This review started with a gentle handoff. My ol' pal Walter Swanbon of Fidelis Distribution stopped by Brooklyn to take away the $10,000 Limited Edition Falcon LS3/5a loudspeakers and drop off the $10,000 eos DAC by Ideon. As he was getting in his car, I yelled, "Walter! I'm warning you! If that thing's not plug'n'play, I'll put it right there on that curb."
Forty years ago, when I was a much younger man, I was a strong dude. I recall one day in 1986, soon after I started working at Sound by Singer, when Krell cofounder Dan D'Agostino drove down from his factory in Connecticut to deliver a load of amplifiers and preamps for us to sell. As the new guy, I was expected to do the grunt work.
Re-Tales #57: Boutique Audio Gallery, an Oasis in Canada
Aug 19, 2025
You can call Boutique Audio Gallery's Jason Melman anytime you like—just don't call him "dealer." "The two words I hate are 'dealer' and 'store'," he told me during an interview at an event he hosted at the—um, gallery he opened in March 2024. "It's just a relaxing place where people can come and listen to music."
On August 14, 2025, Audio Advice announced it has acquired The Sound Room, a St. Louis–based audio, video, and home‑automation firm founded in 1983 by David Young. The move adds a St. Louis location to the company's footprint.
In ancient times, when I first ventured beyond playing files stored on a USB stick or NAS to streaming from Tidal and Qobuz, I ran a USB cable between a MacBook Pro and my DAC. For playback software, I alternated between Amarra, Audirvana, and—sometimes with a dCS DAC—dCS Mosaic.
Velodyne Names Playback Distribution Exclusive U.S. Distributor
Aug 15, 2025
Velodyne Acoustics has appointed Playback Distribution as its exclusive U.S. distributor, with the partnership debuting at CEDIA 2025. Velodyne says the agreement renews its commitment to the U.S. market and is intended to provide integrators and dealers with consistent access to its subwoofer line.