LATEST ADDITIONS

The September 2010 issue of <i>Stereophile</i> is now on newsstands. The cover shows an extreme close-up of the Audio Research VSi60 integrated amplifier, highlighting its beautiful tubes. I was very impressed by this amplifier’s looks, as well as what I (perhaps fancifully) perceived to be its contributions to a very fine <i>system</i> <a href="http://blog.stereophile.com/ssi2009/audio_research_vsi60/">at the 2009 SSI</a>, so I was happy to learn we’d be featuring the VSi60 on our cover.

As evidenced by the response to last week's vote, audiophiles are increasingly turning to their computers as a source of music. Should <I>Stereophile</I> review more or fewer computer audio products?

Bo Christensen, who was the guiding light behind, first, Primare, then Bow Technologies, graduated as an architect&#151;not surprising, considering his products' drop-dead-gorgeous looks. I talked with Bo while preparing my review of his Bow Technologies ZZ-Eight CD player (see <I>Stereophile</I>, August 1998, Vol.21 No.8), and started by asking him if his knowledge of electronics was self-taught.

<a href="http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/moving/">The move</a> is going fairly well. I’m almost completely settled in. I didn’t feel like waiting for the movers, so I just moved myself. Because all Source Interlink employees at 261 Madison Avenue will now be on a single floor, some people lost their private offices. While some are now sharing offices, I took a cubicle. So I no longer have a view onto sunny decks, no redbrick walls, no green trees; the only thing I can see from my seat is a gray cloth partition.

<a href="http://www.audyssey.com/">Audyssey</a&gt;, a company specializing in room equalization technologies (ask <a href="http://www.stereophile.com/musicintheround/music_in_the_round_40/index1…;), has launched a sweepstakes for fans of high-quality sound. There are some cool prizes, including a Marantz NR1601 slimline home theater receiver and an 8GB iPod Touch. To participate, become a fan of Audyssey <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Audyssey">on Facebook</a> and fill out a short questionnaire. For complete details, click <a href="http://wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/52020">here</a&gt;.

It may be time to begin appending the words “The Great,” in front of the name of Wilco. At least that’s my unvarnished reaction to their headlining performance at the inaugural edition of their own Solid Sound Festival, held last weekend in North Adams Massachusetts. Where in the hell is North Adams you may ask, why across the Mohawk Trail is the answer. I once had a friend, upper crust Brahmin Bostonian he was, and his mother used to rhapsodize about “motoring along the Mohawk Trail. She must have been speaking about the end of the trail (otherwise known as Mass Highway 2), nearer to Boston because getting to N. Adams from Interstate 91 is an exercise in going up one side of a mountain (granted in Massachusetts mountains top out at like 900 feet above sea level so we’re not talking friggin’ K2 here), and down the other. It’s not a road for older ladies for whom cucumber sandwiches with the crusts left on is a big step.

I’m so much more impressed by good, <i>affordable</i> systems than I am by those costing tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. I find it difficult to concentrate on music when I’m overwhelmed by the high prices of the gear delivering it. Price should never be the most impressive aspect of hi-fi.