The arrival of the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/digitalprocessors/mark_levinson_no30_referen… Levinson No.30</A> digital processor more than 2&#189; years ago marked a turning point in digital-audio reproduction. Although the No.30's $13,950 price tag put it out of reach of all but a few audiophiles, its stunning performance suggested that much more musical information was encoded on our CDs, waiting to be recovered by better digital processors. Further, it was inevitable that this level of performance would become less expensive over time. I was more excited by the No.30 than I've been over any other audio product. In fact, its musical performance was so spectacular that it alone occupied the Class A category in <I>Stereophile</I>'s "Recommended Components."

The arrival of the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/digitalprocessors/mark_levinson_no30_referen… Levinson No.30</A> digital processor more than 2&#189; years ago marked a turning point in digital-audio reproduction. Although the No.30's $13,950 price tag put it out of reach of all but a few audiophiles, its stunning performance suggested that much more musical information was encoded on our CDs, waiting to be recovered by better digital processors. Further, it was inevitable that this level of performance would become less expensive over time. I was more excited by the No.30 than I've been over any other audio product. In fact, its musical performance was so spectacular that it alone occupied the Class A category in <I>Stereophile</I>'s "Recommended Components."

I like reviewing loudspeakers. The more you become familiar with the art, the greater the sense of anticipation as you open up a pair of cartons. A visual inspection of the speaker always reveals a challenging mixture of the familiar and the new. The size of the cabinet is always the first clue&#151;has sensitivity been a design priority or was low-frequency extension uppermost in the designer's thoughts? You espy a known drive-unit&#151;has this tweeter's propensity for upper-presence sizzle been tamed? You find a reflex port on the rear panel&#151;has the temptation to go for a "commercial," under-damped bass alignment been successfully resisted? You spot factors which intuitively seem wrong for precise stereo&#151;a wide baffle lacking any kind of absorbent covering for diffraction control; a grille frame which puts acoustic obstacles in the way of the wavefront emerging from the tweeter.

I like reviewing loudspeakers. The more you become familiar with the art, the greater the sense of anticipation as you open up a pair of cartons. A visual inspection of the speaker always reveals a challenging mixture of the familiar and the new. The size of the cabinet is always the first clue&#151;has sensitivity been a design priority or was low-frequency extension uppermost in the designer's thoughts? You espy a known drive-unit&#151;has this tweeter's propensity for upper-presence sizzle been tamed? You find a reflex port on the rear panel&#151;has the temptation to go for a "commercial," under-damped bass alignment been successfully resisted? You spot factors which intuitively seem wrong for precise stereo&#151;a wide baffle lacking any kind of absorbent covering for diffraction control; a grille frame which puts acoustic obstacles in the way of the wavefront emerging from the tweeter.

I like reviewing loudspeakers. The more you become familiar with the art, the greater the sense of anticipation as you open up a pair of cartons. A visual inspection of the speaker always reveals a challenging mixture of the familiar and the new. The size of the cabinet is always the first clue&#151;has sensitivity been a design priority or was low-frequency extension uppermost in the designer's thoughts? You espy a known drive-unit&#151;has this tweeter's propensity for upper-presence sizzle been tamed? You find a reflex port on the rear panel&#151;has the temptation to go for a "commercial," under-damped bass alignment been successfully resisted? You spot factors which intuitively seem wrong for precise stereo&#151;a wide baffle lacking any kind of absorbent covering for diffraction control; a grille frame which puts acoustic obstacles in the way of the wavefront emerging from the tweeter.

I like reviewing loudspeakers. The more you become familiar with the art, the greater the sense of anticipation as you open up a pair of cartons. A visual inspection of the speaker always reveals a challenging mixture of the familiar and the new. The size of the cabinet is always the first clue&#151;has sensitivity been a design priority or was low-frequency extension uppermost in the designer's thoughts? You espy a known drive-unit&#151;has this tweeter's propensity for upper-presence sizzle been tamed? You find a reflex port on the rear panel&#151;has the temptation to go for a "commercial," under-damped bass alignment been successfully resisted? You spot factors which intuitively seem wrong for precise stereo&#151;a wide baffle lacking any kind of absorbent covering for diffraction control; a grille frame which puts acoustic obstacles in the way of the wavefront emerging from the tweeter.

I like reviewing loudspeakers. The more you become familiar with the art, the greater the sense of anticipation as you open up a pair of cartons. A visual inspection of the speaker always reveals a challenging mixture of the familiar and the new. The size of the cabinet is always the first clue&#151;has sensitivity been a design priority or was low-frequency extension uppermost in the designer's thoughts? You espy a known drive-unit&#151;has this tweeter's propensity for upper-presence sizzle been tamed? You find a reflex port on the rear panel&#151;has the temptation to go for a "commercial," under-damped bass alignment been successfully resisted? You spot factors which intuitively seem wrong for precise stereo&#151;a wide baffle lacking any kind of absorbent covering for diffraction control; a grille frame which puts acoustic obstacles in the way of the wavefront emerging from the tweeter.

John Zorn’s rep as the angry bad boy of the downtown avant-garde has always been a bit of a caricature. His music has long stressed wit and beauty as much as squeals and hollers. But in the last few years, he’s tapped into a buoyant, almost gentle lyricism while still sounding distinctively Zorn.