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 24 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 2124 (September 21 reserved for press) in the Hilton Anaheim, near Disneyland.
Thursday, September 22, 68pm, Blink High End (129 Franklin Street, Cambridge, MA 02139) is holding a Technics presentation hosted by Bill Voss, US Business Development Manager for Technics. Bill will be demonstrating and discussing Technics' latest introductions for 2016, including the return of the iconic SL-1200GAE/G turntable, the new SU-G30 Networking Amp, the ST-G30 Music Server, and the highly acclaimed SB-C700 linear-phase, point-source loudspeakers, which Herb Reichert reviewed in our January 2016 issue, as well as the EAH-T700 headphones and OTTAVA All-In-One music system.
Saturday September 17, from 127pm, Audible Images (1610 Pineapple Avenue, Melbourne, FL 32935) will be hosting Bill Peugh from Wilson Audio, Bill McKiegan from Dan D'Agostino Master Audio Systems, and Trent Suggs from Audio Research Corp. This event will be the Florida debut of the Wilson Yvette speakers, the D'Agostino Progression monoblocks, and the Audio Research Ref 3 phono preamp and Ref 6 preamp. The music will be accompanied by complimentary food and wine. For more information call (321) 626-3898.
The October issue is here, with revised and updated capsule reviews of 500 audio products that have been reviewed in the magazine, rated in six categories, from "E" for "Entry Level" to "A+" for those few products that are beyond criticism. Stereophile's "Recommended Components"often copied but never equaled.
Thursday, September 8, Liquid HiFi (11915 Royal Castle Court, Charlotte, NC 28277) will be demonstrating products at the Providence Country Club (6001 Providence Country Club Drive, Charlotte, NC 28277) from KEF, Nordost and Simaudio. Attendees will be treated to demonstrations featuring the new KEF Reference Three speakers, Simaudio Moon Evolution electronics, and Nordost cabling. In addition to scheduled demonstrations, guests will also enjoy giveaway items, hors d'oeuvres, beverages and will be entered into a raffle drawing to win a KEF Muo Bluetooth speaker and $500 worth of Nordost products.
Wednesday August 31, 6:308:30pm, Encore Home Entertainment Systems (2115 Siesta Drive, Sarasota, FL 34239) is hosting a special NAD/PSB/Bluesound event. Travis Huff, the Central Regional Sales Manager for Lenbrook America, parent company of NAD, PSB, and Bluesound products, will be discussing and demonstrating the introduction of the Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) audio codec into NAD and Bluesound components for 2016. Featured models include the NAD MDC module and all six Bluesound network-streaming player, speakers, and electronics products.
Sad news: Wes Phillips, who was Stereophile's deputy editor 19951999 and a valued contributor 2000 to 2011, passed away yesterday morning after several years of chronic ill health. Wes (right) is shown here at his leaving lunch, 1/1/99 with (LR) music editor Robert Baird, then-publisher Larry Archibald, and editor John Atkinson. Wes is survived by his wife Joan. We will post more information as it becomes available.
The news is not simply that Best Buy/Magnolia stores' 82 Hi-Resolution Listening Stations which they developed in the US in conjunction with Sony, have proven so successful, and generated so much interest in hi-res, that the company has added 250 more listening locations around the country. It's also that we now have data that shows a major reason for the expansion: Far more people care about sound quality than many would have you believe.
"The days grow short when you reach September," sang Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett, but not so short that you won't have time to enjoy our September issue, which hits newsstands, mailboxes, and tablets this week. Technologies vintage and modern are featured, with Ken Micallef's review of the Music Hall MMF-7.3 turntable and Jim Austin's interview and MQA's Spencer Chrislu taking pride of place on the cover. And there is more on MQA inside, with John Atkinson writing about his listening comparisons between MQA-encoded files and the hi-rez PCM originals.
At their monthly listening party Esoteric Audio (111 West Monroe Street, Suite 100, Phoenix, AZ) will be featuring the local premier of the Grand Prix Audio Monaco v2.0 table. The official listening party is on Saturday August 13 at 3:00pm, but the table will be demonstrated Friday afternoon, August 12, and all day Saturday. Grand Prix Audio's VP of Sales and Marketing, Jesse Luna, will be on hand Friday and Saturday to show off the Monaco table as well as discuss current and future product offerings. More information is available at www.esotericaudioaz.com/upcoming-events.html.
Sunday, July 24, from 2-5pm, The Source A/V Design Group (3035 Kashiwa Street, Torrance CA 90505) will host an open house with the LA&OC Audio Society, MBL North America, and Kimber Kable. Ray Kimber, President of Kimber Kable, will talk about his new Axios headphone cables plus the properties and advantages in braided-wire technology while Jeremy Bryant, CEO of MBL North America, will present products from MBL's new Noble Line of electronics, including the N51 integrated amplifier, the N21 stereo amplifier, and the N31 DAC/CD player, using the unique, omnidirectional, MBL Radialstrahler loudspeakers.
Saturday, July 23, 10am12pm: Constellation Home Electronics (215 North Guadalupe Street, Santa Fe) will host a digital-audio seminar and listening event designed to equip music enthusiasts with the tools needed to understand, embrace, and optimize digital-audio playback systems.
Hanson Audio Video (3140 Far Hills Avenue, Dayton, OH 45429) is hosting an event Thursday July 14, 48pm) and AudioVision San Francisco (1628 California Street, San Francisco, CA 94109) is holding an event also on July 14, 7:3010pm.
Michael Fremer may be Stereophile's Mr. Analog but he was mightily impressed with the Moon 780D digital processor from Simaudio, which never meets a source of data it can't turn into music. Herb Reichert gets excited by an affordable tube preamp from Rogue, as does Fred Kaplan over an expensive VTL tube preamp; and Art Dudley and John Atkinson get much musical enjoyment from Sony and PSB speakers, respectively. And as well as our regular "Analog Corner," "Listening," "Gramophone Dreams," "Aural Robert," and "Industry Update" columns, Sasha Matson interviews Ayre's Charley Hansenthe "Wizard of Boulder"Robert Baird talks to power-pop icon Bill Lloyd, and Robert Schryer kicks the issue off by examining how audiophiles can get into their "Happy Zones."
The three-day Capital Audiofest runs July 810 at the Hilton Hotel at Twinbrook Metro in Rockville, MD. With new, noon8 pm opening-day hours designed to accommodate 9-5ers eager to top off their Friday with great sound, and completely renovated rooms that should offer even better acoustics than before, the at-capacity show promises 38 exhibit rooms (including 14 large rooms and one two-room suite), and a combined Marketplace/CanMania with 20 exhibitors total. Put that all together, and you end up with 103 exhibitors and brands combined.