The Fifth Element

I've been chipping away for some time at the task of trying to put together a music lover's stereo system for about half the money of my last such effort: $2500 to $3750 now, vs around $7500 back in 2005. My timing was good: CD and DVD receivers are a hot product category, with several attractive new entries at various prices.

The Gini Systems "LS3/5a" is an unlicensed and inexact replica of the celebrated LS3/5a outside (remote location) broadcast monitoring loudspeaker originally developed by the BBC in the early 1970s. (For a précis of the LS3/5a's history, click <herehttp://www.stereophile.com/thefifthelement/690">here;.)

In a moment, I will resume my ongoing quest to put together a music lover's stereo system for about half the cost of my last such effort (see my columns in the Octoberhttp://www.stereophile.com/thefifthelement/1005fifth">October; and Decemberhttp://www.stereophile.com/thefifthelement/1205fifth">December; 2005 issues): $3750 rather than $7500. But first I want to urge everyone who hasn't already done so to check out the">http://www.stereophile.com/thefifthelement/208fifth/index3.html">the results of the Five Great Art Songs of the Rock Era write-in competition announced in my February 2008 column. The winning entries are great—really thought-provoking. Indeed, some of the lists, plus an unaccountably belated recollection, prompted me to put together my own alternate list. This list doesn't invalidate or replace my original one, but it benefited from the energy all the entrants (thanks, everyone) put into theirs. Here goes:

Ah, Miss Julie.

US composer Morten Lauridsen's Lux Aeterna is one of the indisputable masterpieces of the 20th century. John Atkinson has recorded the male vocal group Cantus's performances of Lauridsen's O Magnum Mysterium (on Comfort">http://www.stereophile.com/musicrecordings/1105cantus">Comfort and Joy: Volume One, Cantus CTS-1204) and Ave Maria Dulcissima (on Cantushttp://www.stereophile.com/news/121007cantus">Cantus;, Cantus CTS-1207). (And great recordings they are—one engineer chum thinks JA's Cantus recording of OMM is the single best-engineered choral recording he's ever heard.)