The Pollock-Krasner House & Study Center. (Credit: Steve Guttenberg) I visited the Pollock-Krasner House & Study Center last week in East Hampton, New York. While I was there learned the abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock and his wife, artist Lee Krasner had a pretty cool hi-fi. Yes, I was there for the art but then I noticed the horn speaker under the stairwell to the second floor of the house...

In Living Stereo is a very different kind of high-end audio shop. It's nothing like its older, more established Manhattan competitors: Innovative Audio, Lyric, Stereo Exchange, and Sound by Singer. The thing about In Living Stereo is that it's more focused on providing the best possible sound than installing speakers in your bathroom's ceiling. It's funny, ILS has been in business since 2001, but i...

(Credit: Steve Guttenberg) It's some kind of weird contradiction, but for some reason I really loved Tower Records. I say that because I have a long standing thing about indie record shops, and I never bought much at Virgin or HMV, but when Tower opened its two Manhattan stores I became an even bigger vinyl junkie. I lived just a few blocks away from the uptown one and would spend many nights there...

The Sennheiser HD650(Credit: Sennheiser) As we all know high-end speakers are really expensive, some cost as much as a nice car. But high-end headphones, even the very best ones are within reach of anybody who loves great sound. A while back I tested three of the top contenders for Home Entertainment magazine: AKG's K 701, Grado's RS-1, and Sennheiser's HD 650. Each is, in its own way, remarkable....

Kid Rock's sarcastic "just do it" YouTube rant on illegal downloading is funny and makes the point--illegal downloading is stealing. With a smile on his face Rock says, "I'm rich," so sure it's OK to steal my music. Oh, and while you're at it, "Steal everything." Steal an iPod, Steve Jobs is a billionaire, he'll never miss it. Get yourself a Toyota, "They're foreign" and the gas too, "You know how...