Considering that the crates they're shipped in are each as large as a Manhattan studio apartment, once they'd been set up in my listening room, Focal's Maestro Utopia III speakers weren't as visually overpowering as I'd anticipated. The elegant dark-gloss front baffles, the gloss-gray side panels, and the fact that the speaker's three subenclosures are vertically arrayed so that the top, midrange section is angled down, significantly reduced their apparent size.

Klyne Audio Arts is such a low-profile outfit that I marvel at its continued existence. It is reliably absent from the <I>Audio</I> and <I>Stereo Review</I> annual equipment directories, and if Stan Klyne has ever run an advertisement for any of his products anywhere, I haven't seen it, Yet Klyne Audio Arts always manages to have an exhibit at CES, where they display some of the most beautiful preamps and head-amps we see there, only to go underground again for another six months.

Klyne Audio Arts is such a low-profile outfit that I marvel at its continued existence. It is reliably absent from the <I>Audio</I> and <I>Stereo Review</I> annual equipment directories, and if Stan Klyne has ever run an advertisement for any of his products anywhere, I haven't seen it, Yet Klyne Audio Arts always manages to have an exhibit at CES, where they display some of the most beautiful preamps and head-amps we see there, only to go underground again for another six months.

At our best, audiophiles are the selfless and generous custodians of a thousand small libraries, keeping alive not only music's greatest recorded moments but the art of listening itself. At our worst, we are self-absorbed, superannuated rich kids, locked in an endless turd-hurl over who has the best toys.

At our best, audiophiles are the selfless and generous custodians of a thousand small libraries, keeping alive not only music's greatest recorded moments but the art of listening itself. At our worst, we are self-absorbed, superannuated rich kids, locked in an endless turd-hurl over who has the best toys.

At our best, audiophiles are the selfless and generous custodians of a thousand small libraries, keeping alive not only music's greatest recorded moments but the art of listening itself. At our worst, we are self-absorbed, superannuated rich kids, locked in an endless turd-hurl over who has the best toys.

Before last year, I had no more than a professional interest in the products of Wilson Audio Specialties. But before last year I hadn't experienced <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/artdudleylistening/listening_86">Wilson's Sophia Series 2</A> loudspeaker ($16,700/pair)&#151;which, like the wines I tend to order when my wife and I go out to dinner, is the second-cheapest item on their menu. Within weeks of the Sophias' arrival, respect had turned to rapture, like to love, and an entirely new appreciation for Wilson Audio was mine (footnote 1).

Before last year, I had no more than a professional interest in the products of Wilson Audio Specialties. But before last year I hadn't experienced <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/artdudleylistening/listening_86">Wilson's Sophia Series 2</A> loudspeaker ($16,700/pair)&#151;which, like the wines I tend to order when my wife and I go out to dinner, is the second-cheapest item on their menu. Within weeks of the Sophias' arrival, respect had turned to rapture, like to love, and an entirely new appreciation for Wilson Audio was mine (footnote 1).

Before last year, I had no more than a professional interest in the products of Wilson Audio Specialties. But before last year I hadn't experienced <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/artdudleylistening/listening_86">Wilson's Sophia Series 2</A> loudspeaker ($16,700/pair)&#151;which, like the wines I tend to order when my wife and I go out to dinner, is the second-cheapest item on their menu. Within weeks of the Sophias' arrival, respect had turned to rapture, like to love, and an entirely new appreciation for Wilson Audio was mine (footnote 1).

Before last year, I had no more than a professional interest in the products of Wilson Audio Specialties. But before last year I hadn't experienced <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/artdudleylistening/listening_86">Wilson's Sophia Series 2</A> loudspeaker ($16,700/pair)&#151;which, like the wines I tend to order when my wife and I go out to dinner, is the second-cheapest item on their menu. Within weeks of the Sophias' arrival, respect had turned to rapture, like to love, and an entirely new appreciation for Wilson Audio was mine (footnote 1).