Subjective Fact or Objective Fantasy?

Subjective Fact or Objective Fantasy?

Blame the Puritans! say I. The high end has always had an ostinato accompaniment of grumbles from those who appear to feel that it is immoral to want to listen to music with as high a quality as possible. In a recent letter, for example, <I>Fanfare</I> and <I>Stereo Review</I> contributor and <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/reference/101">author Howard Ferstler</A> states that "the audio world has more products of bogus quality and shills promoting them than any other industry, bar none," and trots out the old saw that audiophiles "end up spending an excessive amount of money on equipment or tweaking techniques of surprisingly dubious quality."

Harman Hammered

Having been busy with the gold and financial sectors, I had been neglecting the markets in general. But I did notice yesterday that Harman International, over the past 8+ months, has been taken out back and mugged to the bone. $75 to $32.

In business speak, this is the darling child of the high-end audio industry. For those of you who bought this oinker on the good news (i.e., Harman puts Mark-Levinson stereos in every luxury car cabin in the universe), I am truly sorry.

How Records Give You More Of What You Want - 1965

I recently picked up my original copy of Bob Dylan's Bringing It All Back Home (1965), and read some great comments on the inner-sleeve. Some of these are still applicable, but others are almost comical. I thought you guys would get a kick out of it, anyway.

Being a vinyl junkie, I'm not trying to start a flame war, but even the most aggressive vinyl enthusiast has to admit that some of this is humorous by today's standards:

Here's How Records Give You More Of What You Want:
- The best for less - Records give you top quality for less money than any other recorded form.

Integrated amp. for PSB Alpha B1 speakers

Folks,

I'm seeking advice on an integrated amp. I recently purchased a pair of PSB Alpha B1 speakers for my office. At present, they're being driven by a first generation Sonic Impact T-amp. Most of the listening in my office is done via a Squeezebox Classic.

I don't want to spend more than $300 to $500 for the amp. I don't mind buying used equipment.

Given my current equipment, what integrated amps do you think should be on my short list?

Thanks.

Paperclip Transmission

Paperclip Transmission

“Good news!” Stephen exclaimed, the second I walked into his office. I saw my Usher S-520s plopped lovingly in my cubicle. “Check your email,” he instructed.

An email from JA read:

I couldn't find anything wrong, Ariel. I measured both speakers and also listened to them…they match very closely&#151as well as the individual responses of the tweeter and woofer of the sample that didn't have the biwiring jumpers connected.*

Could that have been the problem?

Could this have been the problem…

Could this have been the problem?

COULD THIS HAVE BEEN THE PROBLEM?!

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