LATEST ADDITIONS

The all-in-one stereo component occupies the same territory as those Italian restaurants that also serve sushi and Texas barbecue. Every instinct says it's a dubious overreach: Few chefs master two or more distinct cuisines. But then you experience that rare eatery that somehow nails the California roll, the carbonara, and the brisket, and you realize that dismissing it on principle could mean missing something that's genuinely excellent.

Like many vinyl obsessives, I've amassed a considerable CD collection—a 10' × 15' wall of them, behind dark blue curtains in my listening room. It is almost as if I was concealing a dirty secret from purist analog snobs, including me.

Renowned British turntable manufacturer Rega once defined a turntable as a vibration-measuring machine; that definition became the title of a coffee table book tracing the company's history and design philosophy.

Wilson Audio of Provo, Utah, is executing a multiyear revision of their product line, resulting mostly in a series of "remastered" redesigns that carry in their names the designation "V." The latest V model is the Sabrina V, which replaces the prior SabrinaX. "V" refers to Wilson's proprietary V-Material first used in the Chronosonic XVX.

Frederich Nietzsche distinguished between two approaches to culture: The Apollonian, which is characterized by order and rationality, and Dionysian, which is about chaos, intoxication, and vitality. Apollo was the god of Music, Art, Light, and Knowledge, and to Nietzsche, the Apollonian impulse was the main source of beauty.

How many adventurous rock'n'roll bands forged in the late-'60s/early-'70s would have been left by the wayside—or relegated to languish in perpetual cutout-bin purgatory—had it not been for the wide-open programming M.O. of stereo-loving FM radio stations? The Moody Blues could very easily have been one of those sidelined, notched-cover footnotes . . .

A common theme in this space in Stereophile is the need to reach new audiences and generate broader interest in the hi-fi hobby. At a time when traditional hi-fi buyers are becoming scarcer—as older generations pass on—the need becomes more critical to the industry's survival. Recently, two industry stalwarts—who both happen to be named Walter—have come together to form "an audio distribution and marketing superpower."