Another amplifier that hasn't made its way across the pond yet is the 40W pc Lavardin Technologies Model IT integrated amplifer. "M. Lavardin" has spent 12 years researching what he calls "memory distortion" in audio circuits, a subject you can read about in some detail on his website. I can't speak for his theories, but his system, which included a pair of Ars la Diva stand-mounted two ways and a Helios 1 CD player, was certainly doing "something" right. It wasn't the last word in tonal refinement, souding a little rough and edgy, but it swung like the devil on Stereophile's recording of Mendelssohn Sextet (Encore, Stereophile STPH011-2). Chris O'Riley's athletic pianism fairly crackled with electricity, and several passers-by from the hall outside were pulled into the room and silenced by the brisk inevitability of the final movement's progression toward the conclusion. The Lavardin Model IT serves as a potent reminder that High End, at its best, is about the excitement of music.