LATEST ADDITIONS

Art or magic? I suspect both, having been fascinated by them ever since attending an exhibition of meticulously rendered reproductions about 20 years ago, Dang, but they're powerful and specific.

Formats change, resolutions change, but the music remains. Sure you may pop a record on the turntable once in a while, but how do you listen to the <I>majority</I> of your music during the year?

<B>New Naims:</B> At CEDIA 2006, Naim introduced two new products to the North American market: the $1500 NAC122x preamplifier and the $5750 n-Vi all-in-one home entertainment system (DVD-CD player/processor/five-channel amplifier).

<B>John Atkinson on the Recording</B>
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"This will fix it!" Kimber Kable's Ray Kimber placed some acoustic baffles around the table on which sat my Apple TiBook. We were recording <A HREF="http://www.robert-silverman.com">Robert Silverman</A> performing one of Beethoven's masterworks for piano, the <I>Diabelli Variations</I>, Op.120, and I had been bothered by a faint whistle underlying the music. It turned out to be the sound of my laptop's fan, an unforeseen drawback of my decision to dispense with tape and record straight to hard drive for the August 2004 sessions. We had already had a problem with a slight slapback echo from the balcony of the Austad Auditorium at Weber State University in Utah, which Ray had fixed with drapes, and a problem with low-frequency rumble from airplanes overflying the college campus during one session had been solved by Ray phoning the air traffic control tower. However, even Ray couldn't deal with thunder, so that was the one session we decided to finish early.

When I <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/365">reviewed</A&gt; JBL's S38 loudspeaker for the June 2001 issue of <I>Stereophile</I> (Vol.24 No.6), I was impressed with the performance of this large, inexpensive ($599/pair) bookshelf speaker. When I received a press announcement at the end of 2005 announcing JBL's new affordable speakers, the Studio L series, which incorporates innovations developed for JBL's recording-studio monitors, I began a discussion with JBL's public-relations firm. They promised many significant design innovations and sonic improvements over the S series.

Bryston describes its SP2 multichannel preamplifier-processor ($4995) as consisting of a stereo analog preamp with a volume-controlled 5.1-channel analog pass-through plus a full-featured multichannel digital audio processor, and claims that none of those functions compromises any of the others. The analog preamp is fully equivalent in features and performance to their BP26 preamp. The digital processor includes all the latest Dolby Digital, DTS, and THX modes, and is based on Texas Instruments' powerful Aureus DSP chip, which can be updated via an S/PDIF input. The digital and analog sections have independent power supplies, and there are no video inputs or functions other than a control port for the optional, external SPV-1 video switcher.

After a series of unforeseen delays, for which we apologize, the CD of Robert Silverman's performance of Beethoven's monumental work for solo piano, the <I>Diabelli Variations</I> (<I>Variations</I>, STPH017-2), is available for purchase from our <A HREF="http://ssl.blueearth.net/primedia/home.php">e-commerce page</A> today, Monday, October 2.