News

Friday, October 21, Irvine, CA-based high-end audio manufacturer AudioQuest issued a warning about what appears to be low-priced, inferior-sounding counterfeits of its discontinued AudioQuest DragonFly v1.2. The matter was brought to AudioQuest's attention by a consumer who saw a thread on Reddit about a product that resembled the discontinued DragonFly 1.2's proprietary technical features. The real DragonFly is pictured above right with the subject of the Reddit thread on the left.

California dealers The Audio Salon in Santa Monica and Sunny Components in Covina, Delaware's Overture Audio Video in Wilmington, and Canada's Advance Electronics in Winnipeg and Atlas Audio Video Unlimited in Victoria are all presenting special events this weekend.

Wednesday 19 October, 6:00–9:00 pm, Manhattan dealer Innovative Audio (Architects & Designers Building 150 East 58th, Street Level, New York City), is hosting Wilson Audio's Peter McGrath, who will be presenting the new Alexx loudspeaker. Refreshments will be provided. RSVP by phone to (212) 634-4444 or via email.

Peter Wolter, owner of a hi-fi shop in the town of Orangeville, Ontario—about an hour's drive from Toronto—in another life worked in marketing for a major pharmaceutical company. This marketing experience undoubtedly informs Wolter's approach to audio retailing . . . he recently presented a vinyl playback evening, celebrating (a little early) the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Summer of Love, and, coincidentally, the renaming of his store. (The pieces of strudel in the picture came from Peter Wolter's family's bakery. And, yes, they were as delicious as they look.)

Horn speakers, with their often ridiculously high sensitivity and ear-shocking "jump factor," fascinate many audiophiles. But their sonic flaws can be as big as their musical and technical virtues. The November Stereophile features on its cover and in an extended version of Art Dudley's "Listening" column the Hommage Cinema speaker from German company Auditorium 23, which features remanufactured versions of classic Western Electric compression drivers.

Retailer Audio Den (2845 Middle Country Rd, Lake Grove, NY 11755) is holding an evening with John Atkinson, Editor-in Chief of Stereophile magazine, on Saturday, October 15, starting at 5pm. Not only has John been writing about audio for 40 years, he has engineered, produced, mastered, and played on more than 40 commercially released recordings. He will be discussing how recordings are made and how this affects what you hear on your own system.

Thursday, October 13, 6–8pm, Blink High End (129 Franklin Street, Cambridge, MA)02139) is presenting an evening with Raidho, Aavik,and Ansuz and from 5:30–8pm: Trutone Electronics (980 Dundas Street East, Mississauga, Ontario) will host a computer audio seminar hosted by AudioQuest, featuring how to successfully use a computer as a high-performance media source.

Friday, September 30, 4–8 pm and Saturday, October 1, 4–8 pm, Lavish HiFi (1044 4th Street, Santa Rosa CA 95404) are presenting special listening events featuring the premiere of GamuT's new flagship speaker, the Zodiac. Featured guests will be GamuT's chief designer, Benno Baun Meldgaard, and US president Michael Vamos.

Devialet Event in Cambridge MA Thursday, September 29, 6–8pm, Blink High End (129 Franklin Street, Cambridge, MA 02139) is holding a special event. Amaury Guillement, Regional Manager for the French Devialet brand, will be demonstrating the Devialet Expert 1000 Pro, a $35,000, dual-mono, 1000Wpc integrated amplifier. This flagship amplifier from Devialet combines preamplifier, amplifier, DAC, streamer, and phono stage in a single, extremely thin slab.

You read that correctly. 2017 will see the advent of two, potentially competing high-end audio shows, located just 35 miles and several congested freeways apart in Southern California. The first, the new Los Angeles Audio Show (LAAS), will take place June 2–4 in the Sheraton Gateway LAX, and is produced "in collaboration with the Los Angeles & Orange County Audio Society" (LAOCAS). The second, a continuation of T.H.E. Show Newport that was founded by the late Richard Beers and formerly supported by LAOCAS, will be held September 21–24 (September 21 reserved for press) in the Hilton Anaheim, near Disneyland.