I have a VPI HW-19 Mark IV with TNT upgrade. I am playing it through Thiel speakers including a Thiel SW1 subwoofer. Whenever I play through my turntable, the SW1

There is always a tendency to resist anything new, especially when we feel comfortable with the old. Nevertheless I think that we are at a loss if we don't explore.

Of course some technologies do not represent a sound step forward, and some formats face their untimely demise with certainty. But both hits and misses are part of any evolutionary process. Think of the scientific and technological advancements that took us from clockwork devices, which stored information mechanically, to optical disk/card devices that store data using holographic methods.

I definitely don

My Linn turntable just went south (bummed). Looking for a budget replacement because I can't afford an expensive one. Anyone have any advice? Goldring, Music Hall, Project etc...

Today the UPS guy brought me what I thought would be a treat - Clapton's new release "Back Home". Two 180 gram LP's - half speed mastered. Eric's newest songs. Sonically it is a first rate job. The content is horrible. He's not writing stuff like a new father (though the cover art makes that clear) but more like a grandfather. To make it worse, the bad songs are so horribly overproduced I never made it through the fourth side. Almost like disco stuff. Drum machines, backup singers, strings. The man's gone over the edge.

If you look at the "Recommended Components" listing in the OCtober issue, you will see that we promised that the sections that had to be omitted due to lack of space would be posted on the Web. My apologies for the tardiness in doing this; I have been swamped in getting both the November issue and the 2006 Stereophile Buyer's Guide off to the printer. The missing stuff will go up on www.stereophile.com on Monday.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

Aloha, loving the DBT debate, with nice points on all sides. My buddy "Big Mike" and I have been working on a DBT at a level we can master while swilling vino and debating hi-fi.

Being the master debaters that we are, we have arrived at a DBT test that may satisfy some. Granted, it is situation specific, but DBT nonetheless!

Aloha,

Kudos to...

1) Art Dudley in his disc player review. Recalling all the hype that was generated in the past regarding certain tweaks and giving a brief review of the current state of those past "glaring diiference" makers. This hobby tends toward miracle cures that get everyone all aflutter and then fade. It's important that we keep those ideas alive to see if they have "legs" and to remind us of which ideas have evolved from fad to bad. Great perspective reminder!

I'm new to this forum and farily new to this hobby. I started out as vinyl collector, but have lately have got back to CDs (with the help of a decent CDP: Cambridge Audio DS500SE).

I regularly troll through audiogon and keep on coming across Jazz at the Pawnshop in a variety of formats (I'm considered the XRCD). I'm not wondering about the sound quality, but the actual music itself. What sort of style jazz is it? Cool, Bebop, Fusion, Smooth? Yes, I hate the categories too, but they are helpful in narrowing down the play style of the musicians.