Records To Die For creates one of two problems for the <I>Stereophile</I> writer: either she can't come up with the names of two (or, in the case of new writers, five) recordings of world-class music in world-class stereo sound, or he comes up with so many his hard-drive crashes trying to narrow down the choices.

Records To Die For creates one of two problems for the <I>Stereophile</I> writer: either she can't come up with the names of two (or, in the case of new writers, five) recordings of world-class music in world-class stereo sound, or he comes up with so many his hard-drive crashes trying to narrow down the choices.

Records To Die For creates one of two problems for the <I>Stereophile</I> writer: either she can't come up with the names of two (or, in the case of new writers, five) recordings of world-class music in world-class stereo sound, or he comes up with so many his hard-drive crashes trying to narrow down the choices.

Records To Die For creates one of two problems for the <I>Stereophile</I> writer: either she can't come up with the names of two (or, in the case of new writers, five) recordings of world-class music in world-class stereo sound, or he comes up with so many his hard-drive crashes trying to narrow down the choices.

Records To Die For creates one of two problems for the <I>Stereophile</I> writer: either she can't come up with the names of two (or, in the case of new writers, five) recordings of world-class music in world-class stereo sound, or he comes up with so many his hard-drive crashes trying to narrow down the choices.

When <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com//interviews/66/">J. Gordon Holt</A> founded <I>Stereophile</I> in 1962, it was very much the outsider. Compared with the mass-market magazine of which he had been Technical Editor, <I>High Fidelity</I>, Gordon's <I>Stereophile</I> was the very model of an "underground" publication, with a publication schedule as irregular as its production values were inconsistent. Its writing was from the heart, however.

At the 1994 Summer CES, I was sitting in ProAc's room listening to Vangelis's <I>Blade Runner</I> score, when a couple of guys walked in carrying a shiny black board. "This is pretty interesting stuff," one of them said. "Want to hear it?"

At the 1994 Summer CES, I was sitting in ProAc's room listening to Vangelis's <I>Blade Runner</I> score, when a couple of guys walked in carrying a shiny black board. "This is pretty interesting stuff," one of them said. "Want to hear it?"

What a thankless task! No, <I>not</I> reviewing audio equipment (though the case could be made). I'm talking about preamplification in the digital age: who needs it? The EAD DSP 9000 MK3 digital processor I'm using includes an ingenious full-resolution digital-domain volume control accessible by remote control.

What a thankless task! No, <I>not</I> reviewing audio equipment (though the case could be made). I'm talking about preamplification in the digital age: who needs it? The EAD DSP 9000 MK3 digital processor I'm using includes an ingenious full-resolution digital-domain volume control accessible by remote control.