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For a first-time audio show, the Los Angeles Audio Show's (LAAS) June 2–4 stint in the Sheraton Gateway Hotel, adjacent to LAX, could very well move the bar higher for consumer audio show expectations. With 116 active exhibit rooms—participation was intentionally capped so that show manager Marine Presson could keep a handle on things during this initial run—348 brands and manufacturers, and a >8000ft² HeadGear Planet with 35 booths in the "affordable section" and another five in the "Xtreme section," this looks like it is going to be one helluva show.

Chord's extraordinary DAVE—"Digital [to] Analog Veritas [in] Extremis (Truth in Extreme)"—D/A processor takes pride of place on its cover, but the June Stereophile is packed full of good stuff. Art Dudley reports on Peachtree's "Made in America" nova300 integrated amplifier; Herb Reichert and Jim Austin live with high-performance preamplifiers from PrimaLuna and PS Audio; Kal Rubinson checks out a two-channel AV integrated amplifier from Arcam; Ken Micallef reviews a truly loud speaker, the horn-loaded Rival from Volti; and Robert Baird listens to great-sounding vinyl reissues of recordings of the legendary pianist Bill Evans.

In anticipation of this week's Munich High End, which takes place May 18–21, MQA has announced several breakthroughs. The first involves its hardware partners, who have expanded to include AudioQuest, CanEver Audio, dCS, Esoteric, IAG, Krell, Lumin, Mark Levinson, Moon by Simaudio, Pro-Ject Audio Systems, TEAC, and Wadax. These are in addition to its existing partners, who include Aurender, Bel Canto, Bluesound, Cary, NAD, Brinkmann, Meridian, MSB, Mytek, Onkyo, Pioneer and Technics. All of the latter are expected to demonstrate MQA at the Munich show, with yet others showing at the Los Angeles Audio Show June 2–4.

Maryland store Gramophone (West Aylesbury Road, Timonium MD 21093) is hosting Sandy Gross, president of GoldenEar, on May 10, from 6–9pm. Sandy will be presenting GoldenEar's new flagship, the Triton Reference loudspeaker, which made its debut at CES 2017.

Saturday, April 29, from 1–5pm, Lavish Hi-Fi (1044 4th Street, Santa Rosa, CA 95404) is holding a vinyl lover's dream day, featuring The Last Record Store, and Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab.

...goes the song from the Middle Ages and no, it isn't really true in the month of Apriling. But the May issue of Stereophile is about to hit newsstands, mailboxes, and tables as we write and it is, we modestly claim, one heck of an issue!

New York-based Chesky Records has just announced its first two MQA-encoded CDs. On May 19, both Camille Thurman's new Inside the Moment and Rebecca Pidgeon's classic The Raven will hit the streets, as it were, with a list price of $18.98. Music lovers with MQA-enabled DACs will be able to experience the full benefits of MQA-encoding/unfolding, while others will enjoy Red Book quality sound.