From the vantage point of a devout music lover, two-channel audio is more satisfying and more inclusive than ever these days. In terms of resolution, clarity, linearity, transparency, soundstaging, frequency extension, and sheer performance value, aspiring audiophiles have never had it so good.

From the vantage point of a devout music lover, two-channel audio is more satisfying and more inclusive than ever these days. In terms of resolution, clarity, linearity, transparency, soundstaging, frequency extension, and sheer performance value, aspiring audiophiles have never had it so good.

From the vantage point of a devout music lover, two-channel audio is more satisfying and more inclusive than ever these days. In terms of resolution, clarity, linearity, transparency, soundstaging, frequency extension, and sheer performance value, aspiring audiophiles have never had it so good.

From the vantage point of a devout music lover, two-channel audio is more satisfying and more inclusive than ever these days. In terms of resolution, clarity, linearity, transparency, soundstaging, frequency extension, and sheer performance value, aspiring audiophiles have never had it so good.

From the vantage point of a devout music lover, two-channel audio is more satisfying and more inclusive than ever these days. In terms of resolution, clarity, linearity, transparency, soundstaging, frequency extension, and sheer performance value, aspiring audiophiles have never had it so good.

From the vantage point of a devout music lover, two-channel audio is more satisfying and more inclusive than ever these days. In terms of resolution, clarity, linearity, transparency, soundstaging, frequency extension, and sheer performance value, aspiring audiophiles have never had it so good.

<B>RACHMANINOFF: Piano Concerto 2</B><BR>With: Prelude in g-sharp, Op.32 No.12; Etudes-Tableaux, Op.33 Nos. 1, 2, 9; <I>Variations on a Theme of Corelli</I>, Op.42<BR>H&#233;l&#232;ne Grimaud, piano; Vladimir Ashkenazy, Philharmonia Orchestra<BR>Teldec 8573-84376-2 (CD). 2001. Friedemann Engelbrecht, prod.; Eberhard Sengpiel, Andreas Florczak, engs. DDD. TT: 70:33<BR>Performance <B>*****</B><BR>Sonics <B>*****</B>

On May 23, the <A HREF="http://www.juilliard.edu">Juilliard School of Music</A> announced the selection of 18 instrumentalists who will form the core of the newly-created Juilliard Jazz Orchestra. As orchestra members, the musicians will benefit from tuition-free study at the school's recently established Juilliard Institute for Jazz. The creation of the institute&mdash;a collaboration of the Juilliard School and the "Jazz at Lincoln Center" program&mdash;is an indication that the prestigious institution is further acknowledging the importance of jazz, an indigenous American genre that many critics have called "the classical music of the 20th century."

Some long-time <I>Stereophile</I> readers were outraged when the magazine put a photo of a computer soundcard on its cover in September of 2000 <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/280/"&gt;(click here for the review and controversy)</A>. And then, John Atkinson added insult to injury by doing another <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/299/">soundcard review</A> last November. Some readers may have been scratching their heads about why we did it, but at least one manufacturer is getting the message.