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John Atkinson wrestles with the fabled YBA 2 HC power amplifier to uncover its very essence. Can this meticulous design, engineered (some might say over-engineered) by Yves-Bernard André deliver the audio goods?

Atkinson also gets his hands on the YBA 2 preamplifier and notes, "Finding a truly great, full-function preamplifier is a quest at which I have had only limited success." Victory at last?

Next, we present John Marks' "The Fifth Element #4," wherein he tells readers where they can stick their next thousand audio bucks. We've also added several reader letters to Marks' third "Fifth Element" column from July 2001.

Finally, we have the next installment in our "Recording of the Month" series for the online archives: Recording of August 2000: Mahler: Symphony 6 featuring the Manhattan School of Music Symphony Orchestra conducted by Glen Cortese. Writer David Patrick Stearns says this Mahler interpretation, in a stunningly lifelike recording by Jerry Bruck, has something quite different, and important, to say.