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LATEST ADDITIONS

Listening #160

In November of 1990, my wife and I traveled to the UK for our honeymoon, much of which was spent in Scotland. But we also spent a few days in London, and it was during that time that I discovered, in the Bloomsbury district, one of the finest classical-music record stores in the world: a two-story shop on New Oxford Street called Caruso & Company. It didn't have quite as large a selection as Music Masters, on 43rd Street in New York, but it had something that that long-lamented store couldn't boast: clerks who were friendly, knowledgeable, and gregariously helpful.
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Elac Debut B6 loudspeaker

The first I heard about Elac's new Debut line of speakers was from two 12-year-olds at T.H.E. Show Newport Beach 2015. "Elac's room is making the best sound at the show," they said.

Elac? I thought. I have an Elac Miracord 40A turntable. Hmmmm...

So I walked to Elac's room and listened to the Debut B5 bookshelf speakers ($229.99/pair). I was impressed—but maybe not as impressed as everyone else in the room seemed to be. In the halls, people were raving: "Did you hear Andrew Jones's new speaker?" Show bloggers went crazy. People kept asking me, "Herb—what'd you think of the Elacs?" My polite response was always, "I'm glad I'm not in the business of making $1000/pair speakers."

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Gramophone Dreams #9

"Hail, Neophyte!"

That's what members of the Smoky Basement Secret Audio Society would exclaim in unison at the end of each ceremony admitting a new devotee. It was called the Smoky Basement Society not because everyone smoked (though they did), but because its members believed that whenever an audio designer finally got a design dialed in just right, he or she had metaphorically "let the smoke out." They exclaimed, "Hail, Neophyte!" because they believed that the most important aspect of being an audio engineer was to have a fully open "beginner's mind." In Zen practice, this is called Shoshin, or beginner's heart.

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Aurender N10 music server

When I reviewed the Antipodes DX Reference in October 2015, that $7500 media server made musical mincemeat of my regular computer audio setup: a headless 2.7GHz i7 Mac mini fitted with 8GB of RAM and Pure Music and Audirvana apps. Coincident with the publication of that review, Aurender launched its N10 music server ($7999) at the 2015 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest. I had been impressed with Aurender's Flow USB headphone amplifier when I reviewed it in June 2015, so I asked for an N10.
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DeVore & Well Tempered Hootenanny in Austin Saturday

Graham Nash, digging the DeVore Gibbon X speakers at the 2016 CES. (Photo: Jon Iverson)

Saturday April 2, from 11am–7pm, Whetstone Audio (2401 E. 6th St #1001, Austin, TX 78702) are presenting John DeVore of DeVore Fidelity and Mike Pranka of Well Tempered Lab playing the new Gibbon X loudspeakers and Royale 400 turntable. There'll be food, drinks, and a Rega RP1 turntable for a lucky winner! Please RSVP: (512) 477-8503 or brian@whetstoneaudio.com.

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Long Island Technics Dem Thursday

Retailer Audio Den (pictured above, 2845 Middle Country Rd, Lake Grove, NY 11755) is holding an open house Thursday, March 31, from 6pm–pm, to preview the iconic Technics SL-1200GAE turntable. Representatives from Technics will be hand and attendees can enter a raffle to win an Okki Nokki record cleaning machine. More details from Audio Den: (631) 585-5600.
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