News

The Lyric Show 2013 was held at Lyric Hi-Fi & Video (1221 Lexington Avenue) in Manhattan, on Friday and Saturday, April 12 and 13. An informal VIP presentation, held on Thursday, April 11, was open to members of the press. Last year, Ariel Bitran and I covered the event; this year, I was on my own.

This year’s event, much like the last, was well-attended. Most guests made their ways casually from one demonstration to the next. Some lingered in between rooms, chatting and enjoying glasses of red or white wine while picking happily at small plates of fine food. Others seemed glued to comfortable seats in one of the several listening rooms. Manufacturer representatives, many of whom were also enjoying refreshments, held tight to iPads and kept close to gorgeous turntables, ready to take music requests. The entire place buzzed with energy and enthusiasm.

The Magico Q1 two-way monitor, first seen at the California Audio Show earlier this year, will make its New York debut during the Grand Opening of the new EarsNova showroom at 3 East 28th Street, in Manhattan.

Saturday, May 14, 12–6pm: Goodwin’s High End (899 Main Street, Waltham, MA) will host the public world premiere of the Magico Q3 loudspeaker, sibling to the Q5, which was recently reviewed by Michael Fremer. During the evening, Magico’s Alon Wolf will provide a demonstration and discussion of the Q3. For more info and to RSVP, call (781) 893-9000.

The March 2015 issue has arrived. And it’s an issue of contrasts. Featured on the cover is Theta’s Prometheus monoblock, a class-D tower of power offering 320W into 8 ohms. You’d think that at $12,000/pair the Prometheus was expensive, but its price pales in comparison to the $54,000 Boulder is asking for its state-of-the-art 2110 preamplifier! Fortunately, the 132-page March 2015 Stereophile also features reviews of a very affordable turntable from Pioneer and a high-value tower loudspeaker from DALI.

The last time we checked in, The MBL X-Treme Roadshow was in Sarasota, Florida. It has now moved on to 3mA Audio in Houston, Texas.

Please join Suncoast Audio in Sarasota, Florida, for the MBL X-treme Roadshow on Saturday, November 16th. Jeremy and Tara Bryan from MBL North America will present the 101 X-treme Radialstrahler loudspeaker system driven by MBL’s Reference Line Electronics.

It's cheating to say that the best sound I've heard at the English Show was at Martin Colloms' house on Saturday night---cheating the same way it is when someone asks that question and I (or some other reviewer) piously responds that some live music event ranks above any exhibitor. Martin, of course, has an advantage over anyone at the Show. He set up his own listening room and had all the time he needed to boot. Even so, his system, consisting of a Krell KRS-25 and FPB 650Ms and Wilson Audio WITT IIs, was astoundingly fast, rhythmic, and dynamic.

We live in a world of strife. Among the many organizations working to change this regrettable fact are the Committee of 100 for Tibet (C100) and the Dalai Lama Foundation (DLF), which together are curating and producing a large-scale art">http://www.dalailamaportrait.org">art exhibition that will have its official debut at UCLA's Fowler Museum in June 2006. A preview show of The Missing Peace: The Dalai Lama Portrait Project will take place at the Cantor Center for Arts at Stanford University in September 2005, to coincide with a visit to that institution by the Dalai Lama, exiled spiritual leader of the Tibetan people.

If you find yourself spending more time in a car seat than in your audio system's sweet spot each day, the trend pairing high-end audio companies with car manufacturers may offer a little relief. Lexus made a big splash last year by incorporating Mark Levinson technology into its latest cars, joining collaborations between Dynaudio and Volvo among others.

The 2019 Montreal Audio Fest has opened at the Hotel Bonaventure across the street from the city's main railway station and even at the opening time of 11am, there was a long queue at the registration desk. The show, which runs until 8pm tonight, 10am–6pm Saturday, and 10am–5pm Sunday, has a theme celebrating both the Woodstock Festival's 50th anniversary and the 50 years since John Lennon's and Yoko Ono's infamous bed-in in Montreal and the Fab Four's last live concert. I will be covering the show live for Stereophile, along with Robert Schryer and Art Dudley. Stay tuned for our reports.