Here we see two old pals, Stereophile's John Atkinson (left) and Scull Communications' Jonathan Scull, walking toward the pool for the ceremonial ribbon cutting.
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There's live entertainment from noon to 6pm, daily, at the poolside bar. Isn't that great? Shouldn't every hi-fi show be set around a pool?
Not sure whose idea it was to put gigantic scissors in Michael Fremer's hands. Luckily, everything worked out. No CDs were harmed and the red ribbon was cut, marking the start of the 2nd annual T.H.E. Show Newport Beach.
From left: Bob Levi, president of the Los Angeles and Orange County Audiophile Society; Stereophile's John Atkinson; Mr. Analog Planet, Mikey Fremer; Positive Feedback's David Robinson; and The Absolute Sound's Robert Harley.
Um, you know how CES typically coincides with the AVN Awards? Well, this year’s Newport Beach Show happens to coincide with Califur 8, Southern California’s annual furry convention. The nearby Marriott, where I happen to be staying, is home to the convention.
It's extremely creepy. I found this lovable guy curled up around a very big tube amp.
It's 6pm on Thursday night. Stereophile editor John Atkinson has proposed that we rendezvous in the lobby of the Hilton, secrete ourselves in a corner over a beverage of choice, and discuss how we three (John, Stephen Mejias, and moi) will cover the show.
Having covered shows with John before, and seen how many people come up to him to chat as he attempts to get from point A to point B, I had my doubts that we could somehow manage to talk undisturbed. Talk? We never even got that far. Conversation upon conversation began as soon as John hit lobby. Here, Bob Levi, President of the Los…
The Hilton Lobby was a happening place on Thursday evening. While John and I were schmoozing away in one area, Richard Beers, President of T.H.E. Show (center), had gathered around himself a throng of young acolytes, aka show helpers, for their pre-show orientation. Wearing his "Beers" T-shirt, Richard was positively glowing as he schooled his admirers in the fine art of registering people and directing them from place to place.
Not that his orientation was entirely successful. When, on Saturday at 1:30pm, I dashed downstairs trying to catch the tail end of John Atkinson's seminar, "What…
You'd think, given that T.H.E. Show Newport Beach has proven so successful that it now occupies lobby areas, conference rooms, poolsides, and multiple floors in two venues, The Hilton Hotel and the across-the-parking-lot Atrium Hotel, that there would be one lusciously thick program guide for both shows. Think again. There are two different guides, one marked "East" and the other "West." Unless you look closely at the photo at the cover, carry a compass, or keep track of the sun's position, you may end up as befuddled as the poor soul who kept walking into the VTL room and demanding where…
It's 11am Friday morning. The ribbon has been cut, the doors and flung open, and the lines begin to form at the Hilton. By midday, the line to the elevators on the other side of the lobby extends out into the hallway. Some attendees resort to the stairways instead of waiting.
And to think, this is only the first day. Bob Levi is predicting up to 10,000 attendees over the course of the three-day show.
For those with short-term memory loss, or others who wish to remember forever the show at which they bought the gear that changed their lives, show posters were for sale in…
Because it was housed in a protective plastic case, which was allergic to my flash, my photo cannot possibly do full justice to the US pre-debut of the gorgeous Rubicon Atomic AD/DA preamp (price not yet announced, probably under $40,000, hopefully to be demonstrated in full form at the Rocky Mountain AudioFest in October and available for purchase at the end of the year). This 384kHz converter, phono preamp, and headphone amplifier with an integrated atomic clock and gold-plated relay volume control utilizes the 10M Rubidium atomic clock, which is said to be 100,000 times more stable than a…
The KEF Blade has been a constant in my show and audio showroom experience of late. Here demmed by Johan Coorg of KEF America and Michael Silver of Audio High, the Blades ($30,000/pair) were making very warm, inviting, and, yes, coherent sound with lovely depth when paired with the Chord SPM 6000 monoblock amplifiers ($49,000/ pair), Chord CPA 5000 preamp ($20,000), Chord Red Reference Mk.III CD/DAC ($25,000), Audience Power Conditioner, and a MacBook Pro rigged to play J River.