LATEST ADDITIONS

By now you've no doubt realized that <I>Stereophile</I> has changed its size&mdash;from 5&#189;" by 8 7/16" to 7&#189;" by 10&#188;". (All right&mdash;maybe you didn't know the <I>exact</I> dimensions of the change, but that's what they are.) We have Edward Chen, Publisher of <I>Stereophile</I>'s Chinese edition, to thank for our new size. It is the same size as the Chinese <I>Stereophile</I> and a common size in the Far East. We've been admiring it in Chinese for the last two-and-a-half years, and we thought it would make sense in English as well.

<B>ANONYMOUS 4: <I>On Yoolis Night</I></B><BR> Medieval Christmas Carols and Motets<BR> Anonymous 4<BR> Harmonia Mundi 907099 (CD only). Robina G. Young, prod.; Brad Michel, eng. ADD? TT: 68:03

By the time you read this, I will have been fortunate enough to have attended a banquet put on by Harry Pearson in celebration of <I>The Abso!ute Sound</I>'s 20th anniversary. <I>Stereophile</I> and <I>TAS</I> may have had their disagreements from time to time, but I take this opportunity to congratulate Harry and his staff on 20 years of excellent high-end publishing. I believe it's not excessively immodest to report that high-end manufacturers frequently remind me of their gratitude for the healthy and vibrant high-end publishing community which exists in the United States&mdash;and does not in most other countries. Many publications make up this community, but <I>Stereophile</I> and <I>TAS</I> are certainly the most widely read.

Not that long ago, digital audio was considered perfect if all the bits could be stored and retrieved without data errors. If the data coming off the disc were the same as what went on the disc, how could there be a sound-quality difference with the same digital/analog converter? This "bits is bits" mentality scoffs at sonic differences between CD transports, digital interfaces, and CD tweaks. Because none of these products or devices affects the pattern of ones and zeros recovered from the disc, any differences must be purely in the listener's imagination. After all, they argued, a copy of a computer program runs just as well as the original.

So you've spent thousands (hours, that is...in terms of dollars, don't ask!) trying to improve the sound of your stereo, and you're <I>still</I> dissatisfied. Here's a list of sure-fire steps which, if followed precisely, will without a doubt have you happy as a lark for days afterward. (What? You expected to be happy with these improvements for <I>months</I> or even <I>years</I>? Get with it! This is high-end audio we're talking about. When was the last time you were satisfied more than a few <I>hours</I> with your costly upgrades?!)

Do you suffer from <I>Audiophilia nervosa</I>, that dreaded disease afflicting long-time readers of <I>Stereophile</I>, <I>The Abso!ute Sound</I>, <I>Hi-Fi News & Record Review</I>, and various other sordid high-end rags? Well, take heart, my friends---relief is on the way. But before treatment can begin, as with all illnesses, proper diagnosis is of paramount importance. To help facilitate this, I have compiled a set of multiple-choice questions. Please take the time to read through these carefully, and jot down your best-guess response from the choices below. You really should use a #2 pencil, as the lead in a #2 is bound to give you the smoothest response, with the least amount of writer's fatigue, allowing the letters to flow effortlessly from the first movement of your hand to the last.

At a CES press breakfast in Las Vegas last January, a member of the "all amplifiers (and digital sources!) sound the same" school of audio journalism made an interesting assertion. He argued that if our society were studied by extraterrestrials, they would find an unhealthy obsession with the <I>re-creation</I> of experience at the expense of experience itself. This speculation was a vehicle to support his position that buying good hi-fi is a waste of money; for the same financial outlay, one can attend hundreds, even thousands of live performances. Moreover, this anti-high-end writer suggested that ETs would consider our quest for better music reproduction a bizarre folly when the real thing is so readily available (footnote 1).