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Rumor had it that if the MF2500 amplifier had gotten any better in development, Conrad-Johnson would have had to include it in their "Premier" series. However, C-J's intention was to hold to the lower price of their established MF series, and so they have. Rated at 240Wpc and retailing for $3495, the '2500 is the core model of Conrad-Johnson's current range of "MF" power amplifiers. Its companion MF2250 offers 120Wpc, while the MF5600 delivers 120Wx5 for multichannel home-theater applications.

Many pundits in our industry say that CD is under threat from <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/asweseeit/164">Super Audio CD</A>, <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/asweseeit/270">DVD-Audio</A&gt;, and dual-layer CD/DVD technologies. Conflicting stories abound, and even though I'm supposed to be well-informed, I've found some of them hard to sort out! For example, Michael Fremer, concluding a fine review of the $7500 Bow Technologies ZZ-Eight integrated CD player in August, compared its notable 16-bit/44.1kHz achievement with a DVD-based disc originally mastered at 24/96kHz and replayed on an inexpensive DVD player. He found the Bow wanting in some respects. What is the world coming to?

Sometimes it's just a flimsy sheet of paper; other times it can be a mini book about audio. Which manufacturer provides its customers with the best owner's manual?

On May 30, Apple officially launched iTunes Plus, billed as "DRM-free music tracks featuring high-quality 256kbps AAC encoding for audio quality virtually indistinguishable from the original recordings." The initial material available from the iTunes Plus section of the iTunes Media Store is, for the moment, limited to EMI artists, although other labels have announced pending deals with Apple. The "improved" songs sell for $1.29 rather than the standard 99&#162;.

McIntosh Laboratory announced its $6000 MS750 music server on May 30. The second music server in McIntosh's line, the MS750 incorporates a 750GB hard drive and integrated Web interface capabilities. McIntosh estimates that the MS750 is capable of storing 2700 CDs at full resolution, or about 12,000 songs.

I suppose, if he wanted to, Ariel could stop for a bit and take a look into last year, to read of how Kristina Roman saw things &#151; <a href="http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/062206krlucky/">from her lucky charms perspective</a>. It wouldn't be absolutely necessary, but it might prove interesting. I, as you know, enjoy the casual look back.

Forty years ago today, June 1, 1967, The Beatles taught the world what innovation really sounded like.