LATEST ADDITIONS

Following my favorable experience with Epos Ltd.'s entry-level loudspeaker, the ELS-3 ($329/pair; see my <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/loudspeakerreviews/104epos">January 2004 review</A>), Roy Hall, of importer Music Hall, called me with some excitement about the new Epos M5 ($650/pair). In a crowded room at the Home Entertainment 2004 show in New York, I did a quick comparison of the M5 and ELS-3 under suboptimal conditions of multiple speakers in the room and Roy answering consumers' questions while pouring scotch for his dealers. Still, I was able to hear enough from the M5 to intrigue me, and with high expectations, I asked for a pair for review.

It was late May 2002 and I was about to leave the Free Republic of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, for the high-class hallways of the New York Hilton and Home Entertainment 2002, so I could file daily reports for www.stereophile.com. As he was giving me last-minute instructions, webmaster Jon Iverson said, "I don't know whether or not you followed Herv&#233; Del&#233;traz's <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/10825">articles on building his amplifier</A>, but he's going to have a sample at the Show. You should drop in and check it out. It sounds kind of interesting."

On April 14, Krell Industries invited the New York&ndash;based audio press to its first-ever American demonstration of its Evolution electronics separates, at Sound By Singer. In a surprise move, the company also debuted a complete "re-imagining" of its flagship loudspeaker, the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/loudspeakerreviews/382">LAT-1</A>: the $55,000/pair LAT-1000. "We set out to improve the LAT-1," Krell CEO Dan D’Agostino said, "and in the end, probably the only parts we retained from the original design were the top and bottom panels. The LAT-1000 is essentially a completely new design&mdash;although it does retain the same footprint as the LAT-1, since that proved so popular in Japan that we didn't want to mess with it." And, he said, patting the aluminum top-plate, "Let me tell you, it was hard to pack all of this new technology into a package this size."

<I>Hot Licks:</I> Add another title to <A HREF="http://stereophile.com/news/032105umixit/">UmixIt's</A&gt; catalog of DualDisc Enhanced DVD/CDs: Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry's eponymous solo album, his first since 1984.

When I submitted my <I>Records 2 Die 4</I> selections this past winter, it seemed inevitable that I include a web radio station. Not only had I enjoyed listening to <A HREF="http://www.techwebsound.com">www.techwebsound.com</A&gt; more than anything else last year, but it had exposed me to more new music and led to more music purchases than any other source&mdash;by a wide margin.

<B>Mozart: Piano Music</B><BR>
Sonata in a, K.310; March in C, K.408; Courante in E-flat, K.399; Gigue in G, K.574; Rondo in a, K.511; Sonata in F, K.533/494
Richard Goode, piano
Nonesuch 79831-2 (CD). 2005. Max Wilcox, prod., eng. DDD. TT: 59:32<BR>
Performance <B>*****</B><BR>
Sonics <B>*****</B>

These days, too many audio stores are like hushed mausoleums. Audio gear is displayed like dead art, and the sales staff, unless you're known as a regular customer, either greets you with a predatory gleam or, certain that you've wandered in by mistake, ignores you.