LATEST ADDITIONS

Last month I wrote about lasers of various pedigrees, so useful in marking walls to the sides and behind the listening position to ensure that your loudspeakers are toed-in, level, and equidistant from the sweet spot for best soundstage, imaging and focus. Using small Avery stick-'em labels makes this a snap. I've converged the tweeter axes of my JMlab Utopias somewhere about a foot into the wall behind the rearmost of our two listening chairs, and use two Studio Traps and a single Argent RoomLens between the speakers to cancel and damp the near-rear-wall reflections. With just a jiggle of the chair back or forward, suddenly I'm there.

There is an overwhelming amount of pop music available on the Internet, but where does the serious music fan go in search of jazz, classical, or opera?

There are numerous ways to voice an audio system, ranging from lush sound (no matter what the source) to a "warts-and-all" honesty that may be hard to listen to at times. Which do you prefer?

The number of two-channel Super Audio Compact Discs seems to grow by the week. There are now several hundred titles to choose from—and hundreds on the way, with the recent endorsement of the format by major record labels. Even so, there are still very few SACDs that exploit the multichannel capabilities of Direct Stream Digital.

Citing increasing competition from stronger companies and online music ventures about to debut from major record labels, an investment group has taken the drastic step of calling for the sale of <A HREF="http://www.liquidaudio.com">Liquid Audio</A>.

Wes Phillips pries a hard-to-acquire <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/412/">Ayre Acoustics V-3 power amplifier</A> out of company hands and puts it to the sonic test. Does the amp live up to its legendary "Best of Show" status? Phillips has the answer.

<B><I>AVALON BLUES: A Tribute to the Music of Mississippi John Hurt</I></B><BR> Dave Alvin, Beck, Peter Case, Bruce Cockburn, Justin Earle, Steve Earle, Richard Greene, Ben Harper, Alvin Youngblood Hart, John Hiatt, Taj Mahal, Bill Morrissey, Clare Muldaur, Geoff Muldaur, Jenni Muldaur, David Rawlings, Mark Selby, Chris Smither, Gillian Welch, Lucinda Williams, Victoria Williams<BR> Vanguard 79582-2 (CD). 2001. Peter Case, prod.; Francisco Lugo, Dawn Hopkins, Ray Kennedy, Mark Raines, Mark Wilkins, Jeff Landrock, Matt Andrews, David Rawlings, engs. AAD.? TT: 51:29<BR> Performance <B>****</B><BR> Sonics <B>***?</B>