News

Toronto is turning into a happening place for audiophiles. The Toronto Audio Visual Entertainment Show being held October31–November 2, 2014, promises to be bigger and better in their new venue at the Sheraton Centre Hotel downtown. The Update TV & Stereo Elevated store, with a strong high-performance audio orientation, opened last spring in the Toronto suburb of Unionville. And now, Angie's Audio Corner, devoted to high end celebrated its second anniversary with the opening of the Annex Clearance Center in the coach house next to the main building, acting as a clearing house for used equipment of all sorts and used LPs.

A highlight for Stereophile editor John Atkinson at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show last January was auditioning GoldenEar’s new Triton One tower loudspeaker, which costs $4999.98/pair. On September 4, from 6–9pm, GoldenEar founder Sandy Gross will be presenting the Triton Ones at Gramophone, 8880 McGaw Road, Columbia MD 21045.

What a difference a change of location can make! What was originally a major challenge—AudioVision SF, one of the country's major dealerships, literally had the rug pulled out from under them by their landlord last spring, and needed to raise money and scurry to a new location—has turned into a major opportunity: a spanking new venue, whose main listening room sounds much—that's much, as in much—better than before.

For its PerfectWave DirectStream D/A processor, featured on our September issue's cover, PS Audio took a different approach. Rather than using the usual off-the-shelf parts, designer Ted Smith used Field-Programmable Gate Array chips (FPGAs) to process DSD data without compromising the integrity of the music. Art Dudley takes the new DAC out for a test drive and returned impressed by what he heard.

The 5th annual California Audio Show takes place August 15–17 in the four-star Westin SFO hotel in Millbrae, CA. Easily accessible via the freeway or BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit), this smaller-scaled show showcases rarely encountered big speakers from Dynaudio, Genesis, JBL, and Sound Labs.

Inspired by Watch Mr. Wizard, a children's science show that aired on American TV 1951–1965, loudspeaker designer Albert Von Schweikert brought his updated, all-ages loudspeaker installment to Orinda, CA last weekend. Presenting to members of the newly constituted San Francisco Audio Society, Von Schweikert and his grandson, Devon Von Schweikert, enabled attendees to compare the sound of various midrange drivers and enclosure materials.

On the evening of July 24, the passing of EMT's classic OFD series of pickup heads was noted in singular style: In Living Stereo, the hi-fi and record store that represents EMT in New York City, invited their customers to drop by for drinks, snacks, and the opportunity to hear their favorite mono LPs played with OFD 15 and OFD 25 pickups on an otherwise all-Shindo system.

On July 17, industry veterans Richard Schram, founder of Parasound, and John Curl, the company's legendary circuit designer (above), made a rare joint appearance at Century Stereo in San Jose, CA. Surviving unexpectedly horrendous freeway traffic, which made for a late start—perfect for this writer, who made the same commute—the two men's great spirits contributed to an evening as entertaining as it was informative.

We’re big fans here at Stereophile of dealers putting on events for their customers to meet manufacturers and enjoy some high-quality tunes. So we’re letting everyone know that next Friday, July 25, from 5–8pm, San Francisco’s Music Lovers (2295 Bush Street) will host an open house. Guest speakers will be AudioQuest's Bill Low (founder and CEO), Joe Harley (SVP, Marketing and Product Development), and Skylar Gray (Director, Ear Speaker Division) . . .

The annual Capital Audio Fest (CAF), the Mid-Atlantic States' premier playground for audio, returns to the Sheraton Hotel in Silver Spring, MD on July 25–27. With the addition of its CanMania, whose list of vendors continues to grow; Saturday's Headphone Meet; and a new focus on high-resolution downloads, the annual show expects to draw a younger and bigger crowd of up to 2000 attendees to its eminently accessible location.