One of the highlights of any Consumer Electronics Show, I have found, is Nordost Corporation's demonstration of their cables. Using a relatively modest system and non-audiophile source material, they run through a simple, straightforward sequence, climbing up through their product line, culminating with their new, just-introduced model. At each step, the system sounds distinctly better—clearer, cleaner, with more body and tonal purity—than with the previous model. There's no hype, artifice, or magic, just a clear demonstration of the progress that Nordost is making as they refine their designs.

My wife and I have this ongoing riff: We try to make each other laugh by sharing examples of words we've looked at too quickly and misread&mdash;mistaking <I>offered</I> for <I>overfed</I>, <I>bagel</I> for <I>kegel</I>, that sort of thing. All very subtle and dry and Garrison Keillor. You can hear the belly laughs from there, can't you?

My wife and I have this ongoing riff: We try to make each other laugh by sharing examples of words we've looked at too quickly and misread&mdash;mistaking <I>offered</I> for <I>overfed</I>, <I>bagel</I> for <I>kegel</I>, that sort of thing. All very subtle and dry and Garrison Keillor. You can hear the belly laughs from there, can't you?

My wife and I have this ongoing riff: We try to make each other laugh by sharing examples of words we've looked at too quickly and misread&mdash;mistaking <I>offered</I> for <I>overfed</I>, <I>bagel</I> for <I>kegel</I>, that sort of thing. All very subtle and dry and Garrison Keillor. You can hear the belly laughs from there, can't you?

My wife and I have this ongoing riff: We try to make each other laugh by sharing examples of words we've looked at too quickly and misread&mdash;mistaking <I>offered</I> for <I>overfed</I>, <I>bagel</I> for <I>kegel</I>, that sort of thing. All very subtle and dry and Garrison Keillor. You can hear the belly laughs from there, can't you?

"It costs as much as a car&mdash;and not a used jalopy, either." That's what goes through your head as you contemplate this magnificent $20,190 piece of audio jewelry. I don't mean "jewelry" pejoratively; the tubed Jadis RC JP80 MC Mk.II is a gorgeous, gleaming hunk of retro-looking machinery. Two hunks, actually: an equally large remote power supply is connected via an umbilical cord terminated with an elbow connector the size of house plumbing.

"It costs as much as a car&mdash;and not a used jalopy, either." That's what goes through your head as you contemplate this magnificent $20,190 piece of audio jewelry. I don't mean "jewelry" pejoratively; the tubed Jadis RC JP80 MC Mk.II is a gorgeous, gleaming hunk of retro-looking machinery. Two hunks, actually: an equally large remote power supply is connected via an umbilical cord terminated with an elbow connector the size of house plumbing.

"It costs as much as a car&mdash;and not a used jalopy, either." That's what goes through your head as you contemplate this magnificent $20,190 piece of audio jewelry. I don't mean "jewelry" pejoratively; the tubed Jadis RC JP80 MC Mk.II is a gorgeous, gleaming hunk of retro-looking machinery. Two hunks, actually: an equally large remote power supply is connected via an umbilical cord terminated with an elbow connector the size of house plumbing.

"It costs as much as a car&mdash;and not a used jalopy, either." That's what goes through your head as you contemplate this magnificent $20,190 piece of audio jewelry. I don't mean "jewelry" pejoratively; the tubed Jadis RC JP80 MC Mk.II is a gorgeous, gleaming hunk of retro-looking machinery. Two hunks, actually: an equally large remote power supply is connected via an umbilical cord terminated with an elbow connector the size of house plumbing.

"It costs as much as a car&mdash;and not a used jalopy, either." That's what goes through your head as you contemplate this magnificent $20,190 piece of audio jewelry. I don't mean "jewelry" pejoratively; the tubed Jadis RC JP80 MC Mk.II is a gorgeous, gleaming hunk of retro-looking machinery. Two hunks, actually: an equally large remote power supply is connected via an umbilical cord terminated with an elbow connector the size of house plumbing.