LATEST ADDITIONS

It's a common audiophile failing to remember the past as being much better than it actually was. (Though, of course, some things were better.) I remember the first time I heard a pair of Acoustic Research LST loudspeakers, in 1974 or thereabouts. Compared with the Wharfedales I used in my own system and the various Goodmans, Celestions, and home-brews I heard at friends' homes, the sound of classical orchestral recordings on the ARs was about as close to the real thing as I could imagine. And the AR ads reinforced my experience, telling me that musicians such as Herbert von Karajan also used LSTs. I never heard those speakers again, but occasionally I wonder how they would hold up today (footnote 1).

Xd on its way: NHT has begun shipping its Xd DEQX Calibrated DSP speaker systems to dealers, according to an announcement made January 24 by parent company the Rockford Home Group. A high-tech twist on the old satellite-and-subwoofer scheme, the Xd consists of a pair of two-way acoustic satellite speakers; an XdW bass module with two opposing 10" drivers powered by an internal PowerPhysics 500W amplifier; and an XdA outboard processor/amplifier that includes a DEQX-calibrated DSP engine and four PowerPhysics One-Cycle Sound amps.

First Watt isn't a real company, and the F1 power amplifier isn't a real product. Consequently, this isn't a real review.