This fall, KEF released our R50 Dolby Atmos Enabled Speaker, and with the kind permission from the folks at Dolby we're going to re-print some selected Dolby Atmos-related articles to help everyone get acquainted with this really exciting new home theater technology.

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Somewhere, on some highway, there's a place like the Grievous Angel. I'm absolutely sure I had a chicken sandwich and a glass of water there just outside of Tucumcari on the way from Amarillo to Albuquerue one day many years ago. That may or may not have actually happened, but I'm pretty sure in our collective American musical conscience it did (for all of us at one time or another).

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This year will be the best year for vinyl sales in a long, long time. Total vinyl sales in 1993 were around 250,000 units (in the US), and will top out a little over 6 million this year. In other news, even though most people assume the CD is dead, CD sales were 165 million units against 118 million for digital album sales. Digital retailers really want you to believe the CD is dead, but so far, it's only just slightly wounded.

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For the last twenty-four hours, every too-clever-for-their-own-good snarky journalist in America is laying claim to headlines that read something like " Taylor Swift Breaks Up With Spotify " or " Taylor Swift And Spotify Are Never, Ever, Ever, Getting Back Together. "

Lame Taylor Swift song references aside, there's an actual story beyond the silliness music lovers should be aware of.

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First of all I would like to ask a question of the people who take it upon themselves to label music: I see this album come up listed as 'Country' more than I see it come up listed under any other genre. Why? Is it because they use an acoustic bass, or is it because the music on this album confounds you so much you don't know what to make of it?

If you're reading this chances are you're a music fan. You may have very particular or very broad tastes; you may love the way it makes you feel or you may not even really care why you love music. But there's no getting around the fact that to varying degrees, you and every person you have ever met has a deep, personal relationship with music. There's a scientific reason for this.

The latest KEF Tech installment takes a somehwat in-depth look at KEF's Tangerine Waveguide technology - a technology that improves high-frequency sensitivity, fidelity and dispersion.

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I arrived on the planet at the very tail end of the Baby Boom. Through my childhood in the 60s we were promised, no we expected , to be adults in a cool world filled with all kinds of fun scientific innovations. It was all lies. I had eggs for breakfast this morning and they were cooked on a pan. On a stove. I might as well have eaten breakfast like a caveman. No space pack liquid eggs infused with lots of niacin and other science-y things. In short, my life (and yours') is one giant disappointment.

There are no jetpacks.

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Make the jump for a quick show report from Rocky Mountain Audio Fest and Fort Collins Audio.

"I have this crazy notion that we're in the wild west right now and you can make a crazy and interesting recording that might just stick out in the crowd. I see that most bands are more worried about getting a sync license rather than showing their grandkids their record in 50 years time. Be bold!"

From the song-writer, to the musician, to the recording engineer right on through the amplifier manufacturer the "signal chain" of good music is a lengthy and complicated one that eventually ends with the loudpseakers you listen to your music on. We've got the loudspeaker end of the chain – and the technology of listening – covered, but it's fun from time-to-time to take a look at some of the other people involved in the musical signal chain.

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