RAMBLINGS.

Welcome to Issue #72, an issue unlike any other we have ever published. For this issue, I asked the entire reviewing staff to submit articles about their favorite recordings; to my delight, nearly the entire staff responded, and I believe that you will find this a delightful and informative collection of articles. No, we are not changing into a music-review magazine, but given the fundamental importance of recordings themselves to the audio hobby, it certainly seems to make sense to have a "Staff Picks" section on recordings similar to the "Staff Picks" sections covering equipment that we have published previously. Indeed, not only will you read about some wonderful recordings, but you will also get to know our reviewing staff a little better, which should help you down the road as you read equipment reviews and wonder what the listening tastes of some particular reviewer might happen to be.

Rest assured, however, that in all this excitement about recommended recordings, we have not entirely forgotten about equipment reviews. In this issue, we take our most extended look yet at multichannel audio, with reviews of a couple of exciting new multichannel products from. Lexicon and Yamaha, and we also take a briefer look at some home theater offerings from a variety of manufacturers.

Do we have any loudspeaker reviews? Of course ...

And, if after all is said and done, read and re-read, this issue's emphasis on recordings still somehow manages to bring you down no matter what, do not despair -- our next issue will bring us back to equipment reviews and assorted audiophilia -- with a vengeance! Stay tuned ...

How to Communicate with Us -- To order a new subscription, change an address on an existing subscription, order our back issue set, or take care of some other subscription-related matter, our business telephone is [phone], our business fax is [phone], our business address is 403 Darwin Drive, Snyder, NY 14226, and our business e-mail address is [e-mail].

To correspond about any editorial matters, submit equipment for review, pass along hot audio gossip, put us on your mailing list, or just blow off steam, write KWN directly at 9775 Mills Road, Ostrander, OH 43061. To submit a classified ad or inquire about display advertising, please give Don Nowak a call at [phone] or send him an e-mail at [e-mail].

Previews of Coming Attractions -- Among the equipment we have in or have been promised for review are speakers/subwoofers from Atlantic Technology, B&W, Legacy Audio, Linn, NHT, Ohm Acoustics, Paradigm, Polk Audio, PSB, Rosinante, Sunfire, and Velodyne; amplifiers / integrated amplifiers from Arcam, Classe, Krell, Lexicon, Linn, NAD, Rotel, and Weltronics; preamps from Sunfire and Weltronics; and much more, including some phono cartridge and turntable reviews, some "harmonic recovery" processor reviews, some equalizer reviews, plenty of music reviews, a few surprises -- but yes, no bananas. -- KWN

One Last Thought: "Great music is that which penetrates the ear with facility and leaves the memory with difficulty. Magical music never leaves the memory." -- Sir Thomas Beecham