LATEST ADDITIONS

It's hard to resist the pairing of Avalon Indra speakers ($19,900/pair) with the superb VTL MB 450 Series II Signature Monoblocks ($15,000/pair). Demmed by Luke Manley of VTL (left) and Lucien Pichette of Avalon (right), the duo was mated with the VTL TL 5.5 Series II line stage ($6000) and TP 6.5 phono stage ($8500), Ayre C5xe MP ($6900) and justly praised QB9 USB DAC ($2500), Cardas Clear Cables, Rega P5 Turntable ($2200 and unheard by moi), and beautiful Finite Elemente Pagoda Master Reference Rack. This set-up from Blu Note audio & home theater especially excelled for its spacious presentation and timbral beauty. The system seemed devoid of boundaries. It was also capable of notable and rewarding low extension. A winning combo.

Accustomed as I am to the beauteous sound of mbl gear, nothing prepared me for the combination of mbl speakers and electronics, hghi-resolution files played back on a Macintosh G5 tower equipped with the latest Amarra music server software, and Wireworld cabling. Fleetwood Mac's "Gold Dust Woman" was gripping when downloaded from a 24/96 <I>Rumours</I> DVD-A. The depth was "this" short of unbelievable, the bass and clarity astounding, and the tonal envelope very well represented. Even FIM's 16/44 version of Bizet's "Habanera" from <I>Carmen</I> sounded hi-res due to the amazing depth of this system's images.

That the Sixth Annual Rocky Mountain Audio Fest is even taking place at the Denver Tech Center Marriott this year is something of a miracle. Just as preparations for the show were getting underway, its universally loved founder, Al Stiefel, died at the age of 66. Knowing how much the show meant to her husband, his co-show producer and greatest fan, Marjorie Baumert, vowed to preserve Al's legacy to the audiophile community. Thanks to Marjorie's dedication, perseverance, and love, and the able assistance of everyone from Marcie Miller and the Colorado Audio Society to several members of Marjorie's family, the show continues as a tribute to Al.

I haven’t listened to Monster’s Beats, the large and flashy headphones branded by hip hop producer Dr. Dre, but I have noticed more and more people wearing them on the streets and in the subways, so I was definitely intrigued by Matt Calderone’s e-mail. The PR rep for New York City’s Dobbin/Bolgla Associates wrote:

Lady Gaga wanted to create a headphone that would combine Dr. Dre's sense of sound with her own sense of style. The result is Heartbeats, which have a look inspired by the studded jackets Lady Gaga and her friends once wore.

I haven't written lately because my right hand has been in a cast from my fingertips to my elbow&#151;rendering me, as a writer, essentially mute. Writing, thinking, and feeling are, for a writer, inextricably linked. How do I know what I think if I haven't written about it?

<I>Ben Webster and Associates</I> is one of the loveliest albums put out in the past couple years by Speakers Corner Records, the German-based audiophile reissue house. (Its LPs are distributed in the U.S. by Chad Kassem’s Acoustic Sounds.) Recorded in 1959 on the Verve label, it features Webster, Coleman Hawkins, and Budd Johnson on tenor saxophones; Roy Eldridge, trumpet; Ray Brown, bass; Jimmy Jones, piano; Leslie Spann, guitar; Jo Jones, drums.