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To balance or not to balance? That is the audio question that Martin Colloms sets out to answer in Balance:">http://www.stereophile.com//features/335/">Balance: Benefit or Bluff? Although balanced capability is a fashionable feature in many expensive audio products, Colloms writes that "the High End could be paying dangerous, costly lip service to the received wisdom that balanced operation is the goal for an audio system."

Sam Tellig may apologize for contributing to the audiophile empty wallet syndrome, but that doesn't stop him from ranking the Monarchy">http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/339/">Monarchy Audio Digital Interface Processor 24/96 "a must-have if you want to get the most from your upsampling MSB Link DAC III."

Jonathan Scull asks "What's it take to compete on the bleeding edge of digital?" Apparently more than what's offered by the "large international manufacturing and marketing concerns stalking the earth today." Will the Accuphase">http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/340/">Accuphase DP-100 Super Audio CD transport & DC-101 Digital Processor make the cut? Scull's incisive report reveals all.

Chip Stern provides us with a mini-review of the Sony">http://www.stereophile.com//digitalsourcereviews/346/">Sony SCD-777ES . Find out why this SACD player prompted him to exclaim: "At $2500, the SCD-777ES is not merely a Class A component, it's a steal."

Mark Levinson has traveled from Woodstock to the Whitney, and Michael Fremer lends an ear to his Red">http://www.stereophile.com//loudspeakerreviews/350/">Red Rose Music R3 loudspeaker to determine if the journey was a fruitful one. As Fremer characterizes it, "If Levinson's Cello foray was haute monde, Red Rose is Dockers: loose-fitting and relaxed."

As John Atkinson points out in his "As We See It" from last month, Trumpets">http://www.stereophile.com//asweseeit/355/">Trumpets to the Back of Me?, there appears to be a long, hard road ahead for audiophiles as record labels struggle to make something out of the multi-channel future. As JA puts it, "The last thing I want is to have trumpets and drums attacking me from behind, yet almost without exception, that is what record producers seem to feel is an essential part of the DVD-Audio and SACD experiences."

In his The">http://www.stereophile.com//thefifthelement/358/">The Fifth Element #2, John Marks discusses in detail how to use common household items to render some audiophile magic. Marks explains, Aall you need is a very long piece of string, a tape measure, two bits of masking tape, a quantity of small self-adhesive removable note papers, and later, perhaps, a trip to the fabric store."