Bellevue, Washington: On Wednesday and Thursday, Nov 13 and 14, Definitive Audio in Bellevue hosted multiple by-invitation showings of Wilson Audio’s just-unveiled Chronosonic XVX loudspeaker.
On Friday, February 28, 3–7pm, Audio Advisors, at 2271A Palm Beach Lakes Blvd., West Palm Beach, Florida, will present the new Wilson Audio Chronosonic XVX loudspeaker. Wilson's Peter McGrath will be there. Space is limited so please R.S.V.P. to Rudi, either by email rkothe@audioadvisors.com or phone, at (561) 478-3100.
Wilson Audio Specialties' Sasha Series 2 loudspeaker ($29,500/pair), which began shipping in March, celebrated its formal California debut on Saturday, May 24, at Music Lovers Audio in San Francisco. Handsomely accompanied by recording engineer Peter McGrath (above), Wilson's Director of Sales for North America, and Rich Maez of Boulder Amplifiers, whose electronics joined a dCS front end and cabling from Shunyata, Transparent, and Synergistic Research, the Sasha Series 2, aka Sasha 2, more than lived up to its promise in a less-than-ideal room whose set-up included Synergistic Research’s HFTs and FEQ and Grand Prix Audio’s Monaco equipment racks.
There are no accidents, eh? A chance meeting with Wilson-Benesch's Luke Milnes, followed by several email and WhatsApp check-ins, led me to my final exhibit at Munich High End. There, in a system that also featured Audionet products, reigned the 308lb Wilson-Benesch Omnium loudspeaker ($169,000/pair), second in command in the company's reference Fibonacci Series. Containing three pairs of isobaric-loaded woofers, two additional bass drivers, one midrange unit, and the Fibonacci tweeter, this hardly diminutive loudspeaker utilizes new bio-composite technology that replaces the carbon-fiber Monique enclosure technology Wilson-Benesch pioneered in 1994.
Saturday, May 3, 15pm, Fidelis, located at 460 Amherst Street, Nashua, NH will host a seminar and open house with Peter McGrath of Wilson Audio (above) to celebrate and present Wilson Audio's new Sasha 2 loudspeaker. Brian Zolner of Bricasti Design will be on hand to talk about digital solutions and his highly regarded Bricasti M1 DAC, and Stereophile Senior Editor John Marks will be on hand to share his industry insights. Refreshments will be served. RSVP is appreciated: email store@fidelisav.com or call (603) 880-4434.
Starting December 20, 2013, Winamp will no longer be available for download. A warning was posted on the Winamp website yesterday. Winamp served an instrumental role in the proliferation of downloaded music giving music fans an easy way to play music on their computer.
At the 133rd Audio Engineering Society (AES) Convention at San Francisco's Moscone Convention Center, a full house flocked to aptly numbered Room 133 on October 27 to hear Stereophile's John Atkinson and four other major audio professionals deliver a two-hour presentation, Loudness Wars: The Wrong Drug? Sharing the stage were the panel's chair, Thomas Lund of TC Electronic A/S from Risskov, Denmark; Florian Camerer of ORF of Vienna, Austria; fabled recording and mastering engineer Bob Katz of Digital Domain in Orlando, Florida; and the equally fabled George Massenburg, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, who engineered, among other things, that audiophile favorite, Jennifer Warnes' "Bird on a Wire."
Sonos's Geoff Marks talks to attendees about networked music
If ever one needed an object lesson on how to put on a successful demo, the team at AudioVision San Francisco provided. At an evening entitled "A Sonos Wireless Event," held on the evening of February 7, at least three demonstrations were held simultaneously: the first in the store's main "High-End System" room, which in itself involved two different systems; a second in the store's smaller demo room, again including a switch of Triangle loudspeakers, Bel Canto Design electronics, and Nordost cabling; and at least one more in the hallway. Representatives from Sonos Wireless Audio, Bel Canto Design and Nordost conducted the demos with an able assist from AudioVision staff.
Tuesday, November 10, 69pm: To celebrate the US dealer premiere of AudioQuest's Niagara 7000 Low-Z Power Noise-Dissipation System, Ultra Fidelis (7125 West North Avenue, Wauwatosa) will host an evening of music, hi-fi, and technology. Special guest Garth Powell, AudioQuest's Director of Power Products, will be on hand to provide a detailed discussion on AC power technology and demonstrate the Niagara 7000 (above).
On Tuesday, November 22, at 6pm, Stereo Exchange (627 Broadway, Manhattan) will host a demonstration of Wisdom Audio’s Reference LS4 planar magnetic line-source loudspeaker system, STS subwoofers, and SC-1 system controller.
On October 4, Wisdom Audio announced the appointment of its new president, industry veteran Mark Glazier, to oversee the company's sales, customer development and support, marketing, distribution, and overall business development.
Carson City, NV loudspeaker company Wisdom Audio has been aggressively reorganizing itself lately. The first part of the program was re-uniting founder Tom Bohlender with erstwhile partner David Graebner to refine and perfect the magnetic planar speaker technology used by Wisdom's hybrid planar/dynamic loudspeakers. Then, in October 2006, the company appointed industry veteran Mark Glazier president. On February 8, Glazier announced that Jon Herron would join the company as vice president of sales.
Last week, InterTrust Technologies, which creates Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology, and format developer DataPlay announced a partnership intended to create a portable media distribution platform for protected content such as music. Universal Music Group, EMI Recorded Music, and BMG Entertainment have all announced that they are planning to release prerecorded music on the resultant DataPlay digital format for use in a variety of consumer electronic devices.
It's bad enough for stores competing with each other for consumer loyalty—imagine how retailers must feel when the largest consumer-electronics company in the world decides to compete with you as well. This grim reality came true for dealers around the world last week, when Sony Electronics outlined its plans for SonyStyle.com, which the company describes as "an information-rich e-commerce website." The site is scheduled to be launched this fall.
Pro-Ject Audio System's founder and President Heinz Lichtenegger debuted three products in Manhattan this past April 28. Among the upbeat Austrian's new wares were the Vertical turntable (above), the Classic turntable, and the DAC Box DS2 Ultra. Presented at World of McIntosh's SoHo townhouse, visitors were given a tour of the 1890s-built former New York City power substation, now beautifully renovated and stuffed floor to ceiling with audio gear from Sonus Faber, McIntosh, and of course, Pro-Ject.