LATEST ADDITIONS

The last few years at our annual Home Entertainment Show, many readers have come up to me and asked: "How do you select which speakers to review?" In my case, most candidates are either new products that have impressed me when demonstrated at our HE Shows, or new products from manufacturers whose designs have impressed me in the past. Occasionally, editor John Atkinson gets wind of a speaker and asks if I'd like to review it. But once in a while, a manufacturer reads a rave review of a competing product that makes his or her blood boil.

"So what are you reviewing now?" A polite question, considering that my old friend Randy is definitely <I>not</I> an audiophile.

Not every audiophile needs an amplifier powerful enough to tax a small town's power grid while simultaneously draining his or her bank account. So, having quickly sold out of its ultra-limited-edition, extravagantly powered and priced combo of kWp preamplifier ($14,995) and kW power amp ($27,995) that I <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/tubepoweramps/104mf">reviewed in January 2004</A>, Musical Fidelity (footnote 1) set about capitalizing on the enthusiastic reviews earned by those giants with less expensive, less powerful, "real-world" replacements.

Bagheera thinks a small amount of compression is acceptable in return for tube warmth.

Huck prefers that Cuervo burn.

If you're at all interested in archeology, you've probably read about the San Bartolo Mayan mural, which dates back to about 100 B.C.&mdash;about 700 years earlier than the Bonanpak murals, previously considered the oldest yet discovered.

Meet 2004 XR190&mdash;but everybody calls her "Buffy."