Sam Tellig's best combination with the XRay player included the outboard power supply, the tube buffer, and the outboard dac. The A3.5 appears to be little more than a new case for the XRay. Strange they didn't upgrade the internal DAC to the spec of the XDAK. I went for the buffer and the power supply and really like the result. Perhaps I should take the outboard DAK off my wish list. What do you think, Sam?

I'd like to slowly build a nice system. The room is fairly small. For the budget and $$$ factors, I'm probably going with demo'd cdm-1nt's and a small sub (asw 300-new) for my "starter speakers". I've heard the mix and really like it for the $$$$.

Unfortunately, to start my set I'll have to stick to my old HT amp... a sony STR-DE695. Pretty nasty stuff, but its what I got.

I have a infinity interlude li36c center and am looking for a currently made brand of loudspeaker's to match them for under $800 bucks.

This system is being ran by a denon 3802 and will be used for movies and a little tv only.

any ideas?

Thanks!

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!