Art Dudley

In an industry whose newest products are often as discouragingly unaffordable as they are short of the sonic mark, the Naim Audio Uniti ($3795) stands out. In a single reasonably sized box, the Uniti combines the guts of Naim's Nait 5i integrated amplifier and CD5i CD player with various additional sources: an FM/DAB tuner, and interfaces for an iPod, a USB memory stick, an iRadio, and a UPnP-compatible connected computer or server—all for the price of a very good television set.

On two occasions I've caught myself wondering how to afford a pair of Wilson Audio loudspeakers. Interestingly, both happened within the past year. The first was in April 2009, at the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/ssi2009/wilsons_to_the_maxx">Son et Image show in Montreal</A>, during a demonstration of the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/wilson_audio_specialties_m… Series 3</A>. The experience was notable for its blend of genuinely great sound with genuine musicality: Each performance unfolded of its own natural accord, with human randomness and nuance, and without the fussy, mechanical, shallow artifice that attracts some audiophiles in the way a carnivorous plant attracts flies&#151;and, if they're lucky, kills them (the audiophiles, that is).

Revolver? More like <I>evolver</I>: 80 years after the first electrically driven record players became available, professional and amateur engineers continue to seek new ways to spin LPs with ever-greater steadiness and precision.

I'm fortunate to own some very nice hi-fi gear: Different turntables, tonearms, and pickups for different records. Two pairs of really superb full-range loudspeakers. A choice of mildly exotic amplifiers&#151;my favorite combination of which (a stereo preamplifier and a pair of monoblock power amps) sells for a little over $21,000. The average American consumer would think that's insane.

Step 1: Find something that works. Step 2: Use it. Step 3: Repeat as necessary, then retire.

My favorite moment in the Zack Snyder film <I>Watchmen</I>&#151;apart from the Dylan-fueled title sequence, which itself contains some of the most memorable scenes in recent cinema&#151;comes when retired crimefighter Daniel "Nite Owl II" Dreiberg arrives home to find the doctrinaire and mildly crazy Walter "Rorschach" Kovacs in his kitchen, eating beans straight from the can. The startled Dreiberg asks his visitor, "Would you like me to heat those up for you?"

"Think before you speak is criticism's motto; speak before you think is creation's."&#151;E.M. Forster, "The Raison d'&#202;tre of Criticism in the Arts," 1947 (footnote 1)