A Special Lenbrook/DALI event in Western Massachusetts
On Monday, 23 October from 9–5, representatives of Lenbrook will be presenting the new DALI KORE loudspeakers at Safe and Sound, 675 Fuller Rd. in Chicopee, Massachusetts. Lenbrook's Brian Farley and David Dunn will be in attendance. For more information, call (413) 594-6460. No RSVP required—just stop by!
A Spectral Event at Innovative Audio in NYC
On Thursday, November 14, from 5–9pm, the Innovative Audio Video Showrooms at 150 E. 58th St, NYC, will host Richard Fryer, the Founder and President of Spectral Audio, to celebrate their more than 40 years of producing state-of-the-art music components with the East Coast debut of the DMA-300SV Reference Standard Stereo Amplifier.
A Spooktacular Event in Houston
Please join 3mA Audio in Houston, Texas for a fun “Spooktacular Audio Show” on Saturday, October 30th starting at 4pm “until the last person leaves.”
A Unique Attention Screen Recording Concert in NYC, May 19
Update: Though John Atkinson will be recording the concert, Attention Screen welcomes audience members who also want to record it, provided they use battery-powered recorders.
On Sunday, May 19, at 1:30pm, Stereophile readers are invited to attend a very special recording concert. Over the last six years, my quartet, Attention Screen has released three CDs of improvised collaborative jazz on the Stereophile Recordings label. This particular concert will be unique in a number of ways. First, rather than playing grand piano, I'll be performing on the magnificent Ralph and Alice Greenlaw Memorial pipe organ at The Community Church of Douglaston, 39-50 Douglaston Parkway, in New York City's borough of Queens. Second, we will be featuring our newest member, trumpeter Liam Sillery, whose fourth CD, Phenomenology, was awarded five stars by Downbeat magazine in 2010. Finally, rather than performing improvised jazz, we will be playing nine newly composed jazz and classical works by the four individual members of Attention Screen. The pieces are designed to demonstrate the broad range of textures and colors the Greenlaw organ is capable of as well as spotlighting Liam Sillery's unique trumpet phrasing style.
A Unique KEF Event
All photographs by Lily Szabo Photography and used with permission
Thursday February 13 was a day most of us in New York would have preferred to stay indoors. With 10” of snow falling since the night before, the Stereophile office closed, the roads in my neighborhood impassable, and public transport iffy at best, I really didn’t want to make the trek into Manhattan. But I did and was glad to have done so. English loudspeaker manufacturer KEF, represented by a team led by the company's brand ambassador Johan Coorg (above right), was promoting a unique event for the press at MSR Studios on 48th Street featuring legendary engineer and producer Ken Scott (above left).A Universal CD Problem?
Recent moves by record labels to add restricted-use technology to their compact disc releases has raised the ire of many a consumer, leading some to call for boycotts or worse (see this week's Soapboxhttp://www.stereophile.com/soapbox.shtml">Soapbox;). Late last year the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM) issued">http://www.stereophile.com/news/11221/">issued a statement saying that the major labels have gone too far in restricting consumers' "fair use" of copyrighted material.
A Visit to Chicago's Audio Consultants
Alan (left) and Simon (right) Zreczny of Audio Consultants
When a retailer entitles his two-day open house, "Innovations in High Fidelity," it's essential that his staff know their stuff. For Audio Consultants, there was no question. With four stores in the greater Chicago area, Audio Consultants is, save perhaps for Magnolia, the largest as well as longest established audio dealer in the region. Audio Consultants was also the only Chicago area high-end store to abstain from exhibiting at Axpona Chicago. When asked why, Simon Zreczny, who runs the store with his son, Alan, replied, "I don't like to be at shows. I don't enjoy doing them. I'm happiest with my customers. I attend 50 live concerts a year, and I always see my customers next to me."
A Visit To Sonos
"I don't get why some audiophiles still think that saving data using a lossless compression scheme like FLAC or Apple Lossless sounds any different than an uncompressed CD file," says Sonoshttp://www.sonos.com">Sonos; founder and VP of Sales and Marketing Thomas S. Cullen between bites of white fish shish kebab. "It's just mathematics, and the results are sonically identical, but you save half the space on your hard drive."
A Visit to the Magico Factory
Alon Wolf with the Magico M Project speakers. All photos: Jason Victor Serinus
Ever since 2013, when Alon Wolf's California-based Magico loudspeaker company consolidated its original 5000 sq. ft. Berkeley headquarters and 5000 sq. ft. San Jose warehouse into a single 20,000 ft. facility in Hayward, people have been telling me that I had to experience the company's "incredible" listening room. Ironically, it was only after I had relocated from the Bay Area to Port Townsend, WA, that the opportunity arose to take Alon Wolf up on his long-standing invitation to visit.A Wonderful Ride while it Lasted
It is with regret that we announce to Stereophile's readers the closing of Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, on November 19, 1999. Known to audiophiles since its inception in 1977, the company provided serious listeners with hundreds of remastered LPs, cassettes, and CDs.