LATEST ADDITIONS

On November 11, 2016, Veterans' Day, Wilson Audio Specialties announced that Daryl C. Wilson, 38, son of David Wilson and Sheryl Lee Wilson, has just succeeded his father as CEO and President of one of the world's leading high-end loudspeaker companies. Daryl, along with COO Korbin Vaughn, will now actively manage all aspects of Wilson Audio.

Did the election leave you on the edge, and wishing to scream? If so, and the need for catharsis remains, I have for you the scream to end all screams: And sing. . ., 2L's multi-format recording of two works by the astounding composer/artist Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje. The native DXD (352.8/24) hi-rez recording is available as either a 2-disc, optional multi-channel hybrid SACD/Pure Audio Blu-ray package that includes 9.1 Auro-3D and Dolby Atmos options, or in stereo or multi-channel download formats ranging from 320kbps MP3 and 44.1k/16 up to stereo DSD256, 352kHz FLAC, and stereo MQA.

I still remember reading about my first Mark Levinson product 14 or 15 years ago. It was a preamp. The model number escapes me, but it sold for over $2000. It was soon followed by the JC-2, designed by John Curl, which was a bit less pricey but still astonishingly expensive for a mid-'70s preamp. We've come a long way since then. The man, Mark Levinson, left the company that bore his name in the early 1980s and founded a new company, Cello. The company Mark Levinson became the core of Madrigal. It is a mark of their continued dedication to uncompromising high-end products that their bread-and-butter line remains the high-priced Mark Levinsons. They no longer have the Rolls-Royce of the audio market to themselves (in their early years, they made the never exactly inexpensive Audio Research products—ARC was certainly a contender for the same title—look like bargains), but they are certainly a leading player.

Like every sensible publication, The Stereophile keeps track of the questions raised by readers who write to us, so we can get some idea of what most of you would like to see in future issues of the magazine. To date, the list looks like this, in order of diminishing interest: transistor amps and preamps, loudspeakers, pickups, tape equipment, tuners and, way at the bottom of the list, recordings. We are devoting most of the August 1964 issue to a discussion of commercial recording practices.

Note: As our coverage of the 2016 New York Audio Show has just been posted, I thought it would be interesting to post our report from the 1965 show, in particular to see which brands are still around 50 years later.—John Atkinson

The 1965 New York hi-fi show was, to these observers, most notable for the marked increase in the number of exhibits which featured good—ie, classical—music for demonstration purposes. In the past, only about a half dozen of the exhibitors played any thing of musical worth, the rest of them evidently figuring they could make more noise with wild brass-and-percussion "demo" records.

Wednesday November 9, 5–8pm, Dallas dealer Audio Concepts welcomes Dan D'Agostino, Wilson Audio's Peter McGrath, and John Quick from dCS to an open house, while in Maryland, Wednesday November 9 and Thursday November 10, 6–9pm, Gramophone celebrates its 40th Anniversary with a special two-day event at its Timonium and Columbia locations. Thursday November 10, 5–8pm, Southern California dealer Wilshire Media Systems hosts its Annual Fall Expo, Northern California dealer AudioVision San Francisco presents the "US Premier from Dynaudio New Contour Loudspeakers," 7:30–10 pm, and Ontario's Audio Excellence is hosting a Nordost Event as part of their "Meet the Manufacturers" series, from 4–8pm.

Tonight (Tuesday, November 8), at the Jazz Standard in New York City (116 East 27th Street), the 7:30 set, along with Brooke Gladstone (co-host & managing editor of public radio's On the Media and, as it happens, my wife), I'll be announcing election updates and analyzing results between tunes (by Ted Nash's Presidential Suite big band).