LATEST ADDITIONS

It's easy to be impressed by Simaudio's Moon Evolution Andromeda Reference CD player. Everything about it oozes quality and luxury, from its imposing two-chassis configuration to the multi-component disc clamp of machined aluminum. Even surrounded by my double-decker VTL amps, <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/turntables/506vpi">VPI HR-X</A> turntable, and Ferrari Fly-yellow <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/619/index8.html">Wilson Audio Sophia 2</A> speakers, the Andromeda was usually the first thing guests asked about: "How much does <I>that</I> cost?" The answer is $12,500. The Andromeda <I>should</I> look impressive.

I feel a bit remiss about not commenting on Bobby Fischer's passing. As a bookish chess-obssessed kid, I lived for his <I>Boy's Life</I> chess column and, during the "Match of the Century," I was hitchhiking to and from Iowa and the Spassky/Fischer battle of wits was always a safe topic of conversation. (1972 was ground zero for the mainstream born again movement and it seemed like half the people that picked me up wanted a conversion in exchange for the ride. Thank goodness for chess!)

I'd pay cash money to know how "Some stupid with a flare gun" translates into Japanese.

I first heard a CD player in my own system in 1984 or 1985, several years before I began writing for <I>Stereophile</I>. I was curious about the Compact Disc medium&mdash;I'd read about it, had listened to CDs in stores, and was eager to hear what they sounded like in my own system. I'd even bought a CD: the original-cast recording of <I>42nd Street</I>, which I already had on LP. One evening, a friend who worked for Sony and knew that I was an audiophile brought over his latest acquisition: a CDP-501ES, the second from the top of Sony's line of CD players. He also brought along a bunch of CDs, including some solo-piano discs, and Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Symphony's then-famous recording of Tchaikovsky's <I>1812 Overture</I> (Telarc CD-80041).

John Atkinson sent along <A HREF="http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/tomdispatch/2008/01/beast-without… Jay Rosen article</A> about why "the media" gets stuff like primaries so wrong.

It has a fan, it won't work without a monitor, and it contains a 750GB hard drive&mdash;for some audiophiles, that's a trifecta of reasons <I>not</I> to buy the McIntosh MS750 music server ($6000).

Who knows? <A HREF="http://www.shinealightmovie.com/">This</A&gt; might be good.