Mark Fleischmann

ONLY .00001 PERCENT OF THE U.S. POPULATION WILL OWN ONE, says Yamaha of its top-line RX-Z11 receiver. What Yamaha does not mention is that the other 99 point something percent are getting ready to slit their throats and steal the receiver.

I haven't heard the KEF Reference 201/2 but Wes Phillips of Stereophile has. I leave you in his capable hands.

PSB's Paul Barton shows off his new Imagine line to showgoers. With trickle-down technology from the bleeding-edge Synchrony line, it's a great-sounding family of speakers, as I discovered at a recent demo in New York. Put it on your short list of must-hears.

The Harman Kardon AVR 7550HD ($2799) is the one of first surround receivers to feature Dolby Volume, one of the most sophisticated signal manipulation circuits to come along in years. It can take the edge off offensively toppy TV ads and intelligently reduce the dynamics of movie soundtracks, for late-night viewing, without losing intelligibility. Other attractions include 110 watts times seven, internet radio, and of course the full panoply of next-gen surround codecs via HDMI 1.3a.