LATEST ADDITIONS

This lapsed fan of electrostatic speakers finds it curious that, while MartinLogan is the predominant representative of this technology in the US, I had never auditioned an ML design in my home. I've enjoyed many Janszen tweeters, a KLH 9, an AcousTech X, Stax ELS-F81s, and I've dallied with <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/loudspeakerreviews/416">Quad ESL-63</A>s. But as dumb luck would have it, the first MartinLogan speaker to reach me, the new Montage, is a hybrid model.

One of my fondest memories of CES 2005 was spending a spare (well, technically, <I>stolen</I>) hour in T+A's room, listening to the German company's $4500 SACD-1245 CD/SACD player through T+A's $8500 V-10 integrated amplifier and a pair of Amphion's $1150/pair Helium two-way loudspeakers. Accordingly, when Quartet Marketing's Stirling Trayle called me to announce that he was in New York with the first sample of T+A's new tubed $9500 D-10 CD/SACD player, I was eager to hear it.

<I>We Get Letters Department:</I> <I>Stereophile</I> editor John Atkinson recently received the following email from Tony Fisch, the director of corporate development at MusicGiants: "MusicGiants (www.musicgiants.com) will be the <I>first company to offer high-fidelity downloads from all record labels</I>. MusicGiants uses Microsoft WMA 'lossless' codec (450kbps) to preserve 100% of the music. The result is music that sounds just like the artist intended. Finally, real music downloads up to 1100kbps. MusicGiants' downloads will be $1.29 per track, and $15.29 per album.

Some audiophiles argue that you should never judge the merits of a component (other than speakers) before it has had sufficient playing time to break in. Do you find this is the case?

<B>TORD GUSTAVSEN TRIO: <I>The Ground</I></B><BR>
Tord Gustavsen, piano; Harald Johnsen, double bass; Jarle Vespestad, drums<BR>
ECM 1892 (CD). 2005. Manfred Eicher, prod.; Jan Erik Kongshaug, eng. DDD. TT: 60:13<BR>
Performance <B>****&#189;</B><BR>
Sonics <B>****&#189;</B>

Living with a brand-new Cyrus amp was a pleasantly nostalgic thing to do, even from the start: It arrived in a clean and downright attractive carton that seemed designed specifically to contain a brand-new Cyrus amplifier. Think of it! And I haven't even mentioned the nice owner's manual or the balance control or the headphone jack. As I said: the good old days.

The $3000 moving-coil (MC) PhD, available from Chad Kassem's Acoustic Sounds operation, is a monumental achievement that, for me, sets new standards for the cleanness and transparency possible in a phono preamp&mdash;and I've had a lot of experience with phono preamps.