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"How much power do you really need? How much power can you actually use? What's necessary, and what's icing on the cake? And does anyone really need 1000Wpc?" Jonathan Scull takes the Boulder 2050 monoblock amplifier into the listening chamber to confront these and other pressing audio dilemmas.

Next, Paul Bolin listens to the Acoustic Zen interconnects, AC, and speaker cables remarking, "If the devil is in the details, then Beelzebub has taken up residence in the collections of cables we use to connect our components."

Robert Deutsch fires up the Balanced Audio Technology VK-5 preamplifier and VK-60/75 power amplifiers. He wonders, "How important is the use of balanced circuit typology in the design of preamplifiers and power amplifiers?"

Victor Khomenko is the "VK" of Balanced Audio Technology's VK-5 preamp and VK-60 amplifier, reason enough for Robert Deutsch to interview him. In BATmen: Victor Khomenko & Steve Bednarski, RD gets the designers to reveal their inner audio minds as they explain why digital audio is like a dead snake.

Finally, the latest installment in our "Recording of the Month" series for the online archives: Recording of February 1996, Walton: Belshazzar's Feast. Richard Schneider writes, "From the opening shofar blast on the trombones and the chorus's mournful recitative, 'Thus spake Isaiah,' we know we're in for something special."