LATEST ADDITIONS

Sometimes you have to make peace with a loudspeaker. You have to accept it on its own terms rather than ask it to bend to your sonic wishes, or to be something it's not. This is especially true when you're auditioning a seemingly endless succession of them, as I have this year. Like beauty-pageant contestants parading across the stage, all different-looking yet all enticing in one way or another, each speaker I've listened to of late has sounded different from the rest, and each has had a unique combination of strengths and weaknesses&mdash;yet each has been sufficiently "in the pocket" to paint a credible musical picture. Nonetheless, some required more bending on my part than did others, in order for me to <I>believe</I> the musical portraits they were attempting to create.

John Atkinson and Cantus are at it again. Last June, John and <A HREF="http://www.cantusonline.org">Cantus</A&gt;, the Minnesota-based male vocal ensemble, traveled to Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana, to record an adventurous two-volume Christmas CD. <I>Comfort and Joy: Volume One</I> is being released this week.

Being the keyboard fanatic that he is, John Marks would like to know how many of our readers actually have a piano or electric keyboard instrument of some type in their homes.

"Bugger!" A Pennsylvania state trooper had stepped out from behind the overpass on the Turnpike and was aiming his radar gun straight at me. I reflexively jammed on the anchors, which was a) pointless and b) downright dangerous, considering I was in the middle of a phalanx of cars and trucks all cruising 5-10mph over the speed limit. But what can you do?

Naim Audio has a reputation for making products that are truer than most to music's temporal content: rhythm, pacing, the beat almighty. Beginning with their classic solid-state amps of the mid-1970s, Naim's designers have stressed, above all else, the reduction of distortions that puff up and pad the attack and decay components of musical sounds: Getting rid of those additives seems to clarify the timing relationship between different notes in a line, making music more compelling and easier to enjoy. That their gear has historically favored musical content over sonic attributes is no shock to the Naim faithful.

Credit-card amps: Miniaturization could change the look and feel of many audio products. On October 29, Austin, TX&ndash;based <A HREF="http://www.d2audio.com/">D2Audio</A&gt; announced its new line of MXS amplifiers, each only 1.5" tall with a footprint no bigger than a credit card. Intended for use with in-wall or on-wall loudspeakers, MXS amps can deliver up to 125Wpc into 8-ohm speakers or up to 250Wpc into 4-ohm speakers, with THD+N of <0.1% at full-rated power from 20Hz to 20kHz. Dynamic range is specified at "up to 145dB." The tiny digital amplifiers have programmable DSP features and 93% power efficiency, thereby eliminating the need for large heatsinks, and are said to sound as good or better than many traditional designs. Two-channel modules can also be used for bi-amping, according to the manufacturer.

American fans of Jadis products take note: <A HREF="http://www.pierregabriel.com/">Pierre Gabriel Acoustic</A> recently announced that it has acquired exclusive distribution rights to <A HREF="http://www.jadis-electronics.com">Jadis Electronics</A> in the USA. Jadis is based in Villedubert, France and manufactures tube-based audio electronics.