LATEST ADDITIONS

Is the music industry in the midst of a turnaround?

Feeling grumpier about spending audio dollars this holiday season? You may not be alone according to a new survey of consumer holiday buying intentions.

From the October 2004 issue, Michael Fremer reviews the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/loudspeakerreviews/1004mbl">mbl 101E Radialstrahler loudspeaker</A>, enthusing, "In one night's listening orgy, I tore through albums by the Weavers, Harry Belafonte, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Tony Bennett, <I>etc</I>&mdash;all recorded live in Carnegie Hall. The results were nothing short of astonishing."

In <A HREF="http://cgi.stereophile.com/cgi-bin/showsoap.cgi?393">last week's Soapbox</A>, reader Andrew A. Edmonds wondered why there aren't more high-end "hard-disk

The observation has been made, often and well, that audio writers are out of touch when it comes to judging value for money. For one thing, we get to live with exotic gear for months at a time, without spending a penny. For another, when we <I>do</I> decide on a more permanent upgrade, we usually get the opportunity to buy at wholesale&mdash;at a so-called "industry accommodation price," extended to us because, after all, we <I>are</I> a part of the industry.

In the September 2001 <I>Stereophile</I> (Vol.24 No.9), I wrote very favorably about Polk's <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/loudspeakerreviews/417">RT25<I>i</I&gt; loudspeaker</A> ($319.90/pair). That bookshelf model impressed me with its open, neutral midrange; its pristine, extended high-frequency response; and its low-level dynamics. On the minus side, the RT25<I>i</I> was fairly limited in low-bass extension and high-level dynamic slam. At the time, I was seeking a new speaker for my home computer music-composition system, and I bought the review samples&mdash;the only time I've done that since I began to write for <I>Stereophile</I> some 20 speaker reviews ago.

Back in the late 1980s, when I was writing for The Abso!ute Sound and couldn't afford any of the audio gear I was reviewing, my system consisted of an Oracle turntable with Magnepan unipivot arm, a pair of Spica TC-50 loudspeakers, and a heavily modified Hafler DH-200 power amp and DH-101 preamp. It was a fun system that imaged like hell, but my fondest audio memories of that time were of visiting fellow TAS reviewer Dr. Michael Gindi, who lived on Manhattan's West End Avenue, and listening to his mbl speakers. (With his shrink's paycheck, he could afford them.)