LATEST ADDITIONS

MIGHTY SAM McCLAIN: Give It Up to Love
AudioQuest AQ-LP1015 (LP), AQ-CD1015 (CD). Joe Harley, Sam McClain, Lorne Entress, prods.; Michael C. Ross, Dan Bosworth, engs. AAA/AAD. TTs: 47:46, 54:06

I first became familiar with Israeli speaker manufacturer Morel, founded in 1975, back in the late 1970s, when they had a drive-unit plant in the UK. Their drivers have always been well-respected—I was mightily impressed with a sample of their T33 1" soft-dome tweeter when I had the opportunity to measure it a decade or so ago—so when I heard their Octwin 5.2 dual-speaker system at the 2002 CEDIA conference, I asked for a pair for review.

In other news this week, the music business is in a tailspin, and searching for ways to save itself. The National Association of Record Merchandisers (NARM) has just published its chairman's message, with several clues about what consumers may see from the industry in the coming months.

From the October issue, John Atkinson gets acquainted with the Morel Octwin 5.2M loudspeaker, noting, "Once you become accustomed to its admittedly weird looks, it is actually visually appealing and has a small footprint in the listening room." But there's something about the Morel's sound that causes JA to raise an eyebrow.