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Recommended Components

Hard as it is to believe, next year will be the 40th anniversary of Stereophile's famed "Recommended Components" feature. J. Gordon Holt first set the list to paper when the Beatles were first breaking big in the US, and its April and October appearances have stood as biannual audiophile institutions ever since.

The problem is, folks wanting "Recommended Components" issues often find them out of stock at the newsstand or missing from our available back issues list. For example, both RC issues from 2001 and the April RC issue from 2002 have been sold out for months.

As a result, we'…

An Audio Archivist's Dream

Music fans who use their computers to organize their CD or MP3 music libraries have found the CDDB music database, now owned and operated by Gracenote (see previous story), to be an essential part of their audio world. If you use CDDB-enabled hardware or software, the artist, album title, genre, and track titles will automatically display when you put a CD or load an MP3 file into your computer or compliant player.

For example, using RiverSong InterActive's TitleTrack Jukebox software, Mac users can simplify the task of using one or more of Sony's 5, 100, 200, or even 400 CD multidisc…

Eliminating the Weakest Link

Listening to and evaluating audio products in the CES trade-show environment is usually an utterly useless exercise. But every once in a while, a demonstration will clearly prove an exhibitor's point. PS Audio was able to do this with a convincing introduction to their Power Plant a couple of years back, as was Ray Kimber with his DiAural technology. This year, the "proof of concept in a hotel room" award would likely go to a new Australian upstart, ClarityEQ.

As we reported from the show, the company unveiled their $3500 Model PDC-6.6 (due in May) active DSP correction system for…

Added to the Archives This Week

Art Dudley slips his DIY leash, and revels in the high-tech splendor of the Linn Klimax Kontrol preamplifier and Klimax Twin power amplifier. AD admits he's feeling a little guilty about shunning his home-brew gear, but counters, "I've been having too much fun."

Chip Stern explains how power can corrupt in his review of the Monster Power AVS 2000 Automatic Voltage Stabilizer and Equi=Tech's 2Q and Q650 Balanced Power Systems. Stern says, "Like so many pilgrims wary about buying into esoteric audiophile voodoo, it took me a while to accept how important the quality of electricity is."

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Project K622

Since it has been five years since the debut of SACD, one might think that the debate as to where it fits within the audiophile food chain would have been put to rest. But as with most things audio, reality conspires to make rational comparisons between formats tough. One is never sure if two releases on different formats have been rendered from the same source, or, as we discovered with the recent Dark Side of the Moon hybrid SACD, from completely different masters.

For years, Stereophile's John Atkinson has been sorting through these issues while simultaneously receiving letters and email…

The Morpheus Audio Future

The music industry and the file-sharing community have been waiting nervously for the impending Supreme Court decision in MGM vs Grokster, which is expected any day. At stake is not only peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, but the development of future forms of music distribution.

The music industry is hoping that a ruling in its favor will hold software developers responsible for the ways their creations might be used, and by extension, stifle "unauthorized" forms of file sharing by allowing software developers, not just the users, to be sued.

It's hard to tell whether the move is brave…

Von Schweikert Saga Continues

Accidents and disasters have no sense of good timing, and when they strike have a way of fouling even the most promising love affairs. Case in point: loudspeaker manufacturer Von Schweikert Research and the small town of Watertown (pop. 30,000) in northern New York, about three hours' drive from Toronto.

A flood devastated VSR's facility in a partially renovated old industrial building in Watertown on Sunday, January 24. Unseasonably warm weather had melted accumulated snow, causing runoff from a landfill mound over a hazardous waste dump nearby. Water and mud---possibly contaminated…

The Music Business Attempts to Do It the Internet Way

It wasn't too long ago that rock band Pearl Jam set their lawyers after the dozens of independent websites pre-releasing pirated versions of the band's album Yield, hoping to curtail its availability on the Internet. How times change. On June 4, any consumer with access to the Internet and a RealNetworks G2 player will have the opportunity to visit the world's "ultimate listening posts" when the Red Hot Chili Peppers' new album, Californication, and Def Leppard's Euphoria, will be available in their entireties for streaming on the Web---four days prior to their official June 8 release.

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Added to the Archives This Week

In his review of the VTL MB750 monoblock power amplifier, Brian Damkroger asks: "How much power do you really need? What does it do for you, anyway?" His answer may surprise you. Also added to the Archives this week is Damkroger's in-depth history lesson and interview with the man behind the company, "Making Tubes User-Friendly: Luke Manley of VTL."

Next up, Stereophile senior editor Jonathan Scull gets his hands on the Linn Klimax 500 Solo monoblock power amplifier. Always looking for the real story, J-10 asks Linn's Ivor Tiefenbrun, "You're such a cheeky guy. Why'd you call it the…

New Publisher for <I>Stereophile</I>

John Gourlay, Stereophile's publisher since 1998, left the company at the beginning of November. John had been a valued collaborator and the moving force behind the launch of the 2004 Stereophile Buyer's Guide (see related story). We all wish him well in his future career.

Joining Stereophile as its publisher (as well as publisher of our sister magazines Home Theater and Stereophile Guide to Home Theater) is Jay Rosenfield. Along with the editors of the three magazines, Jay reports to the group publisher for Primedia's Home Technology and Photographic Group, VP Irwin Kornfield.

A…