search
That is not a feeble attempt at a joke; it really is how Mr. Freud forced this Contributing Editor to slip on the word “editors.” Perhaps I was thinking of The Absolute Sound Executive Editor Jonathan Valin, who not only pulled a no-show for the Friday and Saturday afternoon 90-minute Editors panels—pre-show promotion and the show guide had advertised his participation, with Robert Harley—but also attempted to erase from history, in his online AXPONA report, the rather significant fact that the last major audio show in Chicago was not the 1994 Consumer Electronics Show, as he claims, but…
Verity's US distributor John Quick (right) shows the Amadis speakers, with Brian Wasserman
Back in 2009 I recorded classical pianist George Vatchnadze for a live-vs-recorded dem. As well as being a superb classical pianist and teacher—he teaches piano at Chicago's DePaul University—George has a parallel life as an audio retailer. His company, Kyomi Audio, had two 8th-floor rooms at AXPONA, featuring Verity Amadis speakers ($30,000/pair) driven by CAT amplification and hooked up with the huge and expensive helium-filled Stealth cables. Sources were either an Acoustic Signature turntable…
From Tsunehisa Kimura's Toshi Wa Sawayakana Asa Wo Mukaeru (The City Welcomes a Fresh Morning)
As Jason Victor Serinus reported, the New York Audio Show will take place this Friday through Sunday at the Palace Hotel (455 Madison Avenue, at 50th Street) and will host some 250 high-performance audio brands and several interesting seminars.
But the New York Audio Show is not the only audio-related event to take place in Manhattan this weekend. Two major NYC dealers, Lyric Hi-Fi & Video and Stereo Exchange, will hold their own special events, separate from the NYAS. Both events…
Joint Loudspeakers of the Year
Sonus Faber Aida ($130,000/pair; reviewed by Michael Fremer, October 2018, Vol.41 No.10 review)
Wilson Audio Specialties Alexia Series 2 ($57,900/pair; reviewed by John Atkinson & Jason Victor Serinus, July & August 2018, Vol.41 Nos. 7 & 8 review)
Finalists (in alphabetical order)
DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/93 ($8400/pair; reviewed by Sam Tellig, Herb Reichert & Art Dudley, January 2014 & December 2015 & May 2018, Vol.37 No.1 & Vol.38 No.12 & Vol.41 No.5 review)
Dynaudio Special 40 ($2999/…
Dealer Scott Walker Audio, which has showrooms in Anaheim, California, and Keller, Texas, and Synergistic Research presented several new products at FLAX including the Synergistic Voodoo streamer erver ($14,995); the PowerCell 8 SX conditioner ($3495); and SRX USB ($5995), Ethernet ($5995), and XL Power cables ($13,000).
Walker and Josh Dolye (also of Scott Walker Audio) were especially jazzed about a new line the dealership has picked up: French amplification company JMF Audio. On active display in the Scott Walker room were the JMF PRS 1.5 Preamplifier ($36,000) and HQS 6002…
Although I attended the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show, and contributed to Stereophile's on-line show report, there were many products outside my beat that I found about just like Stereophile readers, ie, reading my colleagues' show reports. One of these that piqued my interest was the Wilson Audio Sabrina, the lowest-priced ($15,900/pair) floorstander from this elite speaker manufacturer. Larry Greenhill's report provided a brief description of the speaker, but since the speaker was only being shown, not demonstrated, he couldn't very well say much about the sound.
A listening report…
DS Audio's Tetsuaki Aoyagi, known casually as Aki, was at High End Munich introducing his new DS Audio Eccentricity Detection Stabilizer ES-001 device. The next-gen (read: young) designer attended with his parents—something seldom seen at hi-fi shows. (That said, my father attended AXPONA again this year.) And families do attend the High End Munich show, perhaps more regularly than others.
Anyway, Aoyagi's new Eccentricity Detection Stabilizer ES-001 (estimated MSRP $6000) performs a few cool functions and has a touchscreen display on top. It essentially acts an LP centering…
J.S. Bach: Cello Suites
Justin Pearson, cello; Pedro Silva, 5-string cello; Katherine Rockhill, piano
Chasing the Dragon VALLP014 (5LP). 2021. Mike and Franáoise Valentine, prods.; Matt Sartori, Petronel Butuc, John Webber, engs.
Performance ****
Sonics ****½
Justin Pearson, cello; Pedro Silva, 5-string cello; Katherine Rockhill, piano
Chasing the Dragon VALLP014 (5LP). 2021. Mike and Franáoise Valentine, prods.; Matt Sartori, Petronel Butuc, John Webber, engs.
Performance ****
Sonics ****½
Here, skilled musicians take a back seat and the recording takes the wheel: five LPs of solo (and near-solo) Bach recorded with a single stereo array of tubed, AKG C12 clones (by Flea), vintage Focusrite pres, and a Sony reel-to-reel connected up with Nordost cable. Lacquers were cut on a Neumann VMS 80 lathe and…
Jason Victor Serinus auditioned the MQA upgrade for the dCS Rossini in May 2018 (Vol.41 No.5):
Although it seemed that a permanent rapprochement between Democrats and Republicans might arrive sooner, dCS's day with MQA has finally dawned. The company's Rossini DAC, Rossini Player, and limited-edition Vivaldi One SACD/CD and network player can now "unfold" and render MQA files; by the time you read this, their Network Bridge should be equipped for MQA unfolding; and the Vivaldi DAC and Upsampler are being readied for MQA rendering.
While the reasons for dCS's delay in implementing…
Digging MQA (from L–R): Peter McGrath, Jason Victor Serinus, and Michael Fremer, with Bob Stuart anxiously looking on and Winai Pawitwatana behind. (Photo: John Atkinson)
CES 2016 marked the first time that three writers for Stereophile—Editor-in-Chief, John Atkinson; AnalogPlanet analog guru, Michael Fremer; and this Contributing Editor—could sit down in the same room with Bob Stuart of MQA/Meridian and spend a concentrated amount of time comparing before- and after-MQA encoded (Master Quality Authenticated) tracks. Joining us were recording engineer Peter McGrath, also of Wilson Audio,…