LATEST ADDITIONS

B. S. Prakash muses on what it takes to get into the American labor force. The last line's a kicker.

Cecil Adams says he knows what OK stands for. Now if only somebody would clear up that "whole nine yards" mess.

Cooking up plasma in the kitchen. But remember kids, don't try this at home.

<I>Audica MPS-1:</I> <A HREF="http://www.audica.co.uk/">Audica</A&gt;, the Cambridge, UK&ndash;based manufacturer founded by Kieron Dunk (formerly of Mission, Denon, Cyrus, Infinity, and Klipsch, to name but a few) is finally shipping its stylish MPS-1 desktop audio system ($400). The MPS-1 consists of two diminutive extruded aluminum loudspeakers and a 25Wpc amplifier/control center with three 3.5mm inputs (one high sensitivity for portables and other low-output sources; the others with lower sensitivity and higher input impedence). The MPS-1 control center also has USB and FireWire connections to facilitate recharging portable players' batteries.

<I>As anyone who reads this website is all too aware, these days legislative matters increasingly encroach upon audiophiles' ability to experience uncompromised high fidelity. Like it or not, political decisions </I>can<I> and </I>do<I> have an impact on what we listen to and how we are able to manipulate our music after we have purchased it.

Lord Acton said, famously, that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. If there ever were an amplifier to test that maxim's applicability to audiophiles, it is surely the Chord SPM 14000 Ultimate Monoblock. Priced no less than $75,000/pair, the SPM 14000 is rated to produce power as do very few other amplifiers on the planet: it is very conservatively rated at 1kW into an 8 ohm load, 2kW into 4 ohms, and "will easily exceed" 2800W (give or take a few watts) into 2 ohms.

The debates may be old, but they're not tired. They rage on with a virulence that suggests there's plenty of life in these old dogs yet. Online forums and Letters to the Editor are filled with them: objectivist <I>vs</I> subjectivist, engineer <I>vs</I> audiophile, double-bind <I>vs</I> doubly blind. The divisions may be artificial or downright specious&mdash;false dichotomies perfectly set up for cheap shots&mdash;but that doesn't dissuade people from drawing sides, driving stakes into the ground, and firing off volley after volley of accusation and retaliation.