LATEST ADDITIONS

How times have changed. When Krell first debuted its KAV-300i, in 1996, it risked having people question its high-end credibility simply for having <I>considered</I> producing an integrated amplifier, much less an affordable one. After all, Krell was the company best known for massively overbuilt&mdash;and, many claimed, overpriced&mdash;power amplifiers that were uniquely capable of driving speakers of ridiculously low impedance. In Martin Colloms' <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/amplificationreviews/809">review of the 300i</A> in the July 1996 <I>Stereophile</I>, he asked the question on everyone's minds: "Is Krell risking its reputation?"

We were saddened to learn that the great jazz organist Jimmy Smith died in his sleep on February 8. He was 76.

EMI drops: The EMI Group, the British music company, sent its stock prices plummeting 16% with its announcement last week that sales for the fiscal year ending next month would be as much as 9% below those of last year.

On the face of it, 99&#162; per track low-rez music downloads don't seem like a good deal. For the same price, or maybe even less, you can get an entire CD of the same music, along with a booklet, and without the Digital Rights Management crippleware that hobbles paid downloads.

Responses were surprisingly evenly distributed in last week's Vote, so this week we'll focus on your AC outlets and wiring. Have you upgraded your AC path from the pole to the socket you plug your equipment into?

Along with speakers and their placement, the greatest influence on the sound of a music system are the acoustics of the room itself. With two-channel stereo, some reflections and reverberations are necessary in order to maintain the perception that one is listening in a real space. So, while many experts recommend having a "dead" end behind and near the speakers that absorbs most sound, few suggest such treatment for the rest of the room. With too few sonic reflections, the stereo image would narrow; without the aid of "room gain" to enrich the bass, the sounds of instruments and voices would be thin. Listening in an anechoic chamber is interesting and informative, but far from pleasurable.

<I>"Most people really don't like music&mdash;they just like the way it sounds"</I>