Stephen Mejias

Gordon Sell PR has added a new client to its already impressive roster. Proclaim Audio of Durham, CT, is absolutely new to me, but I will take the opportunity to get to know the company during the Home Entertainment Show.

The Lyric Show 2013 was held at Lyric Hi-Fi & Video (1221 Lexington Avenue) in Manhattan, on Friday and Saturday, April 12 and 13. An informal VIP presentation, held on Thursday, April 11, was open to members of the press. Last year, Ariel Bitran and I covered the event; this year, I was on my own.

This year’s event, much like the last, was well-attended. Most guests made their ways casually from one demonstration to the next. Some lingered in between rooms, chatting and enjoying glasses of red or white wine while picking happily at small plates of fine food. Others seemed glued to comfortable seats in one of the several listening rooms. Manufacturer representatives, many of whom were also enjoying refreshments, held tight to iPads and kept close to gorgeous turntables, ready to take music requests. The entire place buzzed with energy and enthusiasm.

The Magico Q1 two-way monitor, first seen at the California Audio Show earlier this year, will make its New York debut during the Grand Opening of the new EarsNova showroom at 3 East 28th Street, in Manhattan.

Just this morning, I was thinking about the Magnetic Fields, and specifically about how I haven’t really enjoyed their work since 1999’s inspired 69 Love Songs. While i had plenty of fine moments, I can’t stand to listen to it anymore. It strikes me as mawkish and false. Distortion bothered me from the very beginning. There was nothing to hold on to. And though I’m mildly interested in the new one, Realism, I'm not excited enough to add it to “the list.”