LATEST ADDITIONS

The talented loudspeaker engineer is a man who is always in competition with himself. When PSB's Paul Barton put the finishing touches on his Stratus Gold model back in 1990 (footnote 1), I'm sure he had more ideas in mind that he could have used in a flagship design. Yet the Gold offered so much performance at such a competitive price&mdash;$2000/pair in 1991, rising to $2100/pair by 1997, then $2400/pair for the the Gold <I>i</I>, an evolutionary development&mdash;that it was not surprising that Barton applied his talents to developing ranges of more affordable speakers, such as the best-selling <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/showarchives.cgi?580">Alpha</A&gt; and <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/showarchives.cgi?330">Image</A&gt; series.

The audiophile fringe tends to foster some of the more perplexing approaches to getting good sound. What is the strangest audio product you've ever seen or heard?

Sony Music Entertainment and Bertelsmann Music Group could soon be one.

<A HREF="http://www.npr.org">National Public Radio</A> is in no danger of going off the air any time in the next century, thanks to a massive gift from the estate of philanthropist Joan B. Kroc, widow of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc.

The first part of our subwoofer review trilogy finds Larry Greenhill plumbing the depths with the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/showarchives.cgi?955">Paradigm Reference Servo-15 powered subwoofer</A>. Greenhill says that the wide range of adjustments available on the Servo-15 can help it blend into most environments&mdash;but having all that choice can cut both ways, notes LG.

"You can't <I>get</I> deep bass in your room," a reviewer from another magazine who'd never visited my room insisted recently on the phone. "Do you know how long a 20Hz bass wave <I>is</I>? It's <I>40 feet long</I>, and your room is <I>tiny</I>."

From <I>The Audio Catechism</I>:<BR><B>Q: <I>What is a subwoofer?<BR></B>A: </I>A large, ugly device that must be placed in the most inconvenient location in the listening room&mdash;for instance, in front of the only door.<BR><B>Q: <I>What is the purpose of the subwoofer?<BR></B>A: </I>To produce prodigious amounts of low-frequency sound and to glorify its owner, who can rest safe in the knowledge that <I>his</I> is the <I>biggest</I>.