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Ida Levin RIP

I am sad to report that, 19 years to the day after I recorded her performing Schulhoff's Sonata for Solo Violin for Stereophile's Duet CD, Ida Levin passed away on Friday November 18, after a lengthy battle with leukemia. She was 53. Our condolences to her family, her fellow musicians, her students, and to all who, like me, were thrilled by her playing. As a tribute to Ida, from now until January 1, 2017, we are offering Duet to our readers free of charge (though we will still have to charge shipping and handling).

Northern Virginia Hegel Event Wednesday

Wednesday, November 16, from 6–9pm, Command Performance AV (115 Park Avenue, Suite 2, Falls Church, VA 22046) is holding a Hegel Music Systems Event. Guest presenters will be Anders Ertzeid, Hegel's VP of Marketing and Sales, and Eileen Gosvig, Hegel's US Sales Manager, who will demonstrate the Rost integrated amp with enhanced Apple Airplay and the new Mohican CD player ($5000, above), which Art Dudley wrote about in his report from the recent New York Audio Show. Refreshments will be served.

Our December Issue-the Products of 2016!

Our final issue of 2016 kicks off with Robert Schryer recommending that doctors tell us to "take two Grateful Deads and call me in the morning." Meanwhile, for the 26th time, Stereophile's editors and reviewers have voted for the products that impressed them most in the past year. The results are in: 60 finalists and 9 winners in 7 categories; plus for the third year in a row, a section in which everyone nominated their personal product of the year. Some of the winners could be predicted, but others come from left field!

Dealer Events Tomorrow and Thursday

Wednesday November 9, 5–8pm, Dallas dealer Audio Concepts welcomes Dan D'Agostino, Wilson Audio's Peter McGrath, and John Quick from dCS to an open house, while in Maryland, Wednesday November 9 and Thursday November 10, 6–9pm, Gramophone celebrates its 40th Anniversary with a special two-day event at its Timonium and Columbia locations. Thursday November 10, 5–8pm, Southern California dealer Wilshire Media Systems hosts its Annual Fall Expo, Northern California dealer AudioVision San Francisco presents the "US Premier from Dynaudio New Contour Loudspeakers," 7:30–10 pm, and Ontario's Audio Excellence is hosting a Nordost Event as part of their "Meet the Manufacturers" series, from 4–8pm.

The New York Audio Show Returns to NY this Weekend

Now in its fifth year, the UK-based Chester Group's New York Audio Show opens to the public this Friday, November 4, at 1pm in the Park Lane Hotel overlooking Central Park. (Friday hours are until 7pm.) The three-day show, a smaller version of what has come before, promises 30 exhibit rooms, half of which are "oversized," two ballroom-sized exhibits, and two more ballrooms filled with exhibits and vendors selling merchandise. All-in-all, the event, whose one-day visitor pass costs $30 ($26 in advance, with significant savings for multi-day passes) promises almost 110 brands.

MQA and Warner: the Real Scoop

Photo: Jason Victor Serinus

Exactly what did Bob Stuart (above) say at that press event earlier this month at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest (RMAF)? Stuart—CEO of the company MQA, short for Master Quality Authenticated—made an announcement about the Warner Music Group's (WMG's) transcoding of their catalog into MQA format, a project announced last May. But what exactly did he say?


Eager for answers, I arranged a conference call. Over the course of about half an hour, Stuart (with an occasional assist from Lisa Sullivan, MQA's Director of Marketing) answered all my questions and more.

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