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Kalman Rubinson gives a long listen to the 1998 Stereophile Editor's Choice winner, the Z-Systems rdp-1 digital preamplifier. Like many audiophiles, Kal eschewed tone controls in favor of the purist approach—until he met the rdp-1. As he puts it: "Now, the time has come for DSP to give the audiophile some powerful tools to tailor frequency response and to correct faults in the recording."

While he was reviewing the rdp-1, Kal Rubinson also put the NAD 118 digital preamplifier under the sonic microscope. He writes: " . . . they differ in terms of capabilities, intended applications, and user interface because the designers of these two devices chose different models to emulate." Is there one approach that works best? Kal renders his verdict.

With hundreds of reviews, opinion pieces, and how-to articles, the Stereophile Archives database is a treasure trove of text. But finding exactly what you want can sometimes be a challenge. Check out the new Archives Index, which we have begun to organize into related categories. For now, we've sorted the equipment reports, "Fine Tunes," and "Records To Die For"; more categories will be added in the next few weeks.