LATEST ADDITIONS

I'll never forget my first encounter with the Krell LAT-1 loudspeaker. Late one Friday night last fall, on City Island in the Bronx, it was time for the monthly meeting of the Westchester Audiophile Society and I was late. I rushed through the door past a group of audiophiles and headed straight for the two new black loudspeakers already set up and ready to play. Music writer and society member Sid Marks made a sound. I turned to him and he pointed across the room: "Go tap on that enclosure." I walked over to one of the black speakers and did so. There was no sound—no give, no nothing. It was as if I'd knocked on a granite boulder. "See what I mean?" said Sid. I nodded. There was nothing to add.

I like stories with happy endings.

We were sitting around the office the other day making bets about how many online readers also subscribe to the paper magazine. Since most of our estimates were miles apart from each other, we thought why not run a poll?

In his review of the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/398/">Cary Audio Design CAD-300SEI integrated amplifier</A>, Robert Harley admits up front that he's been "biased against single-ended tube amplifiers because of their quirky measured performances." Can the Cary redeem itself and the SET approach with a single hearing? Harley reports, with a "Follow-Up" from Jonathan Scull.

Don't smirk, but a lot of audiophiles, including this writer and our esteemed editor John Atkinson, spend a considerable amount of time listening to music on their computers, especially at work. In fact, the results from our <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/showvote.cgi?208">recent online poll</A> about computers and listening habits indicate that at least 60% of our readers listen this way as well, with half of those using their PCs for music playback "quite often."

Music lover Dennis Cassidy had an itch years ago to start an audiophile label dedicated to releasing the particular kinds of music he liked with the best vinyl and packaging available. Cassidy was involved with music distributor Sound Advice at the time, which sold the standard audiophile favorites from Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs, and others.

Last week's vote addressed the new formats and buying a CD player, but what is holding you back from buying into the new formats?