You'd think we knew pretty much all there was to know about water, wouldn't you? Well, zap it with high-energy X-rays, subject it to extremely high pressure, and make sure the proportions of H<SUB>2</SUB> and 0<SUB>2</SUB> are <I>just</I> right and you get "a highly energetic material."
Is coin flipping really random?
Well, one of <I>my</I> heroes, Mr. Tom Waits.
Satellite radio has been plugging away for several years now, and has garnered both rave reviews and criticisms. Have you tried a subscription to one of the services? If so, what do you think about it?
<I>"It's a series of tubes."—Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK), explaining how the Internet works</I>
The Ultimate Audio Toy—Or, if you will, the apotheosis of the iPod.
<I>Flip flip flip</I>]...Where the heck is it?...[<I>flip flip flip</I>]...Got it!" What am I looking for? There, in black and white, on p.634 of J. Gordon Holt's <I>Really Reliable Rules for Rookie Reviewers</I> (footnote 1), is the Prime Directive On Loudspeaker Setup: "Never, ever, choose a loudspeaker that has too much bass extension for your room!"
When a loudspeaker designer produces a world-class product, it is usually the result of years, perhaps decades, of experience gained from designing less ambitious products. To review a particular designer's product history is to witness the learning curve in action as both his skill and technology advance. Successfully battling the laws of physics to produce a truly exceptional loudspeaker is thus thought of as the domain of the seasoned veteran whose vast knowledge and experience culminate in the pinnacle of his career—a world-class loudspeaker. Moreover, it is just these designers, working their way up to their masterpiece, who are the most successful at getting an ambitious design right. The high-end loudspeaker business is littered with the remains of companies that attempted to build a first product far too lofty for their skills.
Kalman Rubinson enthused over JL Audio's Fathom f113 powered subwoofer in his November "Music in the Round" column. Unfortunately, brainfade on my part when I wrote the text for the cover of that issue of <I>Stereophile</I> meant that the subwoofer was credited to "JL Labs." And in all the proof-reading that goes on while an issue of the magazine is being prepared, we all noted a) that the words "JL Labs" were both spelled correctly on the cover and b) that the words "JL Audio" were also spelled correctly on the contents page and all the way through Kals's column.
<B>Free, as in "no charge":</B> RealTraps reports that it has upgraded ModeCalc, a graphical room-mode prediction software that it offers as a free download (Windows only, 1.3MB) to help people design new listening rooms, or assess the low-frequency response in existing rooms. The company says the new version of ModeCalc offers "several clever features, including a display that better identifies modes that are too close together, and a revised and expanded tutorial in the included Help system."