Added to the Archives This Week

Back in 1987, J. Gordon Holt & Martin Colloms set their sights on the Audio Research M300 monoblock power amplifier. "After having proven that vacuum tubes could do some sonic things better than transistors, Audio Research is now endeavoring to show that transistors can do most things better than tubes," says JGH, adding that the then-new M300 is a "hybrid amplifier . . . it's half tube, half solid-state."

For many readers, tube amplifiers lost their relevance years ago. But not so fast says John Atkinson as he reviews the Audio Research Classic 60 power amplifier. JA says, "It must come as a shock to readers of the mass-market 'slicks' that not only do a number of American manufacturers manufacture amplifiers and preamplifiers using tubes, but some of those companies—including Audio Research—are among the more successful."

William P. Banks and David Krajicek take JA to task for the way he conducted An Amplifier Listening Test at the 1989 Stereophile Hi Fi Show. They state "It is always a matter of great interest when a difficult question, in this case the audibility of differences between amplifiers, is put to an empirical test." The authors then generate a study "that shows that the audible differences between the two amplifiers are much greater than the original study implied."

For his "As We See It" from the current issue of Stereophile, Mentors & Audio Shows, Jon Iverson attempts to unravel one of the deepest mysteries of the universe: Where do audiophiles come from? He also reminds us that Home Entertainment 2002 takes place this week in Manhattan.

Finally, the most recent installment in our "Recording of the Month" series for the online archives: Recording of June 1998, Elgar: Enigma Variations. David Vernier reports that "when viewed in their proper context, Elgar's accomplishments are rather remarkable, and the works on this recording give us a fair taste of his orchestral range."

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