The Hi-Fi Expo Sofia
Friday–Sunday, November 23–25: The Hi-Fi Expo Sofia will be held at the Grand Hotel (1 Gurko Street, Sofia, Bulgaria). More than 250 high-end brands are expected to exhibit. For more info, visit www.hifiexpo.bg.
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Fine Sounds to Acquire McIntosh
Breaking news this morning is the announcement that the Italian Investment Group Fine Sounds SpA is to acquire 100% of famed US tube-amplifier manufacturer McIntosh Laboratory from D&M Holdings. Fine Sounds already owns the Sonus Faber, Audio Research, and Wadia Digital brands and the Sumiko distribution company.
RMAF: Everyone's Favorite Show Opens on Friday
There is no need for Denver's Rocky Mountain Audio Fest to toot its own horn. The three-day affair, which opens at noon on Friday, October 12 in the Denver Marriott Tech Center, promises no less than 431 exhibitors; 174 exhibitor rooms, including 24 large ones (same since 2009): 41 miscellaneous vendors; 35 CANJAM vendors; and an impressive number of show debuts.
The largest US high-end audio show open to the public is also, despite its size and occasionally snow-encrusted environs, the warmest and friendliest audiophile show in the country. For this we owe thanks to Marjorie Baumert, who continues to nurture and sustain the show following the death of her show co-founder and husband, Al Stiefel, at the start of 2009; the exceptional staff at the comfortable Marriott; a dedicated cadre of volunteers drawn from the Colorado Audio Society and Marjorie's extended circle of friends and family; and exhibitors who, welcoming the relative peace and quiet of the location, approach the show as if reuniting with old friends.
Naxos Leaps into the Hi-Rez Stream
Naxos stands poised to release its first 24-bit/96 kHz high-definition audio download. On October 2, one of the label's most important orchestral recordings for the fall quarter, conductor, arranger and composer Peter Breiner's new orchestrations of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, Songs and Dances of Death, and The Nursery, will become available, not as a physical CD, but rather as high-resolution and MP3 downloads. Expect the link to appear on iTrax, eclassical, classicsonline, HDTracks, hiresaudio.com, theclassicalshop, and Ariama, with Linn and Onkyo coming on board soon thereafter.
Breaking News: Erick Lichte's New Live Reference
On September 27, 2012, Stereophile Contributing Editor and choral conductor Erick Lichte was appointed Artistic Director of Vancouver's Chor Leoni Men's Choir, effective September 2013. Lichte previously served as the ensemble's Associate Conductor under founder and current Artistic Director, Diane Loomer, C.M. In that capacity, Lichte conducted the choir's close to 60 members to Europe this past summer, where they won 12 major awards at the 51st Seghizzi Concorso Internationale Di Canto Corale in Gorizia Italy.
Yet Another Show: TAVES Starts Friday in Toronto
The Toronto Audio Video Entertainment Show (TAVES) launches its second annual three-day show on September 28 in downtown Toronto's historic King Edward Hotel. Produced by Canada HiFi's publisher/editor-in-chief, Suave Kajko, and his partner, Simon Au, and "presented by Porsche," TAVES promises multiple exhibit rooms in which between 65 and 70 exhibitors, over 80% of whom are manufacturers, will display approximately 274 component brands and media from 26 recording labels (CD, LP, and Blu-ray).
"I'm pretty excited about the preponderance of manufacturers, because they tend to have more elaborate set-ups and bring a lot more product with them," Kajko told Stereophile.
Steinway Lyngdorf's Elegant Unveiling
It was an audio demo quite unlike most others. Less than two weeks after the debut, at CEDIA 2012 in Indianapolis, of Steinway Lyngdorf's Model LS Concert two-way floor-standing dipole line-source loudspeaker/sound system, the LS Concert joined two other complete Steinway Lyngdorf systems for a "very first" quasi-public unveiling in San Francisco. Jointly staged on two floors of a Pacific Heights mansion, the event was hosted by several entitiesSteinway Lyngdorf, a collaboration between piano maker Steinway & Sons and legendary audio innovator Peter Lyngdorf; Sherman Clay, the largest Steinway dealer in the United States; Engineered Environments, a residential systems design and installation firm that specializes in customized technological "solutions," including home entertainment systems, for a "discerning clientele"; and the Luxury Marketing Council of San Francisco. Hence the RSVP and "business attire" required, valet parking, catered event targeted, not audiophiles, but instead a select group of home builders, architects, custom installers, real estate brokers, and venture capitalists.
Loudspeaker Pioneer Bill Hecht Passes at 89
A press release issued by MSE Audio September 13 announced that William (Bill) Hecht, a died Tuesday September 11 in New York after a brief illness. He was 89 years old. In 1955 Hecht founded United Speaker Systems, an OEM manufacturer of speakers and related electronics, and also founded Phase Technology Corporation with his son Ken. (See Stereophile's positive review of the Phase Technology PC80 speaker here.) Phase Technology was later acquired by MSE Audio.
Meet the Innovators: Dan D'Agostino at Innovative Audio
The D'Agostino Master Systems Analog Preamplifier, first seen at the 2011 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest. Photo: John Atkinson
Wednesday, September 19, 69pm: Innovative Audio Video (150 East 58th Street, New York) will hold a “Meet the Innovators” event, featuring Dan D’Agostino, who will introduce and demonstrate the new D'Agostino Master Audio Systems Momentum Analog preamplifier. Refreshments will be served. Space is limited. RSVP: (212) 634-4444 or info@iavny.com.Magico S5 at David Michael Audio
Photo: Magico LLC
Saturday, September 29, 11am6pm: David Michael Audio (4341 Delemere Court, Royal Oak, MI) will host a demonstration of the Magico S5 loudspeaker ($28,600/pair), which had impressed John Atkinson at the 2012 Newport Beach Show. Irv Gross, Magico’s director of sales, will be on hand to present the speaker and answer any questions. Refreshments will be served. Seating is limited. For more info, call (586) 244-8479. RSVP: info@davidmichaelaudio.com.