Added to the Archives This Week

From the March 2001 issue, Michael Fremer finds that, although homely in appearance, the Herron Audio M150 monoblock power amplifier has several endearing qualities. As Fremer explains, "Herron approaches the marketplace in a cautious, stealthy manner, working from the ground up to grab the ears of audiophiles." MF tells us where this amp grabbed him.

Also from the March issue, Kalman Rubinson drops the unique Bel Canto eVo 200.2 power amplifier into his system and analyzes the results. Based on "Class-T" digital amplifier technology from Tripath, the eVo was, Rubinson found, "unimpressive in the best possible way: It did not call attention to itself, and did not color the harmonics or dynamics of the music." But is it on par with the best? Rubinson reports.

We dig back more than a decade for a classic review from Arnis Balgalvis who contends that "Tonearms, like Rodney Dangerfield, never get no respect." The item up for review is the Airtangent tonearm, which Balgalvis analyzes in detail to find out what makes it "so special."

Next, Michael Fremer adds two recent followups to his review of the Graham 2.0 tonearm. First he describes the Graham on the SME 10 turntable, then he weighs in on the importance of the 2.2 tonearm upgrade.

Finally, the most recent installment in our Recording of the Month series for the online archives: Recording of April 2000: Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now. Copy editor Richard Lehnert reveals his tender side as he plays this disc again and again.

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