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Location, location, location . . . and, from Richard Beers and Bob Levi, a generous helping of brilliant organizing acumen. That winning combination means that, in just its third year, T.H.E. Show Newport Beach has already laid claim to the title of the top consumer “fine audio” show in the U.S.

What exactly being No.1 means is another question entirely. While T.H.E. Show Newport Beach may have been spread over multiple floors in two adjacent hotels, as was T.H.E. Show Las Vegas of old, and offered, in addition to almost 140 exhibit rooms and an invaluable…

"Good morning Jason," began the email from Technical Editor John Atkinson. "I have just reviewed the $9850 Weiss DAC502 for the August issue of Stereophile. I thought this D/A processor sounded superb, ... and I wish I had been able to compare it with the dCS Rossini. "Would you therefore be willing to follow up my review with that comparison? [Editor-in-Chief] Jim is cool with that idea, and I can have the Weiss shipped to you. It has balanced outputs and a high-resolution volume control, so would be compatible…

The Sacred Veil is a commissioned piece but also a labor of love. The cantata sets poems by Whitacre's friend, Charles Anthony Silvestri, who was coming to terms with the premature death of his wife, Julie. The score also sets three of Julie's writings and two of the composer's own poems.

Whitacre's "modern Romantic" idiom takes in agreeable dissonances for expressive effect. His vocal…

When Rotel shipped the Michi S5 stereo amplifier to me for review (footnote 1), they sent along a sample of its companion stereo preamplifier, the P5 ($4299.99, serial number 255-9501002), so that I could experience a complete Michi pairing. After a brief listen to that Michi combo, I decided to pair the S5 with my familiar reference for that review, the two-piece D'Agostino Momentum HD preamplifier ($42,500) and write a separate follow-up to Ken Micallef's November 2020 review of the P5.

Whereas Ken's…

On the face of it, Alexander Melnikov's Fantasie: 7 Composers, 7 Keyboards is an audiophile's dream. A follow-up to keyboard genius Melnikov's marvelous 2018 Harmonia Mundi recital, Four Pieces, Four Pianos, it presents the keyboard fantasies of seven great composers, from Johann Sebastian Bach to Alfred Schnittke, on seven very different-sounding historic instruments. Each…

The question kept running through my head as I marveled at the breadth and maturity of Attention Screen's remarkable improvisations during a pre-concert sound check in the Piano Salon of Yamaha Artist Services, Inc. (YASI), at 689 Fifth Avenue, in the heart of Manhattan.

Attention Screen impressed even more at the public concert the following night, April 24, 2010. As the band members engaged in one improvisational miracle after another, fearlessly exploring new…

Auditioned with the bloody conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East as a backdrop, these riveting, superbly recorded performances confront listeners with the inescapable ravages of war. They also open a window on the shifting political convictions of one of the greatest composers to emerge during the early years of the Soviet…

So I walked into room 4.2 F213 expecting to love the Reference model (approx. $28,500), paired with the Thales Simplicity II tonearm ($9900) and the new Thales Magnifier phono preamplifier ($42,000, all prices approximate, converted…

Editor: A review in Stereophile is very important to Bricasti Design and to our dealers and export partners, so we took our responsibilities in this matter very seriously. We did our best, in hopes that the process would be transparent and fair, and that Stereophile's reviewer would report on the best that our product the M15 stereo amplifier can sound. We don't think that is what happened, and are very disappointed.

When Jason Victor Serinus approached us at the 2017 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest while we were demonstrating the M15, we told him that in view…