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Does the modern audiophile want a sleek, compact, powerful, remote-controlled, microprocessor-driven, two-channel integrated amplifier? Perreaux Industries, based in New Zealand, thinks so. They've designed all that, plus good looks and impressive build quality, into the R200i. Despite its relatively small size—4.1" tall by 16.9" wide by 13.4" deep—the R200i packs a punch. It's rated at 200Wpc into 8 ohms and 360Wpc into 4 ohms, yet it weighs just a fraction under 30 lbs.

When I first got into hi-fi, stereo was just over the horizon and imported products were still rare. The inexpensive ones came from Japan, and you could find them, often with names that changed from week to week, in the open-air displays in and around Cortlandt Street in lower Manhattan. The more expensive brands were European, primarily British, and beyond my financial grasp.

Some audiophiles are always looking for something&#151;<I>anything</I>&#151;to upgrade. Anything on your list?

One of the cooler toys being shown at the Westin&ndash;St. Francis is the $199 hp digital media receiver en5000. This nifty remote-controlled Ethernet device connects to any TV and stereo in your home and links it to your home computing network. After you've loaded its software onto the network's computers, it will instantaneously communicate with all of them, allowing you to access all digital media contained on any of them. You can create playlists, slideshows, or show movies from, say, the room containing your hi-fi without needing to have a computer in the space at all. This struck us as precisely the sort of product David Hyman was recommending in his keynote address on day one. Best of all, no noisy fans in the listening room!

<IMG SRC="/images/newsart/he2003.polk.jpg" WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=172 HSPACE=6 VSPACE=4 BORDER=0 ALIGN=LEFT>Polk Audio completely redesigned its popular RT<I>i</I> series of loudspeakers. The RT<I>i</I>s occupy the "better" position in Polk's good (R series), better (RT<I>i</I>), best (LS<I>i</I>) hierachy. The refurbished line features new drivers, higher quality cabinets, and handsome cosmetics&mdash;including real wood veneers in black oak and cherry.

Multichannel music is the future. The two-channel reproduction that we have enjoyed for the past four decades is but the first step from monophonic (single-source) sound to true stereophonic reproduction. I intend to preach that to <I>Stereophile</I> readers who believe it and to convert the obstinate objectors.

I'll spare you my thoughts on the matter&mdash;they're guessable anyway&mdash;and simply say that the war with Iraq has given me and my family the jitters, just as it seems to have done with millions of other people. But rather than giving 10 more dollars to Henkel Consumer Adhesives, my wife and I have taken a different tack: We made up a Road Box. A Road Box is a cardboard box full of things for us to take from our home if we have to leave in a hurry. We keep it near the door that leads to the garage.