LATEST ADDITIONS

Mainstream audio came into its own in the 1960s-70s. At the heart of every “stereo” was an indispensable predecessor to the modern day AVR — the receiver. Simple by today’s standards, the receiver of 40 years ago combined two channels of solid-state power, a preamp section with switching for a turntable and tape deck, and an AM/FM tuner in an impressive looking component with a gleaming faceplate featuring a prominent tuner display and a row of knobs, switches, and buttons.

Performance
Build Quality
Value

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Highly accurate sound
Impressive stereo image breadth
Solid center-channel reproduction
Well-controlled and moderately extended low end
Minus
Towers are sensitive to placement

THE VERDICT
A handsome system that sounds very good with just about everything, and with enough bass extension to satisfy most needs.

Tall, slim speakers are certainly in fashion, and it's hard to imagine many slimmer than Definitive Technology's new Demand Series D15 towers. Despite housing three 5.25-inch drivers (two carbon fiber woofers and a polypropylene midrange), a 1-inch aluminum dome tweeter, and not one but two 8-inch side-firing passive radiators, the D15 measures just 6.5 inches wide and thus indeed requires its bolt-on aluminum bottom plinth to achieve stability.