News

111 seems to be the magic number for AXPONA 2016, aka Audio Expo of North America. Taking place April 15–17 in the Westin O'Hare in Rosemont, IL (near Chicago's O'Hare airport), AXPONA promises 111 exhibit rooms, including 29 larger meeting spaces which sometimes house multiple systems. AXPONA will also host 111 booths and table displays, with a good 50 of those located in the Ear Gear Expo. All told, the show will feature products from 375 brands, most of which will sing away every day starting at the mercifully civilized hour of 10am.

On Wednesday and Thursday, April 6 & 7, 5:30pm–8:30pm, The Audio Salon (Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Avenue, Unit F1, Santa Monica) will present the first public demonstration in California of Wilson Audio's new Alexx loudspeaker. John Quick from dCS will be discussing and demonstrating the new Rossini Player, Rossini Clock, and the Vivaldi 2.0 Playback System. . .

No second acts in American lives?

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.

We received the following email this afternoon. Sad, sad news. I shall remember the Richard Beers of unlimited energy and enthusiasm, pictured above at the 2013 T.H.E. Show in Newport Beach, CA. Richard made audio shows fun for all—exhibitors, press, and most all audiophiles of every persuasion. We’ll miss you, Richard.—John Atkinson

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Dear Industry Friends,

My name is Maurice Jung and I am the interim President for T.H.E. Show Newport. It is with heartfelt sorrow that I must inform you of the passing of Mr. Richard Beers. . .

The April Issue features an extensively revised "Recommended Components" feature—often copied, never equaled—while April Music's stylin' Aura Note V2 CD receiver gets the full review treatment from Art Dudley. In addition, we have:
• Great analog playback gear from Abis, Jasmine, Mørch, Reed, SME, and TechDAS
• A US-premier review of the AR-M2 hi-rez portable player from one of the great names in hi-fi, Acoustic Research, now under new ownership
• A high-end server from Aurender is put through its paces
• An interview with that most blues-ish singer/guitarist, Bonnie Raitt
• And kicking off this bumper 188-page issue, a report that "The Kids Are Alright!"

In an announcement made yesterday on their corporate website, UK-based Chester Group—which, in recent years, has sponsored consumer-audio shows in Vancouver, Brooklyn, and Brighton, UK, among other locales—revealed that they are "deferring" this year's Salon Son et Image, which had been scheduled to take place March 18 through 20 at the Bonaventure Hotel in Montreal.