News

The news broke on Facebook yesterday that Mark Hollis had died, aged just 64. I was late to appreciate Hollis's work, including his extraordinary solo album from 1998 (above). But since Stephen Mejias turned me on to him, Mark Hollis's music, both solo and with the band Talk Talk, has been in heavy rotation. (You can find my review of Talk Talk's final album, Laughing Stock, here—scroll down the page.) Fellow fan, Michael Vamos of distributor Audio Skies, asked if he could share some thoughts.

Friday, February 22, from 5pm, Alma Music and Audio (7847 Convoy Ct. #101, San Diego, CA 92111) will host Wilson Audio's Peter McGrath for the introduction of the new Sasha DAW loudspeaker. We're told it will be a fun night of music, celebrating Wilson's ambitious recreation of the seminal WATT/Puppy loudspeaker, as well as the man who started it all, the late David A. Wilson. The system will also showcase Audio Research's Reference 160M and MSB's Reference DAC.

Qobuz, the French subscription hi-rez streaming and download service, finally launches in the US today, right before the start of CanJam NYC. Qobuz not only offers more than 40 million tracks, over two million of which are said to be hi-rez, but also includes liner notes for many albums. The service has also secured partnerships that enable it to position Qobuz as the "official" streaming service of CanJam and other US high-end audio shows.

Friday, February 1, 2–5pm, and Saturday, February 2, 1–5pm, Big Kids Toys AV (1413 Garland Drive, Greensboro, NC 27408) is holding listening sessions. Products being showcased will include Luxman's L-505uXii integrated amplifier and new PD-151 turntable, as well as loudspeakers from Triangle, including the Magellan Cello, and the Esprit Australe EZ and Esprit Titus EZ.

Roon, one of the major brands of audiophile-quality high-resolution music playback software, has just released its v.1.6 upgrade. Roon 1.6 finally includes a portal for hi-rez streaming Qobuz, whose US launch is rumored for sometime next month. In addition to pairing Roon's rich metadata with the entire Qobuz and Tidal catalogs, the upgrade also offers major new features.

January 26 & 27: Florida retailer Bending Wave USA (10404 West State Road 84, Suite 101, Davie, FL 33324) is holding a Grand Opening celebration, featuring loudspeakers and cables from Göbel High-End in Germany and electronics from CH Precision.

Hitting newsstands, mailboxes, and tablets today, the February Stereophile features its renowned "Records2Die4" feature, now in its 28th year! The magazine's editors and writers each recommend two recordings that they couldn't live without—the 46 albums reviewed this month would be the basis of a great audiophile music collection. Ayre's EX-8 "Integrated Hub" amplifier is featured on the cover and also reviewed in this issue are speakers from Revel and Audio Physic; amplifiers from Air Tight, CH Precision, and First Watt; and tonearms from Swedish Analog Technologies and Sorane. And don't miss Herb Reichert's account of his visit last fall to amplifier maven Nelson Pass.