KEF Debuts New Finishes for Blade One Meta and Blade Two Meta

Sennheiser Drops HDB 630 Wireless Headphones

LATEST ADDITIONS

Recording of December 2022: Muswell Hillbillies/Everybody's in Show-Biz

Robert Baird Nov 16, 2022

The Kinks: Muswell Hillbillies/Everybody's in Show-Biz
BMG BMGCAT720DBOX (6 LP, 4 CD, Blu-ray). 2022. Ray Davies, Andrew Sandoval, prods.; Mike Bobak, Matt Jaggar, Kevin Gray, others, engs.
Performance ****
Sonics ***½

Despite world-class songwriting and great singing from Ray Davies, solid guitar work from brother Dave, a run of six classic albums from Face to Face (1966) to Muswell Hillbillies (1971), multiple hit singles and albums in the US and the UK, the Kinks are rarely mentioned, on either side of the Atlantic, in the same breath as contemporaries the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Why is that?

Capital AudioFest 2022

Capital Audiofest 2022: A Fantastic Show

Ken Micallef Nov 16, 2022

CAF 2022 was fantastic! There were many great sounding rooms, and everyone was in good spirits. Soon after the show kicked off, many rooms became so packed, I couldn't enter. SRO! As always, my eyes and ears bulge to take it all in. CAF organizer and promoter Gary Gill (above) has much to be proud of.

Capital AudioFest 2022

Fidelis Distribution/Heretic Loudspeakers Co./Lab 12/CEC/ArgentPur

Ken Micallef Nov 16, 2022

Fidelis Distribution and Heretic Loudspeakers Co. brought their high-sensitivity Heretic AD612 loudspeakers ($9290/pair) to CAF, paired with CEC and Lab 12 equipment.

Capital AudioFest 2022

Classic Audio Loudspeakers/Atma-Sphere Music Systems/Purist Audio Design/Tri-Planar

Ken Micallef Nov 16, 2022

John Wolff brought his Classic Audio Loudspeakers T-3.4 Field Coils ($29,500/pair) to the Show. This speaker comprised an all wood cabinet, 300 HTZ radial wood Tractix horn, two 15" woofers, a "4" beryllium tweeter diaphragm by Truextent loaded into 6475 2" throat field-coil compression driver," and a 16 ohms impedance. They weigh 350lb apiece.

As We See It

A new listening companion

Jim Austin Nov 15, 2022

I have a confession, one I'm hesitant to make for reasons that will soon become clear, but my conscience compels me to make it.

I have a new dog. A puppy. Her name is Ella Wren.

Capital AudioFest 2022

Now Listen Here/Legacy Audio/Bel Canto/Innuos/Transparent

Ken Micallef Nov 15, 2022

Legacy Audio founder and designer Bill Dudleston (center) brought his Aeris and Calibre loudspeakers to CAF, joined by Now Listen Here's James Thompson (left) and Aaron Sherrick (right).

Capital AudioFest 2022

Rethm/Ampsandsound/Auralic

Ken Micallef Nov 15, 2022

India's Rethm loudspeakers, California's Ampsandsound, and China's Auralic combined forces to make unique sounds at CAF 2022.

Capital AudioFest 2022

Fidelity Imports/Diptyque/Cyrus/Innuos

Ken Micallef Nov 15, 2022

Steve Jain, Managing Director & cofounder of New Jersey's Fidelity Imports had [edit] six rooms (!) at CAF, all packed with enough hi-fi goodness to make my North Carolina grandmother give-me-my-inheritance-now to buy more gear!

Capital AudioFest 2022

Acora Acoustics/Hegel/JMF Audio/Ideon Audio/Cardas

Ken Micallef Nov 15, 2022

Val Acora returned to CAF with his new quartz QRC-1 and QRC-2 two-way Scanspeak driver-equipped loudspeakers, the quartz cabinet material a variation on his former granite-enclosure models. Why quartz? Acora said quartz is more forgiving, easier to work with, provides a more rigid material that holds drivers more securely, and has better sound.

Capital AudioFest 2022

MoFi Electronics/Alma Music & Audio/HiFi Rose/SolidSteel/Isotek

Ken Micallef Nov 15, 2022

Andrew Jones enthuses about his new MoFi SourcePoint 10 speakers

CAF 2022 was all abuzz with news of Andrew Jones's new MoFi Electronics 10 standmount loudspeaker, the SourcePoint 10 ($3699/pair, Stereophile review by John Atkinson scheduled for the February 2023 issue). With a specified sensitivity of 91dB/2.83V/m and an impedance of 8 ohms, the two-way, reflex-loaded speaker features a 1.25" soft-dome tweeter concentrically mounted in a 10" woofer. But that's not all that was on display and in use in the MoFi room.