Stephen Mejias

They're saying five to seven inches in the city.

My ears had been bothering me. First my right, then the left. A low-level high-pitched ringing, followed by a congested feeling and a popping like what you get when flying or taking an elevator way up to the 29th floor. Then, one morning in Las Vegas while attending the Consumer">http://blog.stereophile.com/ces2008/">Consumer Electronics Show, my left ear went whooooooooosh. And my hearing was momentarily dulled&#151not completely gone, just dulled. Outside sounds were farther away, my own voice sounded distant and muffled. It freaked me out.

Received this fax today:

George's back panel offers an Aux input, headphone output, preamp output, USB port, and bass level control.

In addition to its coaxial speakers, George has a four-inch down-firing sub.

Beneath George's top panel, you'll find a list of his creators.

At some point during my time with George ($499), I lost a neighbor. The IT guy who sat in the cubicle immediately outside my office suddenly wasn't around anymore. Weeks later, I learned that the music had been bothering him. It had been too loud, I suppose. Or there had been too much of it. I'm not sure. I started apologizing to people: "Sorry about the music. It's just that I've got this new radio in my office. It's a lot of fun. His name is George."