Mark Fleischmann

Are those too-loud TV ads wearing you down? The standard-setting body for DTV is taking aim at the problem of blaring commercials by distributing new audio guidelines to broadcasters.

Why shouldn't your multiroom preamp recognize each member of the family and his/her favorite source components? The Audio Design Associates Suite 32 does just that, "redefining multiroom" with its Profiler software. If your daughter uses just an iPod and satellite dish, that's all she'll see on the keypad. The hardware looks kind of like two Suite 16s bolted together in a single chassis. Pricing starts at $10,000 for the preamp. Add another zero for keypads, amps, and such. ADA also talked up its TEQ Trinnov room EQ system, not for the first time, but it's shipping soon. TEQ is more sophisticated than the version of Trinnov built into Sherwood receivers -- for instance, whatever mic you use will have its own calibration file which will be fed into the system before it starts making decisions about what room correction your space needs.

Another day, another Apple rumor. Surround audiophiles may find today's rumor especially juicy: R. Tomlinson Holman, who was instrumental in developing THX, may be about to take a job with Apple.

If this is true, it suggests Apple may be planning a major audio-related move, one in which the help of a certified home theater audio heavyweight would be indispensable.

Audio Physic's Sky on-wall suits a variety of decor situations with four choices of side panel for a mere $2000/pair (the company has a high-end rep on the block). Without panels, it also functions as an in-wall. The Spark mini-tower, Celsius center, and Step stand-mount speakers may find their way into my listening room.