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Flat frequency reponse in an audio component is good, right? Well, maybe not always, explains J. Gordon Holt in Down">http://www.stereophile.com//asweseeit/138/">Down With Flat! JGH: "Many times in past years I have been impressed by the incredible flatness of the measured high-end response of some speakers. . . . In every such case, I have been equally amazed at how positively awful those loudspeakers sounded—so tipped-up at the high end that I could not enjoy listening to them."

Want to start an audio newsgroup fire-fight? Just put the three letters "ABX" in the subject line of your post, sit back, and watch the pros take over. Read where it all started 15 years ago in "The">http://www.stereophile.com//features/141/">The Highs & Lows of Double-Blind Testing," which John Atkinson has compiled from the years 1985 and 1986, when an argumentative thread ran through Stereophile's pages discussing the benefits (or lack of) of double-blind testing methods in audio component reviewing—all triggered by J. Gordon Holt's review">http://www.stereophile.com//asweseeit/121/">review of the ABX Comparator.

Back in 1985, J. Gordon Holt wrote: "It seems, these days, that many of us audiophiles have become so preoccupied with the minutiae of sound reproduction that we haven't even noticed that it doesn't sound like music any more." He was talking about the obsession with soundstaging and detail at the expense of musical accuracy. In "Getting">http://www.stereophile.com//asweseeit/144/">Getting the Notes Right (Midrange Madness)," he renders his lesson in classic JGH style, observing that "I have played on this old saw in these pages for so many years that it has turned into a dead sawhorse, but somehow the message never seems to get through. There should be no harm done by beating it into the ground a little farther."

When it comes to power, VTL's Luke Manley is definitely in the "more is better" camp. But when Lonnie Brownell sat down to listen to the VTL">http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/149/">VTL ST-85 tube power amplifier, he elected to start with a single amp and go for more power later. Lonnie writes: "How's about I go with just one amplifier for a while? After all, that's what most people would buy, at least at first. Then I can drop in another one and see what that does." But in the end, was one enough? Brownell tells all.

In his review of the VTL">http://www.stereophile.com//amplificationreviews/152/">VTL MB750 monoblock power amplifier, Brian Damkroger asks: "How much power do you really need? What does it do for you, anyway?" His answer may surprise you. Also added to the Archives this week is Damkroger's in-depth history lesson and interview with the man behind the company, "Making">http://www.stereophile.com//interviews/153/">Making Tubes User-Friendly: Luke Manley of VTL."

From the January 2004 issue, Robert J. Reina surveys the Epos">http://www.stereophile.com/loudspeakerreviews/104epos">Epos ELS-3 loudspeaker, reporting at the outset, "I have not been this excited about an entry-level speaker in years." BJR explains, "In three areas, it exceeded in performance what I've heard from its competition."

To kick off his three-loudspeaker survey from the January 2004 issue, Art Dudley sets up the Meadowlark">http://www.stereophile.com/loudspeakerreviews/104meadowlark">Meadowlark Audio Swift loudspeaker in his room and notes, "You look at something like the Meadowlark Swift and you think, How can they sell this for only $1195/pair?"