Annual sales of the newest high-tech wonder, the Compact Disk by Sony & Philips, which came on the U.S. market in 1983, will be the fastest-selling machine in home-electronics history.

The sound is as pure and compelling as a siren song, and consumers seem powerless to resist. They have been snapping up compact disk players, which reproduce music with near perfection, at a rate that is overwhelming both retailers and manufacturers. Annual sales of the newest high-tech wonder, which cameā€¦