LATEST ADDITIONS

The music industry intends to leave no stone unturned in its war on piracy. Just a week after reports emerged about crackdowns on sales of pirated CDs at flea markets and swap meets, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced a campaign to eliminate sales of unauthorized discs at gas stations, grocery and convenience stores, and small independent music outlets.

Larry Greenhill wonders, "In crossing over into transistor products, would Conrad-Johnson be able to retain the simplicity, low distortion, and musicality of their tube designs?" LG fires up the Conrad-Johnson Premier 18LS line preamplifier to satisfy his curiosity.

I'm a big believer in the notion that if you can't hear a difference, why pay for it? I also believe that the ultimate goal of any high-end system should be to simply disappear and leave the listener immersed in the presence of the music. System synergy is paramount, and how you spread your compromises around and make your tradeoffs work for you is generally more significant than how expensive the final tab is. Thank God there are still plenty of companies out there dedicated to the proposition that ultimate resolution and build quality are anything but antithetical to real-world value.

There is no better time than now to invest in audiophile-quality vinyl playback gear. I'll bet even Mikey Fremer would be surprised at the amount of new vinyl releases and reissues and used vinyl available to music-lovers today. And the choices available to audiophiles seeking turntables, tonearms, phono cartridges, and phono preamps is greater than it's been in a decade.