LATEST ADDITIONS

Even if you read my <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/news/021907hatto/">news article</A>, about Joyce Hatto's recordings, David Hurwitz' <I>Classics Today</I> editorial will supply new information.

Kind of cool&mdash;and very well done, although the first thing I loaded in was "argh," which Kate could not pronounce.

I can't believe I missed Clive James' wonderful paean to the Duke in <I>Slate</I> earlier this month. Better linked to late than never, I suppose.

The original transparencies of an iconic Beatles album cover had been thrown in the garbage and crushed.

An audiophile is practically defined by his/her thoughtful and considered approach to selecting components. Which part of the audio chain do you spend the most time auditioning before purchase?

Like most <I>Stereophile</I> readers, we have grown accustomed to seeing Barry Diament's name on superb-sounding recordings, since he has mastered albums by artists from AC/DC to Warren Zevon&mdash;and every letter in between. When the magazine still had its editorial offices in Santa Fe, Diament dropped by one afternoon to say hi, so now we feel like we can brag, "Hey, we know that guy!"

The last Class&#233; power amplifier I reviewed, back in November 2004, was the imposing <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/solidpoweramps/1104classe">Omega Omicron</A> monoblock ($20,000/pair), which made glorious sound with the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/302">Revel Ultima Studio</A> speakers. But things change. First, my reference speakers are now <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/1205bw">B&W 802D</A>s. Second, my system now has <I>three</I> front speakers, supplemented by two B&W 804S speakers for surround sound. While a quintet of Omicrons would undoubtedly be dandy, five such monoliths would take up so much space that I'd be wondering about their effects on the room's sound. With so many channels, it seemed time to investigate whether a multichannel amp could carry the load.