News

Slated to open in March 2016 in Nashville, TN, Thiel Audio's Aurora "Ultra-HD Streaming Studio" is positioned to merge the legacy of Thiel loudspeakers with the vibrancy and "wow factor" of Music City. Thiel's plan is to create a state-of-the-art venue where fans, specifically younger-generation fans, can unite with name musicians and emerging artists via live, interactive performances that are streamed in Ultra-HD video and lossless audio.

Thursday, December 17, from 4–8pm, Audio Excellence (661 Chirslea Road, Unit 1, Vaughan, Ontario) will be hosting a special Nordost Event, "Cables, Power, and Accessories: How to get the most from your system." Throughout the evening, Nordost’s VP of North American Sales, Michael Taylor, will be presenting product demonstrations, making cable comparisons, and answering questions. Attendees will be able to take advantage of special pricing on Nordost products for the duration of the event!

In a four-room, every-seat-filled extravaganza that rivaled some of the Music Matters events in the number of high-quality components simultaneously on active display, the Berkeley, CA wing of Music Lovers Audio devoted the afternoon of December 5 to showcasing components from Vivid, dCS, Wilson, Luxman, Spectral, and other companies. With Philip O'Hanlon of On A Higher Note (distributor of Vivid, Luxman, and other brands), John R. Quick (dCS), Peter McGrath (Wilson Audio), and yours truly (above) on hand to give introductions and offer guidelines on how to listen and evaluate, a large store filled with audiophiles auditioned four fine-sounding systems at four different price points.

Command Performance AV (115 Park Avenue, Suite 2, Falls Church, VA 22046) is holding a Clearaudio event on Saturday December 12 from noon–5pm. Clearaudio founder, Peter Suchy, will be demonstrating the one-of-kind Clearaudio Statement turntable (right) along with the Goldfinger Cartridge and Absolute Phono. This will be the first showing of the new Statement turntable on the East Coast. To highlight the capabilities of the Statement, Garth Leerer and Jesse Luna of Musical Surroundings will be demonstrating the brand-new Eclipse versions of the Aesthetix electronics.

"I'm still in shock," Reference Recordings recording engineer Sean Martin blurted out during a conference call with his recording engineer stepfather, Keith O. Johnson. "When Jan Mancuso woke me up at 5:30 or 6 to tell me the news, I couldn't imagine who would be calling so early," was Johnson's follow up.

Fidelis AV (460 Amherst Street) is holding a Technics Open House, Head-fi meet, and REL subwoofer demo on Saturday December 5 from noon–5pm. Bill Voss from Technics will be presenting and discussing Technics' new C700 Premium Series components (above). This series features a D/A integrated amplifier, a network player and CD player, as well as the new, linear-phase, point-sound-source SB-C700 loudspeaker, which is favorably reviewed in the forthcoming January issue of Stereophile. Dave Shultz will be demonstrating REL Acoustics subwoofers, and Vinnie Rossi will be showing his headphone amplifiers.