Well, thanks for all of the feedback. At least I know it's not the OS, as one lister is running 10.3.9, and I am running 10.4. Perhaps a PRAM zap? How is that done on the Cube? Do I have to pop the core and find the cuda switch? The volume settings stick between boots, and my alert chime as well as iTunes and movies are plenty loud. It's just the initial startup chime that is beat. I think that I shall also post this over on the Cubeowner forums and see what I can see. Scott