LATEST ADDITIONS

The reemergence of Technics on the world audio scene is, I believe, the biggest audio news of 2015–2016. I reviewed their SB-C700 stand mounted monitor speakers in the January 2016 issue and they already feel like my 2016 nomination for Stereophile's Product of the Year; but obviously it is still way early. Nevertheless, Technics is back with two lines of stylish excellent sounding equipment...

Kicking off CES early, AudioQuest held a press conference Wednesday morning to present their three new portable DAC/Headphone amps to the public for the first time. Designer Gordon Rankin and AudioQuest's Steve Silberman were on hand to explain the new products and run a brief demo.

The day before the opening of CES is devoted to press conferences, mostly by the big boys: Sony, Samsung, LG, Panasonic, etc. These are generally of little interest to Stereophile readers, so our detailed show coverage doesn't start until the official CES opening.

But there is evidence for Sony's commitment to sound quality in their support of Hi-Res audio. Fasulo reported great interest on the part of major record labels in higher quality recording technology, a need that is met by Sony's development of Hi-Res audio.

Delta flight 2820: At 497mph the ambient noise in the cabin averaged 94dB and registered 101dB peaks. That is at least 40dB louder than a candlelit night in my listening room. Artur Schnabel brings it up to (at most) 90dB and the loudest I have ever played Led Zep on the Magnepan .7s is 102dB. Now, I can't wait to rinse that crazy engine noise from my ears and hear some clean clear beautifully toned hi-fidelity music at maybe 103dB—or more! But these clear-sounding components must be moderately priced—because I am a cub reporter and new products that cost less than $5k is the assignment I volunteered for.

The premise is simple: how would a seasoned musician react to the sound of their new album on a variety of audiophile systems at CES?

I tossed the idea to Graham Nash, and he agreed to participate in the experiment, more than a little curious about this thing called high-end audio. Graham is always full of energy and very articulate, so should provide some very interesting perspective for Stereophile readers.

Today, January 4, at "CES Unveiled" in Las Vegas, MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) launched major partnerships with Morten Lindberg's multiple Grammy Award-nominated, audiophile record label/download store 2L and playback partners Auralic, Aurender, and Bluesound. The entire 2L download catalog, starting with one of Lindberg's first recordings, made in 1993, and extending through his latest DXD (352.8kHz) recordings, has been scrubbed clean and born anew with MQA.