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That was the question asked by a reader who was perfectly happy with his CD-based system. He was using the gain control provided by the variable output of his CD player and was apparently in no need of phono playback or greater flexibility. He asked us to answer this question, ignoring for the moment the obvious functions of switching, volume and tone control, and phono preamplification. With those hardly trivial qualifiers—and bearing in mind the high output available from many of today's line sources, CD players in particular—do you really need the added expense and complexity of a preamplifier?

Two recent listening experiences of mine echoed the overblown praise Jon Landau lavished upon Bruce Springsteen after he heard <I>The Wild, the Innocent & the E-Street Shuffle</I>. But all hype aside, Landau was right: Springsteen <I>was</I> the future of rock'n'roll&mdash;or at least what passed for the future of traditional rock in those pre-MTV, pre-techno, pre-house, pre-gangsta, pre-rap, pre-hip-hop, pre-grunge, pre-Mariah Carey, pre-Garth Brooks, pre-sampling, pre-digital days. And I believe that, Landau-like, I too will be right. I have heard the future of audio, and it is digital&mdash;digital technology has finally surpassed the sound quality of analog.

On a number of occasions we have commented on the effects of an amplifier's output impedance on a system's performance. A high output impedance&mdash;such as is found in many tube amplifiers&mdash;will interact with the loudspeaker's impedance in a way which directly affects the <I>combination</I>'s frequency response. The <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/740/">Cary CAD-805</A>, for example, has a lower output impedance than most tube amplifiers, and should be less prone to such interaction. Some months back&mdash;before the CAD-805 arrived&mdash;I investigated this phenomenon in conjunction with measurements for a forthcoming review of the Melos 400 monoblock amplifier. Since the Melos 400 also had a relatively low output impedance for a tube amplifier (at 0.43 ohms at low and mid frequencies, rising to 1.2 ohms at 20kHz, from its 8 ohm tap), I took that opportunity to run some frequency-response measurements using an actual loudspeaker as the load for the amplifier.

<B>ANONYMOUS 4: <I>On Yoolis Night</I></B><BR> Medieval Christmas Carols and Motets<BR> Anonymous 4<BR> Harmonia Mundi 907099 (CD only). Robina G. Young, prod.; Brad Michel, eng. ADD? TT: 68:03

By the time you read this, I will have been fortunate enough to have attended a banquet put on by Harry Pearson in celebration of <I>The Abso!ute Sound</I>'s 20th anniversary. <I>Stereophile</I> and <I>TAS</I> may have had their disagreements from time to time, but I take this opportunity to congratulate Harry and his staff on 20 years of excellent high-end publishing. I believe it's not excessively immodest to report that high-end manufacturers frequently remind me of their gratitude for the healthy and vibrant high-end publishing community which exists in the United States&mdash;and does not in most other countries. Many publications make up this community, but <I>Stereophile</I> and <I>TAS</I> are certainly the most widely read.

Not that long ago, digital audio was considered perfect if all the bits could be stored and retrieved without data errors. If the data coming off the disc were the same as what went on the disc, how could there be a sound-quality difference with the same digital/analog converter? This "bits is bits" mentality scoffs at sonic differences between CD transports, digital interfaces, and CD tweaks. Because none of these products or devices affects the pattern of ones and zeros recovered from the disc, any differences must be purely in the listener's imagination. After all, they argued, a copy of a computer program runs just as well as the original.

So you've spent thousands (hours, that is...in terms of dollars, don't ask!) trying to improve the sound of your stereo, and you're <I>still</I> dissatisfied. Here's a list of sure-fire steps which, if followed precisely, will without a doubt have you happy as a lark for days afterward. (What? You expected to be happy with these improvements for <I>months</I> or even <I>years</I>? Get with it! This is high-end audio we're talking about. When was the last time you were satisfied more than a few <I>hours</I> with your costly upgrades?!)