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Norway's 2L label has an enviable track record in choral music. In 2006 they were nominated for Grammys for Best Choral Performance and Best Surround Sound Album, for Immortal Nystedt (SACD/CD, 2L-029-SACD). Knut Nystedt's composition Immortal Bach, performed by Ensemble 96 conducted by Øystein Fevang, is a stunning fractal reworking of J.S. Bach's "Komm, süsser Tod."

My e-mailbox fills up with press releases announcing new products and new companies, and that always makes me wonder: Where does all this stuff come from?

I mean, I have lots of ideas—I feel like Butch Cassidy: "I have vision, and the rest of the world wears bifocals." But there's a huge gap between having a good idea and starting a company that successfully gets that idea out in front of the public. And, I suspect, there's an even greater gulf between getting a product out there and actually making a living at it.

Here’s a list of my 50 favorite albums of 2013. This is by no means a definitive list. These aren’t “the best” or “the most important” records of the year. They’re simply the 50 records that, for one reason or another, managed to capture my attention, spark my imagination, excite and inspire me. They also often drove me into fits of loud song, wild dance, and happy laughter. I love these records, I’m grateful for them, and I want to share them with you. Many of these you will already know. Others will be new to you. I hope you enjoy them all as much as I do, but I will, of course, understand if you don’t. Please feel free to share your own favorites in the Comments section.

Lindell Audio, a Swedish professional-audio company, was founded in 2010 by recording engineer Tobias Lindell, and claims to offer equipment "by engineers, for engineers." Tobias Lindell specifies the features and functions that he wants each product to incorporate; the actual circuit designs are by others. Although Lindell's corporate headquarters are in Sweden, the products are manufactured in China, and are competitively priced.

"We put music in the souls of our amplifiers. Every amplifier, every tube, every transformer has music in its soul."

Not to be cynical, but I've heard, over the years, countless variations on that sentiment. Not to be naïve, but it rang with somewhat-greater-than-usual sincerity when given voice by 45-year-old Richard Wugang—founder, with his late father, of Virginia-based Sophia Electric, Inc.

Editor's Introduction: In 2013, lossy compression is everywhere—without lossy codecs like MP3, Dolby Digital, DTS, A2DP, AAC, apt-X, and Ogg Vorbis, there would be no Web audio services like Spotify or Pandora, no multichannel soundtracks on DVD, no Bluetooth audio, no DAB and HDradio, no Sirius/XM, and no iTunes, to quote the commercial successes and no Napster, MiniDisc, or DCC, to quote the failures. Despite their potential for damage to the music, the convenience and sometimes drastic reduction in audio file size have made lossy codecs ubiquitous in the 21st century. Stereophile covered the development of lossy compression; following is an article from more than two decades ago warning of the sonic dangers.—Editor

Nick L. visits the Stereophile New York City office to pick up his brand new Audiofly AF78 in-ear monitors ($200) he won in the Audiofly headphone sweepstakes this summer. His comments throughout the years as Volvic here at Stereophile.com have detailed his love for Simaudio and YBA gear, analog playback, and taking care of his family. Now Stereophile is showing him some love back. Nick was just one of four winners for this sweeps.