Jason Victor Serinus

CAS 2014

CAS 2014 Day 1: Settling In

Jason Victor Serinus Aug 19, 2014

As soon as I entered the room sponsored by Loggie Audio of Redwood City, CA, the system's superior air, depth, and resolution were immediately apparent. The reason: YG Acoustics "Hailey" loudspeakers ($42,800/pair), Bryston 28B SST-2 1000Wpc monoblocks ($19,200/pair), Esoteric K-01 SACD player ($20,000), Audio Reference Technology "Analyst" cabling and power conditioning, and Harmonic Resolution Systems SXR stands and platforms. Oh, and a large room that gave the system more than enough space to expand and breathe.

CAS 2014

CAS 2014 Day 1: Lift Off

Jason Victor Serinus Aug 16, 2014

On the evening before the California Audio Show opened, as I gazed at San Francisco International Airport and the beautiful stretch of San Francisco Bay directly in front of the Westin SFO, I thought to myself, "This area is already accustomed to a lot of high-decibel booming and shrieking. But I wonder if it's ready for the sounds that CAS has in store?"

The answer came in the form of what appeared to be a very healthy attendance for Day 1 of the show, and some of the finest sound I've ever heard at an audio show. (The California Audio Show runs through Sunday August 17.)

CAS 2014 News

California Audio Show Starts Friday

Jason Victor Serinus Aug 10, 2014

The 5th annual California Audio Show takes place August 1517 in the four-star Westin SFO hotel in Millbrae, CA. Easily accessible via the freeway or BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit), this smaller-scaled show showcases rarely encountered big speakers from Dynaudio, Genesis, JBL, and Sound Labs.

News

Albert Von Schweikert's Traveling Mr. Wizard Show

Jason Victor Serinus Jul 25, 2014

Inspired by Watch Mr. Wizard, a children's science show that aired on American TV 19511965, loudspeaker designer Albert Von Schweikert brought his updated, all-ages loudspeaker installment to Orinda, CA last weekend. Presenting to members of the newly constituted San Francisco Audio Society, Von Schweikert and his grandson, Devon Von Schweikert, enabled attendees to compare the sound of various midrange drivers and enclosure materials.

News

Parasound Shares its Strengths in San Jose

Jason Victor Serinus Jul 22, 2014

On July 17, industry veterans Richard Schram, founder of Parasound, and John Curl, the company's legendary circuit designer (above), made a rare joint appearance at Century Stereo in San Jose, CA. Surviving unexpectedly horrendous freeway traffic, which made for a late startperfect for this writer, who made the same commutethe two men's great spirits contributed to an evening as entertaining as it was informative.

Capital AudioFest 2014 News

A Capital Show Starts Friday

Jason Victor Serinus Jul 21, 2014

The annual Capital Audio Fest (CAF), the Mid-Atlantic States' premier playground for audio, returns to the Sheraton Hotel in Silver Spring, MD on July 2527. With the addition of its CanMania, whose list of vendors continues to grow; Saturday's Headphone Meet; and a new focus on high-resolution downloads, the annual show expects to draw a younger and bigger crowd of up to 2000 attendees to its eminently accessible location.

News

Ripping LPs with Pure Vinyl 4

Jason Victor Serinus Jul 07, 2014

"Our goal is not just to create a portable digital copy of an analog LP; it is to honor the high-fidelity aspects of vinyl by making a digital copy that sounds indistinguishable from the original." So spoke Rob Robinson, PhD (above), creator of Channel D's Pure Vinyl and Pure Music Mac apps, at the start of a recent presentation members of the Bay Area Audiophile Society.

News

Estelon's Major Statement: The Extreme Loudspeaker

Jason Victor Serinus Jun 22, 2014

Extreme, perhaps, in size6'10" when fully extendedand certainly in price ($260,000/pair US price), the Estelon Extreme loudspeaker has arrived at its exclusive US dealer, Audio High in Mountain View and Los Angeles, CA. The brainchild of Estonian designer Alfred Vassilkov, 56, who describes it as the culmination of 30 years of research, each loudspeaker, pictured above with Audio High's Michael Silver, weighs 551.16 lbs (250kg).

T.H.E. Show Newport 2014

T.H.E Show 2014: Bringing it All Home

Jason Victor Serinus Jun 06, 2014

There I was, making my way room-to-room toward the end of the show when suddenly Jeffrey Catalano of New York City's "2 channel with attitude" High Water Sound appears.

"Aren't you coming to my room on the 10th floor?" asks a man who clearly has been hounding the hallways . . .

T.H.E. Show Newport 2014

T.H.E Show 2014: Day 3 Afternoon

Jason Victor Serinus Jun 06, 2014

Speculation has it that a big reason for such large attendance at the Los Angeles & Orange County Audiophile Society meetings are their raffles of valuable cabling and electronics. T.H.E. Show Newport Beach followed suit, with hundreds of people gathering in the Hilton Courtyard at 2pm Sunday for the "must be present to win" opportunity to win over $25,000 worth of High-End Audio Give-Away goodies. This photo, which shows white-shirted publicist Lucette Nicoll snapping a photo of the raffle stage, only pictures part of the large crowd.