News

Sam Tellig triggered a hailstorm of comment with his original review of the RadioShack Optimus CD-3400 portable CD player. After Tellig suggested that the modest player just might be a cheapskate audiophile delight, writers Corey Greenberg, Jack English, John Atkinson, Barry Willis, and Robert Harley each added his two cents. Some revealing but hitherto unpublished measurements are also included.

John Atkinson learned how easy it is to make a wrong assumption as he drove through Connecticut and discovered the forest among So Many Trees!. So what do assumptions about millions of trees have to do with the music business and Stereophile's 40th anniversary? JA ties it all together.

Finally, the latest installment in our "Recording of the Month" series for the online archives: Recording of October 1999: Taj Mahal & Toumani Diabate: Kulanjan. John Swenson explains, "Few of the rock-era adventurers who've worked at expanding the parameters of global music have accomplished as much as these two men."