Robert J. Reina

One of my favorite parts of attending <I>Stereophile</I>'s Home Entertainment shows&mdash;aside from seeking out the sexy new gear and pressing the flesh of readers&mdash;is the "Ask the Editors" panel discussions. What begins as a Q&A session usually turns into a free-for-all, as the outspoken and opinionated likes of Sam Tellig, Michael Fremer, Ken Kessler, and John Marks barely give room for wallflowers such as Art Dudley and yours truly to express our opinions&mdash;except when editor John Atkinson asks each of us, in turn, to cast our votes for the "most interesting rooms to visit." At both the HE2004 and HE2005 "Ask the Editors" panels, one company was recommended by a number of <I>Stereophile</I> writers, me included: Almarro Products.

I've never lived in New York City, but I've visited often, especially the Upper West Side, where my wife's grandparents lived for many years. There's a little jazz bar there, on Broadway near 106th Street, aka Duke Ellington Boulevard.

<B>CHARLIE HADEN LIBERATION MUSIC ORCHESTRA: <I>Not In Our Name</I></B><BR>
Charlie Haden, bass; Carla Bley, piano, arranger, conductor; Seneca Black, Michael Rodriguez, trumpet; Miguel Zen&#243;n, alto sax; Chris Cheek, Tony Malaby, tenor sax; Curtis Fowlkes, trombone; Ahnee Sharon Freeman, French horn; Joe Daley, tuba; Steve Cardenas, guitar; Matt Wilson, drums<BR>
Verve B000494902 (CD). 2005. Charlie Haden, Carla Bley, Ruth Cameron, prods.; Gerard de Haro, eng. DDD? TT: 68:55<BR>
Performance <B>****</B><BR>
Sonics <B>****</B>

Last June, Sennheiser, a multinational manufacturer of microphones, headphones, and wireless technology products, celebrated its 60th anniversary. The company was founded as Wennebostel Laboratories (Labor W) in 1945 by Dr. Fritz Sennheiser and seven other employees of the Institute for Radio Frequency Engineering and Electroacoustics at Hanover Technical University. At the time, as Dr. Sennheiser explained when I visited the company's Wennebostel facility 10 years ago, German radio engineers were prohibited by the occupying Allied forces from constructing communications equipment, so he and his crew needed to find something else they could do. In addition, supply shortages severely restricted the scope of what they might manufacture. Sennheiser determined that they could build test instruments such as millivolt meters from the parts they were able to recover from the Institute and the Allies. Seimens' Hanover branch bought the first samples and the startup company began to supply that firm with more and more complex products.

The Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF) maintains a <A HREF="http://www.eff.org">website</A&gt; that we have found invaluable for keeping up with news about technological restrictions to information and fair use. Last week, we were directed to the EFF's new <A HREF="http://www.eff.org/IP/DRM/guide/">User's Guide to DRM in Online Music</A>, which we recommend to everyone still undecided about buying into one of the online providers.

I first heard the Totem Acoustic Tab&#249; loudspeakers at HI-FI '96, <I>Stereophile</I>'s Home Theater & Specialty Audio Show at the Waldorf=Astoria in New York City last June. A startlingly realistic vocal recording drew me to Totem's sixth-floor demo room. Vincent Bruzzese, the speaker's designer, was playing Michael Jonasz singing "Si si si le ciel" from <I>la fabuleuse histoire de Mister Swing</I> (WEA 2292-42338-2, imported by May Audio Marketing). The small, two-way Tab&#249; cast a holographic, palpable musical image with clear highs and sizzling dynamic pace. I was bitten, and set things in motion for this review. And two other things drew me to the Tab&#249;: its capacitor-less crossover and its similarity to Totem's <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/820">Model 1</A>.

I have a theory about "showing off" systems. I call it <I>Zen and the Art of Keeping Your Yap Shut</I>. Think about it: what's the first thing that pops into your head when someone tells you how great their system sounds? "Yeah, <I>right!</I>"