News

Hailed as the finest public audio retailer event in the United States, Definitive Audio's 13th annual Music Matters event on March 8 drew a huge crowd to the store's Seattle location. Having now covered four Music Matters, I can state with certainty that the sound at MM13 surpassed that heard on previous occasions, and showcased equipment in the best possible light.

Saturday March 10, 12pm–5pm, Audio Den (2845 Middle Country Road, Lake Grove NY) welcomes Bill Voss of Technics for a demonstration of the new flagship Technics SL1000R turntable. Refreshments will be provided. Attendance to the event is free. For additional information call (631) 585-5600 or email sales@audioden.com.

Sunday, February 25 at 2pm, audiophile-fave-rave pianist Hyperion Knight will perform a program of Bach, Beethoven, and Gershwin at the First Baptist Church in America (75 North Main Street Providence, RI 02903). The church is a short (seven minutes) walk from the Providence Amtrak (train) station. The starting time of the recital was chosen to make it possible for music lovers from New York City to Boston to arrive and depart with the least fuss possible. The recital will be open to the public, and free of charge.

Forgive us for the French but our March issue is about to hit newsstands, tablets, and mailboxes. With Naim's Uniti Nova amplifier and media player on its cover and reviewed inside by Ken Micallef, this issue will provide hours of reading pleasure. It has reviews of speakers ranging from the affordable to the high-priced, from KEF, Monitor Audio, Sonus Faber, Stenheim, and TAD. John Atkinson reviews closed-back headphones from MrSpeakers; Art Dudley reviews Ayre's KX-5 Twenty preamplifier; Michael Fremer auditions moving-coil cartridges from Kuzma and Koetsu; and Jim Austin offers further thoughts on that most controversial of topics, MQA.

Friday, January 19, from 5–8pm, Alma Music and Audio (7847 Convoy Ct. #101, San Diego, CA 92111) are hosting an event with guests Peter McGrath of Wilson Audio Specialties and Vince Galbo of MSB. McGrath will be talking about the differences between Wilson's entry-level Sabrina loudspeaker and the more elaborate models, like the Alexia 2, as well as playing his own live recordings. Galbo will be demonstrating MSB's amplifiers and DACs.

MBL's mighty N31 CD player-DAC is featured on the new issue's cover and gets an in-depth review from John Atkinson inside, but February is also our annual "Records 2 Die 4" feature: Our team of writers put their heads together and came up with 61 albums that they will take with them when they go.