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One of the unalloyed pleasures of being an audiophile is helping friends put together their systems. In a hobby often obsessed with getting the sound perfect in your room, in your chair, where only you can park your fanny, helping a friend buy audio gear is a way to make the sweet spot a little bigger.

Last year, I helped my friend Kurt buy speakers. Wanting something that would work in the small space near his new flat-screen TV while matching his tasteful décor, he asked if I knew of a speaker that might…

Digital Sources: Theta Miles CD player via S/PDIF output; Benchmark DAC1 D/A converter; Sony Vaio laptop running Vista and Sony Sound Forge 9; M-Audio Fast Track Ultra USB interface.
Power Amplifiers: Pass Labs Aleph 3 & XA30.5, Manley Stingray iTube.
Loudspeakers: Revel Performa F30, Totem Acoustic Forest, Klipsch Palladium PB-17B.
Cables: Digital: Stereovox HDXV coaxial. Interconnect: Sain Line Systems Pure & Reference (both balanced). Speaker: Kimber BiFocal XL. AC: Sain Line Systems Reference.—Erick Lichte

Editor: I was totally aghast at this contradictory Follow-Up review. I found that the poor review layout and content turned me away from "wanting to comment," but felt that I owed it to our faithful followers and future buyers.

Although Totem was rather pleased to have a Follow-Up review printed, I was befuddled by the apparent amateur reaction of Erick Lichte to our fabulous Forest speakers.

Totem Acoustic speakers, without exception, are produced to have a tremendous exactitude in model continuity and quality of sound. As mentioned by…

I am, as a rule, a purist when it comes to early-music performances; I like Bach on the harpsichord, Dowland on the lute, etc. So when I was confronted with the concept of this disc, which features the improvisations of jazz saxophonist Jan Garbarek accompanying straightforward…

I can't help it. I take perverse pleasure in slowly tormenting someone whom I sense is unsure and insecure. Especially about hi-fi.

This took place more than 20 years ago. An audiophile friend had purchased a pair of KEF 104 speakers for a song. He did so at a bank auction following the demise of an area hi-fi shop.

"You bought the speakers. Now you have to drive them," I laughed.

"What do you mean? I have separate components. My power amplifier…

"I know you love tubes," Paul said. "You'll flip over the HCA-2."

"Why didn't you make a tube amp?" I shot back.

"Funky devices," replied Paul. "Anyway, as you know, transistors are valves, too. They turn the power-supply voltage up and down in direct…

Just like the early PS Audio preamps.

"What do you think a larger transformer is doing […

It is Stereophile's policy not to rush to publish the first review of a product, but to take the time to be thorough, reflective, and responsible. But in the case of the PS Audio HCA-2 amplifier, so many comments have already been published, even in Stereophile, that by the time this review sees print it might seem like old news.

First, PS Audio released a good number of beta samples of the HCA-2 to their website subscribers, and posted many of those subscribers' comments. That created a good deal of consumer…

The HCA-2 didn't sound any different from what I remembered of the brief initial audition, when it was cold and right out of the box. It did sound strikingly clear, pure, and open. Sure, there was the joy of getting close to my music again after months at more than arm's length—but the HCA-2 was magnetic. It made me want to listen to every recording that I was familiar with, to see if maybe there was…