definition television equipment, the situation behind the scenes is anything but rosy. Satellite services are coming on board with the new format at an encouraging rate, but cable companies, who deliver most of the television signals to most American viewers, have been dragging their feet for years. Reluctance to adapt digital transmission because of its bandwidth demands has hindered the rollout of the new system by as much as five years, according to some estimates.

Early predictions for 2001: prices will decline, and products will improve. That's the upbeat message delivered at pre-show press conferences held consecutively on January 5 by frequent partners <A HREF="http://www.philips.com/">Philips Electronics</A> and <A HREF="http://www.sony.com/">Sony Corporation</A>.

Last week, Audio Line Source announced a new product it calls Richard Gray's Power Company. ALS claims the Power Company reinvents power by delivering high current on demand via a "reactive electronic interface device," that it is the only product of its kind on the market, and that an entire system can be plugged into it.