Jason Victor Serinus

News RMAF 2014

The Great Rocky Mountain Audio Fest Starts Friday

Jason Victor Serinus Oct 06, 2014

Could it only be the 11th time the annual Rocky Mountain Audio Fest has welcomed thousands of audiophiles to Denver? The three-day gathering, which takes place Friday, October 10Sunday, October 12 at its comfortable location, the Marriott Denver Tech Center, has become such an essential part of the international audio scene that it feels like it's been here forever.

News

Live Web Streaming Wednesday of Jazz in the New Harmonic

Jason Victor Serinus Sep 29, 2014

Come Wednesday evening, October 1, at 7:30pm EDT, jazz lovers throughout the greater New York City environsthat includes Brooklynwill flock to Jazz at Lincoln Center to groove to triple Grammy-nominated composer/pianist David Chesky's quintet, Jazz in the New Harmonic. Folks unable to join Stereophile editor John Atkinson and others in the audience for the first show, or the second at 9:30pm, can listen to a live stream of the initial set here.

News NY Audio Show 2014

The New York Audio Show Starts Friday

Jason Victor Serinus Sep 22, 2014

It may be just a subway ride away from the biggest Apple, but to some inveterate Manhattanites, an audio show in Brooklyn sounds like it's from another planet. In reality, the third New York Audio Show, which opens to the public on Friday, September 26 at 2pm and continues through Sunday, September 28 at 5pm, takes place at the Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge, just a short distance across the East River from Manhattan.

Music and Recording Features News

Callas Remastered: "La Divina" Receives Her Due

Jason Victor Serinus Sep 20, 2014

Move over John, George, Ringo, and Paul. There's another remastering that's come on the scene, and it's every bit as important as the Beatles Mono Edition. It's Warner Classics' high-resolution, 24/96 digital remastering of soprano Maria Callas' entire studio-sourced discography. Consisting of arias, recitals and complete operas recorded 19491969, the remasterings reach the international public on September 22, and US music lovers on September 23. Their sound, whether in the 69-CD box set of her entire studio recordings, or HDtracks' 24/96 downloads of its individual components, is revelatory.

News

AudioVision SF's Brand New Store

Jason Victor Serinus Aug 27, 2014

What a difference a change of location can make! What was originally a major challengeAudioVision SF, one of the country's major dealerships, literally had the rug pulled out from under them by their landlord last spring, and needed to raise money and scurry to a new locationhas turned into a major opportunity: a spanking new venue, whose main listening room sounds muchthat's much, as in muchbetter than before.

As We See It

Living Sound Meets Living Art

Jason Victor Serinus Aug 21, 2014

I've always considered the high end to be industrial art. People who favor a certain brand are saying, in a way, "I like that designer's interpretation. I like his or her art."David Wilson

Last March, I had a rare experience akin to hearing the same recording through two different systems. I heard Andris Nelsons conduct the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in the same programHaydn's Symphony 90, and Brahms's Variations on a Theme by Haydn, followed by his Symphony 3in two very different venues: UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall and, 50 miles north, Sonoma State University's Weill Hall.

CAS 2014

CAS 2014 Day 3: Touchdown

Jason Victor Serinus Aug 21, 2014

Snatching my prize for best sound on the third floor, the world premiere of the new Wells Audio Innamorata Signature amplifier ($13,000), enhanced by the new crystal technology in Jack Bybee's A/V Signal Enhancers ($119.95) and Bybee Technologies power cables ($1500), blew me away. Whoever expected, on Reference Recordings' new Kansas City Symphony recording of the suite from Prokofiev's Love for Three Oranges, such impeccably detailed, superbly controlled full-range sound in such a small room?

CAS 2014

CAS 2014 Day 3: Slowing for the Descent

Jason Victor Serinus Aug 20, 2014

Sundays customarily draw a smaller attendance at shows, but CAS's Sunday across from San Francisco International Airport was especially slow until, surprisingly, things speeded up shortly before the runway was in sight. Either lots of audiophiles spend their Sunday mornings in church, or they're too occupied with family, brunch with friends, or hangovers to get a move on before noon. Happily, things were not at all slow in the room shared by Burwell & Sons and Raven Audio . . .

CAS 2014

CAS 2014 Day 2: Soaring Free

Jason Victor Serinus Aug 20, 2014

Mincing no words, Audioengine's Brady Bargenquast declared, "Bluetooth usually sounds like cat shit. Therefore, when we designed our wireless B1 Premium Bluetooth music receiver ($189), which just started shipping last week, we did four things to ensure good sound quality and satisfactory listening . . .

CAS 2014

CAS Day 2: In Full Flight

Jason Victor Serinus Aug 20, 2014

In the beginning, there was . . . No, this is not a Bible study course, but I do wish to pave the way (with gold, I wish) to the Genesis Advanced Technologies room hosted by Gary and Carolyn Koh and Joe Pittman. Mostly exhibiting Genesis products, the system was headlined by the hardly small Genesis G2 Juniors ($85,000/pair), driven by Genesis GR1440 monoblocks ($22,000/pair), unheard Genesis Muse Server/DAC ($12,000), Genesis SMC-1 preamp (prototype model$18,000) with Absolute Fidelity Balanced Interface ($5500 for 6 meters), Genesis phono preamp ($12,000), Genesis cabling, and a prototype Genesis Foundation Equipment Stand ($12,000).