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Sam Tellig and Kalman Rubinson each take a run at the unique PS Audio HCA-2 power amplifier to see what it's made of. Will Tellig and Rubinson agree on the HCA-2's worth? Furthermore, what do the odd results of John Atkinson's measurements mean?

"Quirky but fundamentally conservative," is how Michael Fremer describes the design team that came up with the Naim CD5 CD player with Flatcap 2 power supply. MF adds that "at $2250, the CD5 is at the bottom of Naim's current line of CD players. But that doesn't mean they skimped on parts or build quality."

Tubes, computers, and MP3s in Stereophile? For his review in the December issue, Michael Fremer boots his Mac G4, plugs in the Sutherland Engineering 12dAX7 USB DAC/preamplifier, and hits a couple of MP3 websites. As MF exclaims, "Compared to Evatone 'sheets'—which is how I got to hear promo music as a kid—this was da bomb!"

Also from the December issue, Kal Rubinson adds comments about the Bel Canto eVo2 along with a comparison with the PS Audio HCA-2 to his March 2001 review of the eVo 200.2 power amplifier

John Atkinson explains what "Suicide Junctions" have to do with audio measurements. As JA notes, "Some components with superb objectively assessed performance produce subjectively disturbing experiences."

Finally, the next installment in our "Recording of the Month" series for the online archives: December 2002, Coldplay: A Rush of Blood to the Head. Robert Baird catches the second long player from this candied pop English band and finds that it actually betters its Grammy-winning predecessor.