After a frustrating late-night duel with evil recording gremlins, JA called it a day. But the next morning he was back at the controls to record Canadian pianist Robert Silverman for what would subsequently become one of <I>Stereophile</I>'s popular audiophile recordings: <I>Intermezzo: Works for Piano by Brahms</I>. In <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//musicrecordings/311/"><I>Intermezzo</I>: The Santa Barbara Sessions</A>, writer Thomas Norton runs down the key events that finally resulted in a completed analog master tape, with engineering from Water Lily Acoustics' Kavichandran Alexander.

The "Big Five" of the recorded music industry is one step closer to becoming the "Big Four," according to late-January reports from Frankfurt, Germany, home of <A HREF="http://www.bertelsmann.de/">Bertelsmann AG</A>. Bertelsmann is the parent company of <A HREF="http://www.bmg.com/">Bertelsmann Music Group</A>, which has been in merger discussions for several months with the United Kingdom's <A HREF="http://www.emigroup.com/"&gt; EMI Group PLC</A>. Discussions are near completion, according to a BMG official.

As an audio journalist "servicing" the High End (ouch!), I surf the Web waves to see what's going on on the various audio newsgroups and bulletin boards. Sometimes the Net resembles the Concorde going down, the crash video'd by a passing French motorist: Ashen faces pressed against car windows driving slowly by to check out the carnage.

Having evaluated any number of integrated amplifiers in the past year or so, I've repeatedly been impressed by the ways in which designers build versatility and sonic distinction into their single-box designs. In matching those that sounded and measured the best&mdash;such as the tubed E.A.R. V20 (October 1999) and the solid-state <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/329/">Magnum Dynalab MD 208 receiver</A> (January 2001)&mdash;with appropriate speakers and source components, I was able to attain high-resolution musicality with a minimum of fuss. Crave high-end sound but require even less complexity? You could dispense with interconnects altogether by integrating a high-quality CD player into a remote-controlled receiver, as Linn has with the diminutive <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/307/">Classik</A&gt; that I reviewed last November.

Having evaluated any number of integrated amplifiers in the past year or so, I've repeatedly been impressed by the ways in which designers build versatility and sonic distinction into their single-box designs. In matching those that sounded and measured the best&mdash;such as the tubed E.A.R. V20 (October 1999) and the solid-state <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/329/">Magnum Dynalab MD 208 receiver</A> (January 2001)&mdash;with appropriate speakers and source components, I was able to attain high-resolution musicality with a minimum of fuss. Crave high-end sound but require even less complexity? You could dispense with interconnects altogether by integrating a high-quality CD player into a remote-controlled receiver, as Linn has with the diminutive <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/307/">Classik</A&gt; that I reviewed last November.

Having evaluated any number of integrated amplifiers in the past year or so, I've repeatedly been impressed by the ways in which designers build versatility and sonic distinction into their single-box designs. In matching those that sounded and measured the best&mdash;such as the tubed E.A.R. V20 (October 1999) and the solid-state <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/329/">Magnum Dynalab MD 208 receiver</A> (January 2001)&mdash;with appropriate speakers and source components, I was able to attain high-resolution musicality with a minimum of fuss. Crave high-end sound but require even less complexity? You could dispense with interconnects altogether by integrating a high-quality CD player into a remote-controlled receiver, as Linn has with the diminutive <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/307/">Classik</A&gt; that I reviewed last November.

Having evaluated any number of integrated amplifiers in the past year or so, I've repeatedly been impressed by the ways in which designers build versatility and sonic distinction into their single-box designs. In matching those that sounded and measured the best&mdash;such as the tubed E.A.R. V20 (October 1999) and the solid-state <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/329/">Magnum Dynalab MD 208 receiver</A> (January 2001)&mdash;with appropriate speakers and source components, I was able to attain high-resolution musicality with a minimum of fuss. Crave high-end sound but require even less complexity? You could dispense with interconnects altogether by integrating a high-quality CD player into a remote-controlled receiver, as Linn has with the diminutive <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/307/">Classik</A&gt; that I reviewed last November.

Having evaluated any number of integrated amplifiers in the past year or so, I've repeatedly been impressed by the ways in which designers build versatility and sonic distinction into their single-box designs. In matching those that sounded and measured the best&mdash;such as the tubed E.A.R. V20 (October 1999) and the solid-state <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/329/">Magnum Dynalab MD 208 receiver</A> (January 2001)&mdash;with appropriate speakers and source components, I was able to attain high-resolution musicality with a minimum of fuss. Crave high-end sound but require even less complexity? You could dispense with interconnects altogether by integrating a high-quality CD player into a remote-controlled receiver, as Linn has with the diminutive <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/307/">Classik</A&gt; that I reviewed last November.

Having evaluated any number of integrated amplifiers in the past year or so, I've repeatedly been impressed by the ways in which designers build versatility and sonic distinction into their single-box designs. In matching those that sounded and measured the best&mdash;such as the tubed E.A.R. V20 (October 1999) and the solid-state <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/329/">Magnum Dynalab MD 208 receiver</A> (January 2001)&mdash;with appropriate speakers and source components, I was able to attain high-resolution musicality with a minimum of fuss. Crave high-end sound but require even less complexity? You could dispense with interconnects altogether by integrating a high-quality CD player into a remote-controlled receiver, as Linn has with the diminutive <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/307/">Classik</A&gt; that I reviewed last November.

Having evaluated any number of integrated amplifiers in the past year or so, I've repeatedly been impressed by the ways in which designers build versatility and sonic distinction into their single-box designs. In matching those that sounded and measured the best&mdash;such as the tubed E.A.R. V20 (October 1999) and the solid-state <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/329/">Magnum Dynalab MD 208 receiver</A> (January 2001)&mdash;with appropriate speakers and source components, I was able to attain high-resolution musicality with a minimum of fuss. Crave high-end sound but require even less complexity? You could dispense with interconnects altogether by integrating a high-quality CD player into a remote-controlled receiver, as Linn has with the diminutive <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/307/">Classik</A&gt; that I reviewed last November.