Shows-Events

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Written by: Brent Butterworth

Category: Features

Created: 05 June 2016

With increasing focus on digital technology, headphones, and compact systems, traditional amps and preamps don’t seem as prominent at hi-fi shows as they once were. Still, as I walked the halls and show floor of T.H.E. Show Newport 2016, held at the Hotel Irvine in Irvine, California, I did find a few new amps and preamps that caught my eyes and ears. Actually, they’re new in one sense and old in another, because four of the six components are tube-based. Products below are presented in alphabetical order by brand, with all prices in USD.

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Written by: Brent Butterworth

Category: Features

Created: 04 June 2016

T.H.E. Show Newport 2016, held at the Hotel Irvine in Irvine, California, featured a few new speakers plus several being demoed for the first time in North America. The offerings ranged from ultra-retro to ultra-modern, at prices from a few hundred dollars to more than a hundred thousand dollars. Here are the ones I thought were most interesting. Speakers are presented in alphabetical order by brand, with all prices in USD.

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Written by: Brent Butterworth

Category: Features

Created: 03 June 2016

Since it moved to the much nicer venue of the Hotel Irvine last year, T.H.E. Show Newport has become one of North America’s more important regional hi-fi shows. The show’s website says that the show will feature more than 400 manufacturers. I walked some of the show yesterday during the press preview. Many of the manufacturers were still setting up in preparation for weekend crowds, but that didn’t stop me from noticing the first trend of the show. To my surprise, the most interesting thing I saw during the first day was the introduction of several shockingly affordable new headphones. It’s especially surprising after I spent so much of the first day listening to speakers costing more than $10,000 USD per pair.

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Written by: Doug Schneider

Category: Photos

Created: 08 May 2016

Photos taken by Doug Schneider on May 5-8

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Written by: Administrator

Category: Photos

Created: 08 May 2016

Companies featured in gallery below: Gryphon Audio Designs, T+A, Octave Audio, EAT, Chord, Hegel Music Systems, Goldmund, Weiss, Pro-Ject Audio Systems, Astell&Kern, Ceradyn, Grado, Lehmann Audio, Pathos, Phatlab

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Written by: Administrator

Category: Photos

Created: 08 May 2016

Companies featured in gallery below: Brinkmann Audio, Ypilson, EMM Labs, Grimm Audio, Amphion, Audio Research, Sonus Faber, BMC, Dynaudio, Ayre Acoustics, WestminsterLab, Audio Solutions, Dynaco

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Written by: Brent Butterworth

Category: Features

Created: 08 May 2016

SoundStage! hasn’t done much coverage of equipment racks, but there were so many appealing models on display at Munich’s High End 2016 that we decided a photo essay was in order. These racks are not mere furniture. They’re all constructed specifically for audio, with various techniques used to channel and/or damp vibration that might affect audio electronics and source devices. All of these companies offer racks in many shapes, sizes, and finishes, so if you like one of these designs but need a different configuration, check out the company’s website to see what your options are.

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Written by: Brent Butterworth

Category: Features

Created: 07 May 2016

The Munich show has High End in its title, so it should come as no surprise that much of the focus at the event is on audio products costing five or six figures. But I did uncover a few pieces of nice new gear priced within the financial comfort zone of most average audiophiles. Here are the standouts, all priced well under €5000.

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Written by: Administrator

Category: Photos

Created: 07 May 2016

Companies featured in gallery below: ADL, Audio-Technica, Audio Valve, Fisher Audio, Kennerton Audio Equipment, King Sound, PerfectSound, Ultrasone, Violetric, Progressive Audio, Fink Team, Marantz, Focal, Thorens, Musical Fidelity, Soulution, TechDAS

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Written by: Brent Butterworth

Category: Features

Created: 06 May 2016

I’ve heard two technology demos so far at High End 2016, and my reaction to them couldn’t have been more different. One sold me in the first few seconds; it was the kind of presentation that keeps my enthusiasm for audio going after all these decades. The other disappointed me; it left me questioning the viability of the technology and wondering how it could be sold to anyone beyond the most credulous audiophiles.

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Written by: Administrator

Category: Photos

Created: 06 May 2016

Companies featured in gallery below: Wilson-Benesch, Audiolab, EAR, Vitus Audio, Raidho Acoustics, Crystal Cable, ELAC, Esoteric, Argento Audio, Tidal Audio, Audia Flight, PMC, Constellation Audio, Magico, MartinLogan

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Written by: Administrator

Category: Photos

Created: 05 May 2016

Companies featured in gallery below: MSB Technology, Atohm, Kharma, Heco, Albedo, VTL, Metaxas, CH Precision, PureFlow, Zellaton, Estelon, Cyrus, Lindemann, Marten, Nagra

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Written by: Brent Butterworth

Category: CanJam SoCal 2016

Created: 21 March 2016

CanJam encompasses a series of headphone shows that take place at various locations around the world. Arguably, the most important one in North America is CanJam SoCal, the show that takes place in the Los Angeles area -- specifically at the Westin South Coast Plaza hotel in Costa Mesa, California. The 2016 SoCal show, held March 19 to 20, hosted about 60 exhibitors, plus a surprising number of new products.

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Written by: Doug Schneider

Category: Photos

Created: 09 January 2016

At previous shows, I’ve created “Company (Wo)Men” galleries, which feature images of women and men who work in the high-end hi-fi industry. But I’ve never created one at CES. Instead, I’ve typically created “SnapShots!” galleries, which are filled with random photos taken at the show.

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Written by: News Editor

Category: Photos

Created: 09 January 2016

The 2015 Products of the Year award winners were chosen from among those products reviewed in SoundStage! Hi-Fi, SoundStage! Ultra, SoundStage! Xperience, and SoundStage! Access. Only those products that had received Reviewers’ Choice awards were considered. Doug Schneider and Jeff Fritz wrote feature articles about the winners on January 1 in SoundStage! Hi-Fi and SoundStage! Ultra.

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Written by: Brent Butterworth

Category: Features

Created: 09 January 2016

One of the great things about covering headphones is the creativity that many companies bring to the design process. Every CES reveals dozens of new ideas, features, and form factors. Some are terrific ideas. Some are just terrifically amusing.

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Written by: Brent Butterworth

Category: Features

Created: 09 January 2016

I’ve focused most of my coverage of headphones at the 2016 International CES on audiophile-oriented designs created to satisfy serious listeners. Of course, that category represents a mere fraction of the headphone action at CES. There’s a great deal going on in Bluetooth headphones, wireless sports headphones, and compact headphones designed for mobile use.

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Written by: News Editor

Category: Photos

Created: 09 January 2016

Companies featured in gallery below: Magico, Linn, Aurender, Pro-Ject, Monitor Audio, ADL, Technics, Arcam, Zanden Audio Systems, Emotiva, Bryston, Nagra

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Written by: Roger Kanno

Category: Features

Created: 09 January 2016

At last year’s CES, I heard GoldenEar Technology’s Triton Five loudspeaker, and I was probably guilty of underestimating it a bit. Sure, the pair sounded really good in GoldenEar’s room as demonstrated by company president Sandy Gross, but I’ve gotten used to hearing excellent sound from Sandy’s demos and tend to take them a little for granted. Later that year I received a pair of Triton Fives for review, and they sounded simply wonderful in my system, with a very smooth and balanced sound, only lacking a bit of oomph in the bass when compared to their larger siblings with powered subwoofer sections.

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Written by: Roger Kanno

Category: Features

Created: 09 January 2016

The first things that Doug Schneider and I saw and heard at this year’s CES were a pair of Bang & Olufsen BeoLab 90 loudspeakers. The BeoLab 90 is a fully active, 18-driver loudspeaker that uses DSP to control its acoustic directivity with B&O’s new Active Room Compensation technology. To say that the results were impressive would be an understatement. You can read Doug’s description of the sound, but let’s just say our jaws dropped within seconds of hearing the BeoLab 90s for the first time.

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