First I want to state that I enjoy Michael's columns, appreciate his helping me personally with my turntable issues and I am not affiliated in any way with any electronic industry firms.

First let me say that Michael Fremer has personally been a big help to me in setting up my turntable.

Having said that

Michael - and to some degree Mr. Atkinson - have given a positive review to a Zanden DAC/Transport system that costs over $40k and has some of the worst measurements John has seen in years. (The freq response was horrific)

At one point John tried to explain Michael's positive review by stating that maybe Michael stuck with source material that worked well over the midrange region where the measure flaws were not so bad.

As I'm about to move from an apartment into a house, this will free me to set up my sub again ( a BIG no, no in apartments). Here's my question. What are the advantages/disadvantages of placing the sub directly behind the listening chair (which will be at least six feet from the rear wall and about fifteen feet from the front wall).

The sub in question is a Velodyn DD 12, and the listening area is 30x19 with a cathedral ceiling. This listening space is open to the kitchen/dining area. In other words, we're talking about a lot of room.

Manufacturers-ML-13662-ML-

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Olive unveils IP-based control for its music server line. NAS support added.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - October 23rd, 2006 - Olive Media Products, Inc., a developer of innovative digital audio systems, today announced Olive RONDO, a new IP-based control interface for its complete music server line. Olive's music centers are now controllable via any PDA, PC, or touch-panel that supports the IP protocol.

I thought you folks would appreciate this one
http://www.therawfeed.com/2006/10/new-glass-cd-shatters-record-for.html

I've got some time to kill, have been wondering about something for a while, so I'll ask. My recollection is that since your being at Stereophile, you have pretty much always owned and reviewed solid state amplification, not even taking a tube plunge in a secondary system. Given the amount of contributors who own and use tube amplification, is there a reason for this? Any bad tube experiences?

I think my Grumpy Old Man genes are coming to the fore. Anyone else irked by the animated 'blu' disk advert?

If it could be killed by hitting the 'Stop' key, that wouldn't be so bad.

But when it appears on the Stereophile homepage, I am compelled to navigate elsewhere for the sake of my eyesight -- which is a damn shame.

Terry