News

Okay, we know that Humphrey Bogart didn't utter that immortal instruction in Casablanca, but we couldn't resist, given that this issue includes Jim Austin's adventures with Apple's HomePod, the first smart speaker with hi-fi pretensions, which is featured on our August issue's cover.

But maybe not so hot in the listening room, where you can get absorbed reading the latest issue of Stereophile. The expensive but superb-sounding Wilson Alexia 2 speaker is featured on the cover and reviewed inside, but also inside this issue is a review of the least expensive amplifier we have reviewed in decades, AkitikA's GT-102, which costs just $314 as a kit and $488 assembled and tested.

Following the last-minute cancellation of the 2018 Los Angeles Audio Show, scheduled to be held this coming weekend in Irvine, two Southern California audio retailers have stepped into the breach with AudioCon-June. Jason Lord of The Source A/V Design Group (3035 Kashiwa Street, Suite 101, Torrance, CA 90505. Tel: (310) 534-9900) and Sunil Merchant of Sunny's Components (1370 E. Cypress St, Covina, CA 91724. Tel: (626) 966-6259) are holding weekend-long free events. The events run 10am–6pm on Saturday June 9 and Sunday June 10 and you can find full information here and here.

Wilson Audio founder, Dave Wilson, 73, died of metastatic bone cancer on Saturday evening, May 26. Dave was receiving hospice care at his Utah home, and took his leave with his beloved wife and partner, Sheryl Lee Wilson, and other family members at his side.

Dave's exit came after he had overseen the 2006 expansion of Wilson Audio's factory in Provo, Utah by over 60%; announced, in November 2016, the succession of his son, Daryl Wilson (then 38) as CEO and President of Wilson Audio; and completed his magnum opus/ultimate statement, the limited edition WAMM Master Chronosonic loudspeaker ($685,000/pair). Secure in the knowledge that Daryl, who had already contributed to or taken over the design of at least 32 successful loudspeaker models, he was able to depart with a sense that his legacy as one of the great innovators in loudspeaker design will live on.

Thursday May 24, Soundings Fine Audio Video (8101 E. Belleview Avenue Suite X-1, Denver, CO 80237) and Lavish Hi-Fi (1044 4th Street, Santa Rosa, CA 95404) are holding special events.

The Los Angeles Audio Show (LAAS), scheduled for June 8–10 in Orange County, opposite the John Wayne International Airport at the former sites of T.H.E. Show, seems to have been cancelled. Although the LAAS website briefly contained a note that conversations were in progress about the possibility of the show being saved by the Los Angeles & Orange County Audio Society (LAOCAS), that note has now been removed.

A selection of gear from Gryphon Audio Designs, the Danish firm founded some 33 years ago by Flemming Rasmussen, will be introduced to listeners at a special event on Thursday, May 3, at The Sound Environment, 11021 Elm Street, Omaha, NE.