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- Details
- Written by: Doug Schneider
- Category: Montreal Audio Fest 2019
Loudspeakers are the easiest for me to cover for three reasons: they’re typically the most obvious things when you enter a room, I keep abreast of the market and usually know right off the bat what’s new and what’s not, and I’m really into speaker design and always keen to learn what might be new. As a result, the moment I got to the Hotel Bonaventure, the home of Montréal Audio Fest 2019, I started looking at loudspeakers and little else. Below are the first speakers I found, with all prices in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.
- Details
- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Montreal Audio Fest 2019
The Montréal Audio Fest was jumping this year. Over the last two years I’ve felt a buzz ramping up at this show, but 2019 feels like it’s on another level. It’s like adding more mass to an already massive sun -- eventually it reaches a critical mass and begins to contract under its own weight. So goes it with the MAF. There were more exhibitors this year, and the Friday of the show, which is usually quite sedate, was just packed with showgoers. All good omens for the future of the show.
- Details
- Written by: Gordon Brockhouse
- Category: Montreal Audio Fest 2019
When I arrived at Hotel Bonaventure just before noon on day one of the Montréal Audio Fest 2019, there had to be at least 100 people in the registration lineup. So, not surprisingly, exhibit rooms were busy throughout the day.
- Details
- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Montreal Audio Fest 2019
First order of business at the Montréal Audio Fest 2019 is to scour as many of the used record bins as possible before the crowds dig up all the uncut diamonds.
- Details
- Written by: Doug Schneider
- Category: Montreal Audio Fest 2019
It was purely a coincidence. Late in the day on March 21, I had little to do as I walked around the hallways of Hotel Bonaventure, in downtown Montreal, as companies were setting up for Montréal Audio Fest 2019, to be held March 22 to 24. The show was still a day away, so you can imagine that few were ready to showcase anything. I looked in room after room and saw little. Ready to give up and go get something to eat, I opened one last door -- to the room of Motet Distribution, distributor in Canada for at least a half-dozen brands, including the UK’s PMC. When I looked in the room, I saw a crowd of people and someone said, “Come in, you’re just in time.” Little did I know I had just walked into the North American launch of PMC’s Fenestria loudspeaker, a bold statement piece priced in Canada at $90,000 per pair ($65,000 per pair in the US).
- Details
- Written by: Doug Schneider
- Category: Florida Audio Expo 2019
I expected to pack all my coverage of the 2019 Florida Audio Expo into three articles, but I found enough to fill a fourth! For a brand new show, that’s impressive. What’s more, these final components proved to be some of the most interesting. Here’s the final batch, with all prices in US dollars.
- Details
- Written by: Doug Schneider
- Category: Florida Audio Expo 2019
After the first day at the Florida Audio Expo, I had been through all of the rooms and was fully acquainted with the show’s layout. For the second day, I revisited all of the rooms, but spent more time asking questions and hunting for products I might’ve missed, which was a good thing to do -- I came up with a few surprises. Here’s what I found, with all prices in US dollars.
- Details
- Written by: Doug Schneider
- Category: Florida Audio Expo 2019
As I continued on my trek for new and/or interesting products at the Florida Audio Expo, I became increasingly convinced that the show has a good future, for a few reasons. One is the time of year -- Florida in February creates a nice winter break for us in the colder climates. As well, since CES for high-end hi-fi is pretty much dead, we need a beginning-of-the-year show to get things rolling. February isn’t quite the beginning, but it’s close enough. I also thought the venue, the . . .
- Details
- Written by: Doug Schneider
- Category: Florida Audio Expo 2019
Florida Audio Expo, held February 8 to 10 at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Tampa Airport Westshore hotel, is a brand new show. It takes time for any new show to build and find its place in the hi-fi world, so when I arrived for this inaugural event, I wasn’t sure how to approach the coverage, because I didn’t know what I’d see when I got there. Thus, I spent the first two hours on February 8 combing through the seven exhibit floors to determine my best course of action. By the time I got to the final floor, I knew that if I focused only on new products, which is what we usually do, there wouldn’t be enough to write about. But I did see some products that, while not necessarily new, were interesting to me and likely to our readers. As a result, I decided to focus on new and/or interesting products, with the first part of that coverage reflected below. All prices are in US dollars.
- Details
- Written by: Brent Butterworth
- Category: CES 2019
Here’s the last batch of the most interesting headphones and headphone-related products I saw at CES 2019. Also check out my first and second headphone reports from CES, and watch SoundStage! Solo over the next few months for reviews of some of CES’s most promising new models. All prices in USD.
- Details
- Written by: Brent Butterworth
- Category: CES 2019
Manufacturers knew well in advance that CES 2019 wouldn’t be a big show for audio, so most seem to have saved their big product launches for other venues. However, one company, PSB Speakers, used CES for one of its most important launches in years: the first revamp of the company’s budget Alpha speaker line since 1999. In its suite at the Venetian hotel, PSB founder and chief engineer Paul Barton showed four new Alpha-series models. They retain the general look and form factor of the previous models, but according to Barton, they’re all “clean sheet” designs, with completely new cabinet designs, drivers, and crossovers. All models are available now, in either black ash or walnut woodgrain finish.
- Details
- Written by: Brent Butterworth
- Category: CES 2019
The CES 2019 show in Las Vegas was just wrapping up as I wrote this report. It wasn’t a big show for new audio products -- especially high-end audio products -- but I did find a few that are well worthy of attention. We’ve already posted the first batch of them. Here are the rest, with all prices in USD.
- Details
- Written by: Brent Butterworth
- Category: CES 2019
With high-end audio scaled back at CES 2019 to just a couple of dozen companies, headphones dominated the audio scene at the show. Here’s the second part of my headphone coverage from CES 2019. In addition to the models I’ve featured here and in my previous report, there were many other new headphones launched at CES 2019 -- including a couple that are under embargo for another month or so, but for which I’ve already received review samples for SoundStage! Solo. These are just the ones I found most interesting. All prices in USD.
- Details
- Written by: Brent Butterworth
- Category: CES 2019
If you read practically any high-end audio publication, you probably know by now that the high-end audio industry has largely abandoned the Las Vegas CES show -- or did the show abandon high-end audio? I’m not sure, but either way, there were only a couple of dozen audio companies at the Venetian hotel, a venue that only three years ago hosted a couple hundred audio companies. But between the exhibits at the Venetian and a smattering of audio companies over at the Las Vegas Convention Center, I did find a few interesting new audio products worth checking out. Here’s the first bunch, with all prices in USD.
- Details
- Written by: Brent Butterworth
- Category: CES 2019
The colossal tech tradeshow CES kicked off in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sunday, January 6, 2019, with several preliminary press events and presentations. Although I’m writing this before the show floor opens on January 8, I and the rest of the press have already been privy to some of the most interesting new product introductions, many of which debuted at Monday night’s Pepcom Digital Experience event at the Mirage hotel.
- Details
- Written by: Doug Schneider
- Category: Audio Video Show 2018
From our vantage point, the 2018 Audio Video Show in Warsaw hosted more product premieres in the loudspeaker category than in all the others combined. And of those new introductions, by far most were presented at the Radisson Blu Sobieski hotel. This place was a goldmine. Here’s the third and final batch of loudspeakers Jason and I saw, with all prices in Polish zlotys (zł), euros (€), US dollars ($), or British pounds (£). All the speakers were at the Sobieski except one, the FinkTeam Borg, which was just down the street at the Golden Tulip hotel.
- Details
- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Audio Video Show 2018
Here’s how crazy our pace became: As we were leaving the PGE Narodowy stadium on the first day of the show, we saw the shuttle bus about to depart. At Doug Schneider’s urging, I ran to flag it down. Unfortunately, there were four floodlights placed around the exit, pointing up at the building. One wasn’t working, and the other three faced in my direction, essentially blinding me. At full speed, I ran directly into the one that was switched off, and it took me out at the knees. I thought I’d fallen into a hole, as I flew forward and landed stunningly hard on the cement. The result was a nasty gash on my leg and bruises on both knees. Although Doug thought I’d broken both legs, I was merely hurt, not injured. I take the risks for you, readers. It’s dangerous out here. Don’t try this at home.
- Details
- Written by: Jason Thorpe
- Category: Audio Video Show 2018
I stated yesterday that the Radisson Blu Sobieski -- one of the venues for Warsaw’s Audio Video Show 2018 -- held about as many exhibits as the entire Montreal Audio Fest. That was when I assumed the show occupied only a couple of floors. Well, this monster of a venue encompasses seven floors of exhibits, plus more in the substantial lobby. There are still more exhibits at the Golden Tulip hotel just down the street, and at the PGE Narodowy stadium 5 kilometers away. This, folks, is a big event. So big in fact that it has turned my head around and made me re-evaluate my North American-centric view of audio. If you have a chance to visit this show, you owe it to yourself to do so.
- Details
- Written by: Doug Schneider
- Category: Audio Video Show 2018
On Saturday, the second day of Audio Video Show 2018, we went up and down the floors and back and forth through the halls of Warsaw’s Radisson Blu Sobieski, which is where we stayed and where most of the exhibits from smaller manufacturers were positioned. Here we found numerous electronic components, which Jason Thorpe focused on that day, and many more loudspeakers -- my main beat. Below is the second part of my loudspeaker coverage; you can read “Part 1” here. Prices are in Polish zlotys (zł), euros (€), US dollars ($), or British pounds (£).
- Details
- Written by: Doug Schneider
- Category: Audio Video Show 2018
This is the third straight year I’ve covered the Audio Video Show. One reason is that I thoroughly enjoy visiting Warsaw, Poland, where it’s held. I always arrive at least two days prior to acclimatize so I can hit the show running and keep my stamina all the way through, as well as take in the numerous attractions and restaurants around the city. Warsaw is a great place to have an audio show, as well as a great place to visit.
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