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In his <I>20,000 Leagues Under the Sea</I>, Jules Verne presents the enigmatic Captain Nemo, commander of the great submarine <I>Nautilus</I>, as powerful, charismatic, and mysterious. On first meeting Nemo, the narrator, M. Aronnax, notes, "I made out his prevailing qualities directly: self-confidence&#151;because his head was well set on his shoulders, and his black eyes looked around with cold assurance; calmness&#151;for his skin, rather pale, showed his coolness of blood; energy&#151;evinced by the rapid contraction of his lofty brows; and courage&#151;because his deep breathing denoted great power of lungs." All in all, "this man was certainly the most admirable specimen I had ever met."

The roadster's throbbing rumble became a roar as the tachometer soared above 4 grand. Like a giant hand, its thrust jammed me back into the seat. Racing along low to the ground, feeling every curve and bump, I began to understand: the automotive virtues of smoothness and insulation had been swapped for firm road grip and the ability to transmit to the driver each jolt and curve in the surface below. Long before I'd climbed into the driver's seat of Porsche's Boxster S, I had known about its low-end snort and speed&#151;the main reasons I was considering a lease&#151;but I had not known about its ability to join sensation and purpose in such an intense bond.

<a href="http://forum.stereophile.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=54397&an=0… directed us</a> to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/02/technology/techspecial2/02table.html?… excellent and encouraging article</a> in the New York Times.

In the last year I've written about several components of a truly engaging system: the VPI TNT Mk.IV turntable and JMW Memorial 12" tonearm (February '99), Grado Reference cartridge; the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/cdplayers/156">Wadia 830</A> CD player (October 1999); and <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/216">Thiel's CS7.2</A> loudspeakers (February 2000). I've recounted the evolution of my listening-room setup as well, and described its optimization using <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/roomtreatments/215">ASC Tube Traps</A> and Art Noxon's MATT test in the February issue. The final piece of the puzzle, and the one I'll tackle here, was the cable package from MIT: the MI-330 Shotgun Proline interconnects and the MH-750 shotgun speaker cables.

As the person who "invented" subjective testing, I have followed with great interest the many articles in the mainstream audio press which purport to prove that none of us can really hear all the differences we claim to hear, particularly those between amplifiers. My reaction has usually been: "Why didn't they invite me to participate? I would have heard the differences under their double-blind listening conditions." I could make that assertion with supreme confidence because I had never been involved in any such test.

My favorite audio product of 2008 isn't precisely an audio product&#151;it's a home theater in a box. I'm referring to Polk's lovely SurroundBar 360, which sells for $1200 and gives you a low-profile 48" "sound bar" and a base station, which includes an optical disc player, DSP processing, and an AM/FM tuner. The base station, of course, contains all the amplification the sound bar requires. Also included is a special umbilical to connect the two pieces&#151;and, in a savvy little detail that tells you a great deal about how much thought has gone into the SurroundBar 360, the connectors on that cable cannot be connected "wrong."

Remember <a href="http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/cold_weather_usb_phono_preamp… I wrote last week</a> about my dream listening room? Some nice furniture, DeVore Fidelity loudspeakers, Shindo amplifiers, walls lined in vinyl LPs, all that?