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News Capital AudioFest 2013

Capital Audiofest 2013 Starts Friday

Jason Victor Serinus Jul 23, 2013

With AXPONA's shift to Chicago, the Capital Audiofest has become the only high quality audio show on the East Coast south of New York City. Taking place July 2628, CAF has relocated to the newly remodeled Sheraton Silver Spring Hotel, a superior and eminently accessible venue that has double the number of large exhibit rooms as last year's Crowne Plaza in Rockville, MD.

Located inside the Beltway, just three blocks from the Metro line, CAF will take place just 1 mile from the DC city limits. With 44 exhibit spaces booked as of July 17, many of which will display major brands, show organizer Gary Gill is optimistic that attendance will far exceed last year's under-1000 estimate.

Fred Kaplan

New from Jim Hall

Fred Kaplan Jul 23, 2013

ArtistShare, the musicians' self-owned label, has two live albums just out by the guitarist Jim Halla 3-disc set of trio sessions from 1975, revealing Hall at his peak as a leader, and a quartet date from 2010, showing him still in fine form at age 80.

News

Home Theater Merges with Sound & Vision

Stereophile Staff Jul 22, 2013

Stereophile's owner, Source Interlink Media (SIM), announced today that it is merging the two most powerful print and online media brands in the home technology field, Home Theater and Sound & Vision, to create a single powerhouse consumer brand dedicated to electronic entertainment.

Recommended Components

2013 Recommended Components

Stereophile Staff Jul 18, 2013

 Components listed here have been formally reviewed in Stereophile and have been found to be among the best available in each of four or five quality classes. Whether a component is listed in Class A or Class E, we highly recommend its purchase.

Each listing—in alphabetical order within classes—is followed by a brief description of the product's sonic characteristics and a code indicating the Stereophile Volume and Issue in which that product's report appeared. Thus the September 2012 issue is indicated as "Vol.35 No.9."

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews Audacious Audio

Sound-Lab A-1 electrostatic loudspeaker

Dick Olsher Jul 18, 2013

Designer Dr. Roger West got his first taste of electrostatic transducers many years ago during a stint with Janszen (remember the Janszen tweeter?). To realize the potential of the full-range electrostatic loudspeaker (ESL), he and Dr. Dale Ream formed a new company dedicated to ESL research and development. West describes this company, Sound-Lab Corp., as "the electrostatic speaker specialists."

Stand Loudspeaker Reviews J. Gordon Holt

Atlantic Technology System 250 home theater loudspeaker system

J. Gordon Holt Jul 18, 2013

When something called "high fidelity" assumed fad status during the 1950s, many manufacturers climbed on board by the simple expedient of adorning their last year's product with a high fidelity label. The Home Theater bandwagon is a little harder to jump on, because loudspeakers for use with television sets require something "ordinary" stereo speakers don't: magnetic shielding (or, more accurately, magnetic cancellation). Without it, placing the speakers within a few feet of a large-screen set does psychedelic-type things to the color (footnote 1). However, adding magnetic shielding, usually in the form of a second magnet glued to the rear of each loudspeaker's motor magnet, is the only thing that some loudspeaker manufacturers change before slapping a Home Theater label on last year's stereo speakers.

Headphone Reviews InnerFidelity

JPS Labs Abyss AB-1266 Planar Magnetic Headphones

Tyll Hertsens Jul 18, 2013

This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com

If Mary Shelley had written a birthday scene in "The Bride of Frankenstein", the Abyss AB-1266 would certainly have been the perfect gift for old Frankie. Yeah, these are some weird looking cans, and the price tag sure makes you look at them real hard.

Fortunately, it's what they sound like that counts.

News

The Good Rats' Peppi Marchello dies at 68

Robert J. Reina Jul 17, 2013

Peppi Marchello, founder, lead singer, composer, and arranger for the rock band, The Good Rats, died on July 10, 2013 from cardiac arrest. He was 68. The band's sophisticated, yet catchy and accessible rock anthems fostered a rabid following among fans in their home base, New York City's Long Island suburb. However, despite five strong albums of original material released between 1974 and 1981, three of which were distributed with major label support, the band was virtually unknown outside of Long Island . . . Rolling Stone dubbed The Good Rats, "The World's Most Famous Unknown Band."

Think Pieces

Emily Tries but Misunderstands

John Atkinson Jul 16, 2013

"At last!" I rushed to open the UPS package with the familiar Amazon logo. "It's arrived!"

"What's arrived?" My 13-year-old daughter Emily showed some uncharacteristic curiosity.

"The new Pink Floyd two-DVD set, P.U.L.S.E, which I've had on order for what seems like forever. It contains four hours of music!"

"What's that, like three Pink Floyd songs?"

Think Pieces

I'll Take Mine Unleaded

John Atkinson Jul 16, 2013

"It's not just it doesn't work as well, it doesn't sound as good!"

Veteran audio reviewer Martin Colloms and I were taking a preprandial walk across London's Hampstead Heath, following Cream's reunion concerts at the Royal Albert Hall last May. Martin was getting animated:

"And don't ask about the whiskers!"

Of course, I had to ask about the whiskers.