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Out Now—the August 2015 Stereophile

Stereophile Staff Jul 13, 2015 First Published: Jul 13, 2015

Ayre's 20th-Anniversary edition of its MX-R monoblock stands proud on this 132-page issue's cover. Inside, John Atkinson finds it to be one of the best-sounding amplifiers he's auditioned, while Fred Kaplan enthuses over the sound of Simaudio's Moon Evolution 860A amplifier and Jon Iverson finds much to enjoy with Rega's affordable DAC-R. Loudspeakers from Wilson Benesch, Falcon, and Magnepan are reviewed, with the littlest, cheapest Maggie earning the highest praise from Herb Reichert.

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Dealer Open House in La Jolla, Saturday & Sunday

Stereophile Staff Jul 13, 2015 First Published: Jul 13, 2015

Alma Music and Audio (5759 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla, CA 92037) will host a very special event on Saturday, July 18 and Sunday, July 19 at their retail showroom just north of San Diego. A host of audio luminaries will be there to demonstrate their products and answer questions including Dan D'Agostino of D'Agostino Master Audio Systems, Yoav Geva of YG Acoustics, Joe Kubala of Kubala-Sosna cables, Vince Galbo of MSB Technology, and Harry Lee and Sally Jeung of Aurender.

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Aardvark Boutique Audio in Ontario

Robert Deutsch Jul 12, 2015 First Published: Jul 12, 2015

I ran across the poster above in Canada HiFi magazine: an announcement of the launch of a new audio store with an evening of vinyl playback. Located in the town of Orangeville, Ontario (population 30,000, about an hour's drive from Toronto), the store, with the intriguing name of Aardvark Boutique Audio, hadn't opened yet, but the event, taking place in the Orangeville Opera House, promised "Canadian Musicians On VinylIn Amazing Hi Fi Sound." I had to go and check it out.

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Classical Live on Google Play Music

Jason Victor Serinus Jul 11, 2015 First Published: Jul 11, 2015

In a major plus for the accessibility of classical music on the web, Google Play Music recently launched its Classical Live initiative. Through an exclusive contract with five major symphony orchestrasBoston Symphony Orchestra and new Music Director Andris Nelsons, The Cleveland Orchestra and Music Director Franz Welser-Möst, London Symphony Orchestra and Sir John Eliot Gardiner, New York Philharmonic and Music Director Alan Gilbert, and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam and Music Director Mariss Jansonsthe organizations will offer live recordings for download and streaming exclusively on Google Play for the first six months they are made public.

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Moon by Simaudio at 35

Robert Deutsch Jun 29, 2015 First Published: Jun 29, 2015

Established in 1980 by Victor Sima as Sima Electronics, Canadian audio company Moon by Simaudio Ltd. celebrates its 35th year in the audio business in 2015or, as its ads say, "35 years of passion." To mark the event, Simaudio had a party at Executive Stereo, their Toronto dealer (see photo above). It was a fairly low-key event, with a handful of Toronto-area audio journalistsincluding yours trulyand representatives of Simaudio attending.

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Vinyl Resurrection at the 2015 New Music Seminar

Herb Reichert Jun 28, 2015 First Published: Jun 28, 2015

Left to right at the "Vinyl Resurrection" seminar: Nina Palmer (Ross Ellis Printing), Steve Sheldon (Rainbo Records), Michael Kurtz (Record Store Day), Bryan Burkert (The Sound Garden), Matthew Johnson (Fat Possum Records), and Mark Piro (Spark/Razor & Tie).

The New Music Seminar 2015 was a three-day (June 21,22, and 23) conference held in New York that invited music industry insiders to dialog on the current state and potential future of the music delivery business. Right away I knew I wasn't at CES...

News

Bricasti & Aurender in Illinois This Weekend

Stereophile Staff Jun 23, 2015 First Published: Jun 23, 2015

This is the front end of the system Essential Audio of Barrington, IL be using on Saturday June 27 and Sunday, June 28, 2015 to demonstrate Bricasti Design's M1 DAC (top right) and M28 monoblock amplifiers. Guest of honor will be Bricasti Design president Brian Zolner, who will be demonstrating and talking about his products. Essential Audio is the first US dealer to have the new Aurender N10 music server (top left), which will be on demonstration with the Bricasti components.

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Acoustic Sounds' Major Vinyl Expansion

Jason Victor Serinus Jun 21, 2015 First Published: Jun 21, 2015

Just three months after buying 13 vintage record presses, Chad Kassem of Acoustic Sounds (above) has purchased The Mastering Lab (TML), the legendary facility of Grammy Award-winning mastering engineer, Doug Sax, who died of cancer on April 2 at the age of 78...

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The July 2015 Issue is on Newsstands Now

Stereophile Staff Jun 15, 2015 First Published: Jun 15, 2015

Bel Canto's extraordinary Black amplification system is featured on the cover. Combining state-of-the-art class-D monoblocks with an all-digital preamplifier, the Black sounds and measures as good as it can get. At a price, of coursebut at the other end of the price spectrum, we review Creek's Evolution 100A integrated amplifier, as complete in its way as the Black is in its. These are not your father's amplifiers.

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Robert Lighton Audio Showroom Open in NYC

Art Dudley Jun 08, 2015 First Published: Jun 08, 2015

Earlier this year I pried myself from my upstate-New York home long enough to visit Robert Lighton Audio: a beautifully decorated suite on the 12th floor of 37 West 20th Street in Manhattan's Chelsea district, in which an Audio Note Ongaku amplifier shares space with a Suzanne Guiguichon armoire, and from which the view of the Empire State Building is stunning.