LATEST ADDITIONS

"Is the Artist in the Room?" is the title of two recorded-music seminars being presented November 14 by Philip O’Hanlon of high-end audio distributor On A Higher Note at Florida dealer Audio Elegance (3435 Galt Ocean Drive, Fort Lauderdale) from 1pm–6pm. Philip will be presenting a live demonstration of high-resolution digital formats vs analog recordings.

Saturday, November 14, 1–6pm: VPI Industries (10 Riverside Lane, Holmdel) will host an Open House/Listening Party. Guests will be able to enjoy four rooms, each furnished with a system that has been carefully optimized for the specific listening environment. The event will highlight two new pieces of electronics: the Luminous Audio Arion Phonostage (above) and the Fern & Roby Integrated Amplifier, both engineered by Mike Bettinger of Bettinger Audio. Manufacturer representatives from all three companies will be on hand to answer questions and demonstrate the products.

Let's go back a few years. Well, more than a few, actually. The electronics end of high-end audio consisted of two companies—Marantz and McIntosh. If you were not up to shopping at their stratospheric price level—even though the industry hadn't yet invented components priced to compete with automobiles—you could always fall back on Dynaco, the poor man's high end in kit form. You hooked all this together with two-dollar connecting cables and 16-gauge zip cord purchased from the local electrical supply house, or—if you felt particularly flush—you'd spend a few (very few) bucks more at Fred's Stereo for the cables with the fancy molded plugs. Hoses were used for watering the lawns.

Chicago dealer Musical Artisans will host their winter open-house event on Saturday, November 14, from 6:30–9:30pm, featuring the North American premiere of four exciting products. Ulrik Madsen, President and lead engineer at Argento Audio and Organic Audio will present the official introduction of the new Organic Reference cable line, and the world premiere of the FMR Extreme Edition interconnects. Irv Gross, Vice President of Sales at Constellation Audio will present the Virgo III preamplifier and all-new Centaur II amplifier in their first appearance at a US dealer. Allan Moulton, US Market Representative for Kharma, will debut the new-generation Exquisite Midi-Grand loudspeakers featuring the radical new F-Driver technology.

Manhattan dealer Innovative Audio Video Showrooms (150 East 58th Street) is celebrating its recent renovation with three “VIP” events: Thursday, November 12, 6–9pm; Friday November 13, 4–7pm; and Saturday, November 14 12–6pm. Special presentations will feature Peter McGrath of Wilson Audio Specialties, Ryan Donaher of Meridian Audio, Dr. Edgar Choueiri of Theoretica/BACCH-SP, and Bill McKiegan of D'Agostino Master Audio Systems.

The word flagship takes on new meaning when the product in question is literally the size of a small boat; so it is with MartinLogan's 75"-tall, 385lb Neolith loudspeaker ($79,995/pair), which combines electrostatic and dynamic transducers in a high-tech phenolic frame. Appropriately enough, the Neolith's appearance at the Rye Brook Hilton took place in one of the two largest rooms reserved for the New York show. (One day after the show, I'm still not sure if those are sound-enhancing accessories, objets d'art, or dinner plates on the wall behind the Neoliths: There exist some questions that even the bravest reviewers are too squeamish to ask.)