LATEST ADDITIONS

Mohsin Hamid, author of <I>The Reluctant Fundamentalist</I>, was asked on a book tour, "So tell me, sir. Why do they hate us?" Having spent half his life in America, the Pakistani writer had to think about who "us" and "they" were. This fine essay is the result of that thinking.

Sometimes, we don't listen to music for days at a time, just so it sounds fresh again when we finally do. And sometimes we just yearn for something better and are willing to hit pause until we discover it. Are there times when you just don't want to listen to music? Why not?

Back in the bad old pioneer days of high fidelity, the 1960s and early 1970s, amplifier manufacturers embarked on a specifications war, claiming ever lower percentages of total harmonic distortion. But, as J. Gordon Holt presciently pointed out in the 1960s, without reference to the spectrum of the distortion harmonics, the actual percentage was not in itself a reliable indicator of an amplifier's sound quality. And as those early low-THD models had distortion spectra that were heavily biased toward the sonically objectionable fifth, seventh, and ninth harmonics, and suffered from other related ills, they tended to sound quite nasty.

That harmonious accord between SoundExchange and the Digital Media Association (DiMA) on webcasting that we <A HREF="http://stereophile.com/news/071607internet/">reported</A&gt; last week? Apparently not so harmonious&mdash;and possibly not even an accord.

There's something a bit oddball about the notion of a $16,500 integrated amplifier&mdash;until you stop to consider that the market is fairly drenched with preamps and power amps that, together, cost that much and more. And putting both pre- and power amp in a single chassis cuts down on storage (one less shelf), accessories (one less pair of cable), and electrical outlets (one socket freed up).

At $2295, the CD31 is the most expensive integrated CD player from Swedish manufacturer Primare, and an evolution of their D30.2, which I <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/cdplayers/604primare">reviewed</A&gt; in the June 2004 <I>Stereophile</I>. I knew that the CD31 wasn't a clean-sheet design, but my first look suggested that it wasn't even much of an evolution&mdash;a comparison of its and the D30.2's spec sheets matched almost line for line. When I asked Terry Medalen of Sumiko, Primare's US distributor, about the similarity, and if the CD31 was just a mild tweaking of the D30.2, he said, "Well, yes and no. You really need to listen to it."

Every two or three years my family and I travel to Disney World in Orlando, Florida&mdash;one of those places I used to think I'd hate, but which I always enjoy in spite of myself. No such trip would be complete without visiting the Mitsukoshi department store at Epcot Center, which represents the pinnacle of Japanese consumer culture. At the Epcot Mitsukoshi store&mdash;the 430-year-old company's only US location&mdash;one can buy the finest of everything, including the rarest and most expensive writing papers and inks, the most exquisitely crafted pottery, and the loveliest freshwater pearls on Earth. Young shoppers are accommodated with the latest toys, trends, and technology&mdash;but there's nothing frantic or cheap about the manner in which they're offered. The watchword at Mitsukoshi is <I>quality</I>, and the presentation borders on being artistic.