LATEST ADDITIONS

<B>John Atkinson Opens</B>
<BR>
I've said it before and I'll say it again: a would-be loudspeaker designer shouldn't even start to <I>think</I> about the possibility of maybe designing a full-range, multi-way loudspeaker until he (and they do all appear to be men) has cut his teeth on a small two-way design. There is still as much art as science in designing a successful loudspeaker, even with all the computer-aided this and Thiele-and-Small that, that even a two-way design requires a designer either to be possessed of a monster talent or of the willingness to undergo months, even years, of tedious and repetitive work&mdash;or of both. For a would-be speaker engineer to start his career with a wide dynamic-range, multi-way design, intended to cover the entire musical spectrum from infra-bass to ultra-treble, seems to me to be a perfect case of an admittedly well-intentioned fool rushing in where any sufficiently self-critical angel would fear to tread.

On January 1, 1990, Canadian electronics manufacturer Bryston instituted a remarkable warranty program that covered each of their products for a full 20 years. This warranty includes all audio products ever manufactured and sold under the Bryston name. Besides covering parts and labor costs, the company will also pay shipping costs one way. This is all the more significant for their 4B NRB amplifier, which has been in production since 1976. The amp's $2k price, while not cheap, is at the lower end of what well-heeled audiophiles typically pay for amplifiers.

The $1200 Counterpoint SA-100 amplifier came up to bat fourth in my listening sessions, behind (in order of appearance) the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/solidpoweramps/678">Adcom GFA-555 II</A> (not reviewed here, but sent along by JA for comparison purposes), the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/tubepoweramps/491vtl">VTL Tiny Triode</A> monoblocks, and the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/solidpoweramps/491muse">Muse Model One Hundred</A>. Thus, my progression went from bipolar solid-state to tube to MOSFET, with a wide spread of sonic characteristics between them: stygian bass from the Adcom; uncanny spatial presentation and vocal reproduction from the VTLs; and an overall superior sound from the Muse. I was therefore eager to see where the tube/MOSFET hybrid Counterpoint would fall in this group of very different-sounding amplifiers.

Freida Hughes is less than reverent about a Robert Service poem. She's right&mdash;the callow lad got bent out of shape when his booty call wasn't the idyll he had imagined.

Bagheera's bug huntin'!

"These syllables might be nonsensical, but they are telling and resonant."

My allergies are, as they say, "killing me." Robert says it's <a href="http://www.weather.com/outlook/health/allergies/weather/tenday/10016">t… tree pollen</a>.