LATEST ADDITIONS

AXPONA 2024
DALI and NAD
Rogier van Bakel  |  Apr 13, 2024  |  0 comments

The amiable and loquacious Jason Zidle is a product manager at Lenbrook, the Canadian company behind NAD and Bluesound. Lenbrook also imports Denmark’s storied DALI speakers. At the Renaissance hotel in Schaumburg, the star performers in the Lenbrook space are a handsome pair of just-launched DALI Epikore 11 floorstanders ($60,000/pair).

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AXPONA 2024
Tone Imports: Revival Audio, Dynavector, Audio MusiKraft, FonoLab, Leben, Tellurium, Sugden, Box Furniture
Ken Micallef  |  Apr 13, 2024  |  8 comments
Meeting up with Tone Imports’ Jonathan Halpern and Pitch Perfect Audio’s Matthew Rotunda was like a family reunion for me. Along with John DeVore and Twittering Machines’ Michael Lavorgna, Halpern is one of my oldest friends and audio guides. His east coast (or Midwest) appearances are rare since he restationed himself in the sunny California desert. His and Rotunda’s ability to assemble a beautiful sounding system remains the same as it ever was.
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AXPONA 2024
Focal and Naim Bring the Power
Rogier van Bakel  |  Apr 13, 2024  |  0 comments
On Thursday night, Chris Shaw, one of Focal’s setup men, was having a tough time. He’d almost finished dialing in the 584-lb Focal Grande Utopias EM Evo speakers, but their bass (14Hz at -6dB) caused a ceiling light fixture in the large Focal/Naim room to rattle. Shaw pushed a printed show banner out of the way to make space for a ladder. A few minutes later, thanks to some sticky tape, the distracting noise was gone.
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AXPONA 2024
Estelon, Crystal Cable, and Vitus Audio Knock our Socks Off
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Apr 12, 2024  |  First Published: Apr 11, 2024  |  2 comments
Distributor Aldo Filippeli of the Luxury Audio Group sure knows how to get the press’s attention. Schedule a room in the Convention Center that he can set up beforehand, invite the press to hour-long sessions before the show begins, and ensure that we come away fulfilled. When Alexander Vitus Mogensen, CEO of Vitus Audio, quipped, “This is the best sounding room at the show right now!” he was telling the truth. In all honesty, if it doesn’t turn out to be one of the top five best sounding rooms at AXPONA 2024, if not the best, I’ll be surprised.
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AXPONA 2024
AXPONA Revs Up for the Big Open
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Apr 12, 2024  |  First Published: Apr 11, 2024  |  0 comments
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Music and Recording Reviews
April 2024 Jazz Record Reviews
Thomas Conrad, Andrey Henkin  |  Apr 10, 2024  |  0 comments
Jim Snidero: For All We Know; Noah Haidu: Standards II; Adam Schroeder & Mark Masters: CT!; Dino Betti van der Noot: Let Us Recount Our Dreams.
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Music and Recording Reviews
April 2024 Rock/Pop Record Reviews
Ray Chelstowski  |  Apr 10, 2024  |  1 comments
The Allman Brothers Band: Manley Field House, Syracuse University, April 7, 1972; The Babys: Live at the Bottom Line, 1979.
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Music and Recording Reviews
April 2024 Classical Record Reviews
Jason Victor Serinus, Stephen Francis Vasta  |  Apr 10, 2024  |  0 comments
Neave Trio: A Room of Her Own; Gidon Kremer: Songs of Fate; Trio Zimbalist: Piano Trios of Weinberg, Auerbach, & Dvořák.
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Budget Component ReviewsIntegrated Amp Reviews
ARCAM Radia A25 integrated amplifier
Herb Reichert  |  Apr 09, 2024  |  7 comments
I've been to a few bowling parties and passed a bottle around a few fire pits, but I've never watched an audiophile unboxing video. Lately though, I have been paying closer attention to my first impressions of each new audio product as it enters my realm.

I'm finding it interesting to notice how a device previously unseen and unheard declares itself one small step at a time as I open its box, feel its heft, observe its form, study its manual, and, finally, wire it into my system. Those start-up experiences, plus my gut feelings during my first moments of music listening, establish a tone of innocent discovery I wish would last the whole month. It never does.

I mention this because my first impressions for my first-ever review of an ARCAM product, the Radia A25 integrated amplifier, were in that "innocent and receptive" mode from the instant I saw the box sitting outside my door.

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As We See ItAXPONA 2024
It's Showtime!
Jim Austin  |  Apr 08, 2024  |  13 comments
Photo: Jason Victor Serinus

Though I'm writing this in early March, this As We See It column will be published in the May issue, which is the issue that will go to AXPONA, America's largest audio show, held each non-pandemic year at the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center near Chicago. This year's show takes place Friday–Sunday, April 12–14. The show opens each day at 10am and closes at 6pm Friday and Saturday; Sunday's closing time is 4pm. If you're going to the show, don't forget to stop by the Stereophile booth, Location 9213 in the exhibit hall.

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