Annual Equip. Directory Dead, Now What?


Now that Audio Magazine is reportedly dead has another magazine or other pub stepped forward to provide extensive listings/spec of New Equipment? I use to look forward to getting Audio's Annual Equipment Directory this time of year.
nanderson
Ok! Audio is gone. But take heart. Stereo Review's Sound&Vision Buyer's Guide 2001 is carrying on the torch. No, there are no Lirpa reviews; yes it contains things like plasma TVs and camcorders but the list is there. All the things we sit and drool over are there! So get off your woofers and get down to your local magazine seller and get a copy (only $5.95 US)! Also check out http://www.soundandvisionmag.com. (just a warning, the online Buyer's Guide only has a limited number of companies listed. The mag has it all!)
My familarity with Stereo Review in the past is (please forgive me for saying this, "sort of the hoody doody" of audio mags with nothing virtually ever getting a bad review and their former Audio Directories very poorly put together. Meaning that not all products covered and what is covered is unbelievably inconsistent in what specs are reported from item to item in each category. The name Sound & Vision does not inspire confidence either. It seems to imply a home theatre bias. And as such will likely be heavily laiden with japanese products that are likely replaced with new japanese products by the time you read it and the old japanese products selling for 1/10 to 1/3 their list just 3 years after purchasing them. I know this seems like extreme statements but it gets a bit tiring looking at built in obsolence "landfill fodder" products. What ever becomes of a 9 year old home theatre processor? Compare that to a the recycling capability of a 9 year old Audio Research Tube Preamp or a Levinson, Krell power amp. This is hardly a trival issue. HT is booming at the same time people are becoming enraged over urban sprawl and space given to landfills and the fact that resources of several types went into the HT components to begin with. This also has an effect on what parts will be keep in inventory to repair old HT equipment (probably less and less). So everyone will likely have to trash nearly all of the lower end stuff when it breaks and much of the higher end stuff. This side note is of particular relevance to me since I had worked in the Superfund, Solid Waste, and RCRA industry for about 13 years. Hopefully the Sound and Vision Directory is great and I will pick one up before I complete my judgements on it. Have fun!
In say the Krell KRC preamp how does it makes a balanced
output from a single input? my friend has one and I know
it's forming a balanced output as the gain increases from
the same uolume lever. I thought that a true balanced circut
would Ground the input when using single ended inputs.Maybe
it makes a fake inverse phase in the single ended input???

Please be as Technical as you can/want to as I can follow.