. . . is here, with Outlaw's $799 "retro receiver" on its cover. "A conspicuously good-sounding audiophile product at a ridiculously low price," declared Herb Reichert. At the other end of the price spectrum, Michael Fremer reviews the most-expensive Grado cartridge yet, John Atkinson and Herb Reichert audition cost-no-object headphones from Audeze and HiFiMan, and Jason Victor Serinus reviews the Network Bridge from dCS.
And for the 27th year in a row, the December Stereophile includes our choices for "Product of the Year."
Today through Sunday, November 912, Ovation Audio+Video (6609 East 82 Street, Indianapolis, IN 46250) is holding a 50th Anniversary Celebration. "Four fun days to taste, toast, and savor music, movies and the very best in high-performance stereo and videowith wine & cheese" they say!
Special guest Thursday evening will be Stereophile's and AnalogPlanet.com's own Michael Fremer.
Just one week after Capital Audio Fest, the three-day New York Audio Show opens on Friday, November 10, in Manhattan's Park Lane Hotel. With two live references close bythe great outdoors of Central Park is just one block away, and Carnegie Hall is just one block farther in the other directionthe three-day show promises 25 or 26 active listening rooms and up to 100 brands.
That is me you see hanging out the car window like an old hound dogears flappin' in the slipstreama big smile on my face. I am happy in the wind 'cause I am heading down to Rockville, Maryland to Capital Audio fest (starting today, November 3, and running though Sunday November 5) where I will see at least 60 fine audio rooms and I'll chatter on a panel about "The Virtues of Vintage" with old pals, Art Dudley, Joe Roberts, and Blackie Pagano. I'll be cruising the Rockville Hilton Hotel halls meeting new people and visiting the rooms of some old and (hopefully) some new friends. Tickets for entry are only $20 a day or $30 for the whole weekend.
From a small regional show, Gary Gill's seven-year old Capital Audiofest has grown into the East Coast Show of 2017. Set for November 35 in the Hilton Hotel Twinbrook in Rockville, MD, CAF will offer 57 exhibit rooms spread over three floors plus the hotel Atrium. That amounts to 93 exhibitors and over 200 brands, including a CanMania with 20 headphone vendors. For a show that, just last year, maxed out at 40 rooms with 65 exhibitors and 85 brands, this represents major growth.
America's premiere DIY gathering, the almost-annual Burning Amp, promises to burn brighter in 2017. Scheduled for Sunday, November 12 at San Francisco's Fort Mason Center, the event has become so popular that hours have been extended and the show now runs from 8:30am to 8:00pm.
With no fewer than 42 pages of audio equipment coverage! Astell&Kern's Ultimate potable player is featured on the cover and gets a workout from Mikey Fremer on multiple road trips. On the domestic front, we have reviews of digital products from Naim, Oppo, and Benchmark, Reed's Muse 3C turntable, and amplification from Rogue and Margules, while Jim Austin lives with Devialet's groundbreaking Phantom Gold wireless speakers.
Saturday October 14, Gig Harbor Audio (3019 Judson Street, Suite D, Gig Harbor, WA 98335), from 13pm, and Suncoast Audio (7353 International Place, Unit 309, Sarasota, FL 34240), from 124pm, are presenting audiophile events.
A revitalized Rocky Mountain Audio Fest begins this Friday, October 6, in the completely renovated Denver Marriott Tech Center Hotel. The three-day show, which opens to the public at noon on Friday, promises 143 active exhibit rooms that will host 358 exhibitors from 27 countries and 36 states. In addition, the show's widely lauded Canjam will host an additional 64 exhibitors within its walls, and seven more large exhibits in the lobby.
Hitting mailboxes, newsstands, and tablets today, the 204-page October Stereophile, offers 36 pages of audio equipment reports and the revised and updated "Recommended Components" listing. Featured on the cover is VPI's Prime Scout record player, reviewed by Art Dudley, who also offers auditions of speakers from Burwell and Wharfedale. Herb Reichert reviews the AMG Giro turntable, John Atkinson report on his time with KEF's Reference 5 loudspeaker, Robert Deutsch lives with PS Audio's Memory Player, and there are reviews of amplifiers from Dan D'Agostino, Rega, and Linear Tube Audio.
What was to have been the first Southern California-based T.H.E. Show organized without input from its late co-founder, Richard Beers, who died in 2016, has been postponed until 2018. The inaugural T.H.E. Show Anaheim, as the former T.H.E. Show Newport Beach is now called, was to have taken place September 2224 at the Hilton Anaheim. The reasons for the late postponement are spelled out in a two-page letter to exhibitors, which was released on September 6 by Beers' close friend and long-time associate, Show President Maurice R. Jung.
The embrace of MQA by audio companies and labels has widened. At last weekend's IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin, MQA announced that its technology will be embedded in LG's new, globally distributed V30 flagship smartphone. In addition, two Sony Walkmans, the WM-ZX300 and WM-A40, will become equipped for MQA music playback. Worldwide music streaming platform Deezer is also planning to go the MQA route, with Bluesound, LG, Onkyo, Moon by Simaudio, and Sony amongst its partners.
Saturday August 26, from 15pm, Sandy Gross, President of GoldenEar Technology, will be presenting GoldenEar's new flagship Triton Reference loudspeaker at New Jersey retailer Electronics Expo (491 US 46 West, Wayne NJ). Stereophile reviewer Robert Deutsch wrote after hearing the Triton Reference at their debut at last January's CES, "The Triton Reference presents a serious challenge to speakers in the multi-$10k range. . ." Saturday's event will be a good opportunity for New Jersey audiophiles to hear the T Refs, judge the speakers for themselves, and discuss the speakers with Sandy.
As you can see from the logo above, Stereophile has accepted an invitation to be inducted into the European Imaging and Sound Association (EISA), as the exclusive US member of the EISA's Hi-Fi Expert Group. EISA's invitation came too late for Stereophile to take part in the 2017 awards, but we will be a full participant in 2018. Meanwhile, here are the 20172018 winners.
Featuring Mytek's MQA-equipped Manhattan II D/A preamplifier-headphone amplifier on its cover, our new issue132 pages of awesomeis jam-packed with good stuff. There are reviews of Ayre's QX-5 Twenty "digital hub," Kii's ground-breaking, DSP-optimized active speaker, amplifiers from Bel Canto and Octave, and preamplifiers from Shindo and Sutherland. Jim Austin interviews Pass Labs' onlie begetter, veteran engineer Nelson Pass. Robert Baird surveys audiophile-quality reissues of horror-film soundtracks. Mikey Fremer visits revitalized SME in the UK. And kicking it all off, Art Dudley condemns CD player manufacturers who neglect their customers in the long term.