LATEST ADDITIONS

Other <I>Stereophile</I> writers, like <A HREF="http://blog.stereophile.com/he2007/051307Sjfon/">Wes Phillips</A> and <A HREF="http://blog.stereophile.com/he2007/051407sweden/">Stephen Mejias</A>, had mentioned how impressed they had been with the sound in the Sj&#246;fn room, but what I had not appreciated until I visited the Swedish manufacturer's room towards the end of the Show was: a) how small these speakers were; b) how good the stereo imaging was despite the speakers being right up against the wall behind them; and c) how much thunderous bass was being produced by just two reflex-loaded 4" woofers! Of course, the Guru speaker ($1800/pair), photographed here by Larry Greenhill, is designed to take advantage of the low-frequency boundary reinforcement afforded by the close-to-the-corner positioning, but even so, I was surprised by the result. The speakers also sung on soprano vocals; Sj&#246;fn is a company to watch out for, especially as the fact that the speakers must not be used out in the room makes them <I>very</I> spouse-friendly.

<I>Stereophile</I> columnist John Marks brought an encyclopedic knowledge of music and musicians to the magazine when he started his "<A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/thefifthelement/">Fifth Element</A>" column in March 2001. At HE2007, he played some of his favorite recordings in as many rooms as he could, including <A HREF="http://stereophile.com/thefifthelement/1006fifth/">his own recording</A> of the Herbert Howells organ piece Larry Greenhill mentioned in another posting (<I>Master Tallis's Lament</I>, a personal favorite of mine) and an extraordinary choral recording, <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/thefifthelement/207fifth/index1.html"><I>When David Heard</I></A>, from the young composer Eric Whitacre. As you can see from this photo taken in the Egglestonworks, Rogue, and Echobusters room, Showgoers very much appreciated John's efforts.

As Robert Deutsch mentioned in his <A HREF="http://blog.stereophile.com/fsi2007/041307gershman/">report</A&gt; from the 2007 Montreal Show, Ofra (left) and Eli (right) Gershman of Gershman Acoustics have been exhibitors at just about every audio/home theater show the past few years. As in Montreal, the Gershmans were demming their new Sonogram speaker at HE2007. More conventional in appearance than their flagship Black Swan, the Sonogram, photographed here by Larry Greenhill, is priced at a very competitive $2500/pair.

Might the Earth's magnetic field reverse itself? And what if it did?

Roger Ebert, too.

It's about time this great composer was recognized for the deep well of complexity and musical emotional he brought to the concert (and recording stage). If you can listen to the Second Symphony and not experience that dark three o'clock of the soul, then maybe music just isn't your thing.

The official closing time of HE 2007 was 5pm on Sunday. I was surprised to see, then, that there were some people registering even as late as three o'clock Sunday afternoon. Now, <I>that's</I> real devotion to the hobby!