News

As photographer Lewis Hine once said, "If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to lug around a camera."

Which is why, though it took longer than expected, the Stereophile Galleries are back online. You can once again check out reader's listening rooms, live music shots, photos from Stereophile's past and present, and more.

Anybody can post a photo into one of the categories. Sign up for a free account and upload away. If you already have an account, log in and you'll see the "Upload Photos" button at the top right on every gallery page.

Photos can be sorted by various criteria, and rated whether you are logged in or not. We encourage readers to sort their photos into the various categories, but you can also see all of the pictures in any individual member's gallery by clicking on their name under one of their photos. If you want to see your own gallery from any page on the site, log in and look for the "My Gallery" link in the log in area.

Click here to take a look and add some audiophile art of your own.

Universal Classics, owners of the great Deutsche Grammophon, London/Decca, and Philips catalogues, has made its entire treasure trove of Mahler recordings available for free, full-track, online streaming. Whether you are a babe in the Vienna woods or a seasoned Mahlerite, this is a rare opportunity to audition and compare a good 180 Mahler symphony recordings, including over 60 out-of-print Mahler titles.

The tracks, first posted to Mahler150.com last year in honor of the 150th anniversary of Gustav Mahler's birth, remain available in 2011, the 100th anniversary of Mahler's death. While you can no longer vote on the contents of DG's 13-CD box set, Mahler: The People's Choice—it has already been issued—you can still compile playlists of favorite movements and complete symphonies, and create your near-ideal mix-and-match performance of all Mahler symphonies and song cycles.

The Southern California headquarters of cable manufacturer AudioQuest, which includes their offices, a listening room, conference rooms, a very very large warehouse, assembly rooms, a graphic design room, a few kitchens and various and sundry other more mundane but just as important places, is within a few-minutes’ drive from T.H.E. Show at Newport Beach. Shane Buettner, AudioQuest's Director of Education who you will most likely recognize as the former Editor-In-Chief of Home Theater magazine, Joe Harley VP of AudioQuest (Joe Harley is also a recording engineer/producer responsible for among others the Blue Note 45rpm reissues from Music Matters and he's a musician), and Andrew Kissinger, Regional Sales Manager, gave a group of A/V journalists, including Tom Norton, Senior Editor and Video Technical Editor of Home Theater magazine, the full tour.

My comments on the tour/AudioQuest facility can be summed up by saying that this is one of the most organized, clean, neat and tidy places I've ever seen. And it's not the kind of organized, clean, neat and tidy you can fake for a tour. From the huge warehouse to the tiniest Ziplock baggy, everything had its place and label. Impressive.

With well over 115 individual exhibits and hundreds of high-end audio and home theater brands making music just steps away from a wine show, auto show, a cigar show, and live jazz, T.H.E. Show: Newport promises to raise the bar for consumer audio shows in Southern California.

Scheduled for next Friday through Sunday, June 3–5, in the Newport Hilton, adjacent to Orange County's John Wayne International Airport, T.H.E. Show: Newport is the brainchild of Bob Levi, President of the successful Los Angeles & Orange County Audio Society, and Richard Beers, President of T.H.E. Show. Levi came up with the idea, selling Beers on the notion of a new show that would open the audiophile fiefdom to the area's 24 million inhabitants. Beers in turn summoned forth over a decade of knowledge on show organization, and provided the infrastructure to make the event possible. . .

Wednesday, May 25 (yikes, that's tomorrow!), 5–9pm: Stereo Exchange (627 Broadway, Manhattan) will host a “Music Matters” event with Stereophile’s Michael Fremer.

Peachtree Audio, BelCanto, Amarra, Wisdom Audio, Simaudio, Transparent Audio, Meridian, and Vienna Acoustics will demonstrate their equipment. Learn how to get great sound from the digital devices you already own. Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres will be served. (Who can ask for anything more?)

This is definitely going to be a fun evening, and I hope to see you there!

Saturday, May 21, 9:30am–4pm: The 24th Annual Midwest Classical Record Show will be held at the North Shore Holiday Inn (5300 W. Touhy Avenue, Skokie, IL). Dealers from across the country will be on hand with their collections of classical LPs and CDs. Admission is $2 and parking is free.

Saturday, May 14, 12–6pm: Goodwin’s High End (899 Main Street, Waltham, MA) will host the public world premiere of the Magico Q3 loudspeaker, sibling to the Q5, which was recently reviewed by Michael Fremer. During the evening, Magico’s Alon Wolf will provide a demonstration and discussion of the Q3. For more info and to RSVP, call (781) 893-9000.

Recent open house events at Innovative Audio Video Showrooms have been outstanding: well-attended by curious and passionate audiophiles; featuring beautiful, high-quality gear; showcasing excellent music played back on vinyl, disc, and via computer; and with several industry leaders on hand to provide demonstrations and feed interesting discussion.

(The last time I visited Innovative for one of these events, I stayed far too long and walked out into a man-eating ice storm that nearly shattered my soul, but, even then, it was still worth attending the event.)

So, I’m definitely looking forward to next Wednesday’s event, in honor of Dan D’Agostino and his new Momentum monoblock power amplifiers. Guests will have the opportunity to learn more about D’Agostino and his latest product, while enjoying music in a special environment. Members of Innovative’s staff are friendly, intelligent, knowledgeable, and eager to share their eclectic tastes in music and gear.

Refreshments will be provided, the weather should be decent, it should be a good time. Space is limited, so be sure to reserve your place: (212) 634-4444 or info@iavny.com.

Innovative Audio Video is located at 150 East 58th Street, New York, NY. I hope to see you there.

Now in its second year, and almost double the size of its launch, AXPONA (Audio Expo North America) is set to make a major impact on East Coast audiophiles when it opens to the public on April 15. Sponsored by Stereophile, the annual show, which runs April 15–17 in the beautiful, centrally located Sheraton Downtown Atlanta, promises at least 70 exhibit rooms alive with gear from at least 250 individual manufacturers . . .

Keith Pray, Publisher of Source Interlink Media web sites, is thrilled to announce the April preview launch of InnerFidelity, a new website dedicated to playing well with personal audio.