LATEST ADDITIONS

Let's just say I had a little bit too much fun at last night's CD release party. Let's just say beer, tequila, and rum. Let's just say hot girls in summer dresses making out on the cushioned booth. Yeah, let's just say that. At one point, I turned away from the stage to see that the front room had been transformed into <a href=" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQJexFOxolI">The Tequila Scene</a> from Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. It was like a dream, I tell you, and it may have been the most wonderful thing I've ever witnessed in my life.

We have just received the sad news that loudspeaker designer Jim Thiel has passed away. Following is the text of the official announcement:

Looking for <a href="http://www.stereophile.com/news/attention_screen_cd_release_party/">a good time tonight</a>? Meet us after work at <a href="http://www.ottosshrunkenhead.com/">Otto's Shrunken Head</a> to celebrate the release of <a href="http://stereophile.com/musicrecordings/ilive_at_ottosi_a_new_stereophil… Screen's new CD</a>.

<i>Me, in the middle of another intense stare-down with my computer screen. (The screen always wins.)</i>

This is weird: French hip-hop producer, Jean-Christophe Le Saout (aka Wax Tailor), is releasing "Say Yes," the lead single off his third album, <i>In The Mood For Life</i>, as a dual-layer compact disc/miniature-vinyl.

Thirsty for some new music? I have a hard time understanding people when they say they have nothing new to listen to. It seems like everyone's making complete albums available for easy streaming these days. Here are a few I've just sort of stumbled upon over the last couple of days:

It seems as if I came of audiophile age in the George Kaye era. The first <I>truly</I> high-end system I ever heard contained a pair of Julius Futterman OTL monoblocks that Kaye had "finished" after Futterman's death in 1979 (footnote 1). In the mid-1980s, I owned both an New York Audio Labs (NYAL) Superit phono section and a Moscode 300 amplifier&#151;two lovely examples of high-value high-end. Both components were far from perfect, but they were <I>fun</I>&#151;and, unlike most of the other components that were then highly regarded by magazines and listeners, I could afford them.