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Fried Products Corporation's Compact 7 is a two-way, standmounted loudspeaker with a 1" ring-radiator tweeter and a 7" woven glass-fiber–coned mid-woofer in a "line tunnel" enclosure. Its cabinet is substantial and well made, with handsome real-wood veneers. The speakers come in mirror-imaged pairs, the tweeters offset toward the inside. The Compact 7 is unusual in that its mid-woofer is above its tweeter, which is likely related to the line-tunnel bass loading. Fried insists that the speakers be placed at least 28" above the floor, which dictate I followed.

In a moment, I will resume my ongoing quest to put together a music lover's stereo system for about half the cost of my last such effort (see my columns in the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/thefifthelement/1005fifth">October</A&gt; and <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/thefifthelement/1205fifth">December</A&gt; 2005 issues): $3750 rather than $7500. But first I want to urge everyone who hasn't already done so to check out <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/thefifthelement/208fifth/index3.html">the results</A> of the Five Great Art Songs of the Rock Era write-in competition announced in my February 2008 column. The winning entries are great&#151;really thought-provoking. Indeed, some of the lists, plus an unaccountably belated recollection, prompted me to put together my own alternate list. This list doesn't invalidate or replace my original one, but it benefited from the energy all the entrants (thanks, everyone) put into theirs. Here goes:

You'd think that setting up a pair of loudspeakers would be a piece of cake: Stick 'em where they look good, and be done with it. It <i>can</i> be as simple as that, but to get the <i>best</i> sound from your speakers, you'll have to do a bit more work.

In the Stereophile forum, "ncdrawl" asked:

Toward the end of the 1992 Summer CES in Chicago, <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/interviews/66">J. Gordon Holt</A> ambled into Audio Influx's demonstration room. He was curious about which <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/recordingofthemonth/592rotm">PDQ Bach CD</A> we were playing, as a fitting end to the show. We chatted about PDQ Bach live concerts and the grand-spoof entrances made by Professor Peter Schickele. Suddenly he said, "You know, these speakers sound real," going on to mention that he hadn't heard many real-sounding systems. I told JGH that most of what I heard at shows and in dealer showrooms nowadays was <I>sur</I>realistic sound.

Don't be confused by the MBL 6010 D's oddly baroque, even retro looks. Behind all the glitz—the oversize, perfectly finished, black-lacquered faáade; the two big, solid brass knobs plated with 24-karat gold; the ornate lettering; and the incongruous digital volume display—resides a thoroughly modern, remote-controlled, unusually versatile, and well-thought-out solid-state preamplifier. Not that the 6010 is a new design. It's been around for a long time, and the current "D" iteration is at least five years old.

The best, most enduring audio products have in their favor more than great sound: They have some sense of history as well. Particularly good examples abound from the British companies Spendor, Rogers, and Harbeth, some of whose products were actually commissioned into being by the British Broadcasting Corporation. Better that, I suppose, than existing to fill a price point.