LATEST ADDITIONS

The penultimate stop on Bob Reina's British Invasion Tour of Affordable Loudspeakers (footnote 1) brings us to the doors of KEF. Although KEF is a large and well-established British firm, I've noticed that their product lines have not been as visible in the US as those of, say, B&W, Wharfedale, or Mission. In fact, the last time I heard a KEF speaker, it was the company's then-flagship design, at a Consumer Electronics Show nearly 20 years ago! Before that, when I lived in London, KEFs were ubiquitous, down to the older, entry-level designs tacked to the walls of the ethnic restaurants I frequented. My strongest KEF memory is a cumulative one: Every KEF speaker I've ever heard, regardless of price, venue, or setup, has always produced good, convincing sound.

About once a week, I hear about some new audio accessory heralded by breathless claims of stunning performance gains that "you've got to hear for yourself." Most of these I ignore, and of those I do consider, nearly all wither when subjected to logical engineering analysis. Every so often, however, one of these wonder widgets finds its way into my system.

The Hartleys I wrote about <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/artdudleylistening/106listen">last month</A> may be the loudspeaker drivers that time forgot, but the venerable Lowthers of Sidcup, England, reign supreme as the horseshoe crabs of the loudspeaker world: strange, ungainly things that have scarcely changed since the days when Franz Schmidt and Robert Johnson walked the earth. Literally.

Irony reigns supreme on this week's installment of <I>XM Daze</I>.

A special treat today: the new Rye Coalition album, <i>Curses</i>, to be released by <a href="http://www.gernblandsten.com/">Gern Blandsten</a> on April 18th, arrived in our office. Robert brought it over to me. I've been listening to it all day.

How collaborative filtering is making jaded listeners engaged listeners again.

Go to the external link and click on "The Big Finale." Stick around for "The End."