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- Written by Brent Butterworth Brent Butterworth
- Parent Category: T.H.E. Show Newport 2016 T.H.E. Show Newport 2016
- Created: 06 June 2016 06 June 2016
T.H.E. Show Newport 2016: I Finally Got a Decent MQA Demo!
When SoundStage! published my report about the MQA demo at Munich’s High End 2016 a few weeks ago, we ruffled some feathers -- not only of the people behind MQA, but of some audio writers who were already on the record with effusive praise of MQA. Fortunately for me, the MQA folks knew I would be attending last weekend’s T.H.E. Show Newport Irvine, California, and were willing to give me a more useful demo.
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- Written by Brent Butterworth Brent Butterworth
- Parent Category: T.H.E. Show Newport 2016 T.H.E. Show Newport 2016
- Created: 05 June 2016 05 June 2016
T.H.E. Show Newport 2016: Grab Bag
While strolling the halls of the Hotel Irvine, site of last weekend’s T.H.E. Show Newport 2016 in Irvine, California, I encountered numerous interesting products that didn’t fit into categories large enough to populate an entire column. So I thought I’d wrap up my new products coverage with a column full of somewhat random stuff: headphone amps, acoustic treatments, and more. They’re arranged here in alphabetical order by brand, with all prices listed in USD.
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- Written by Brent Butterworth Brent Butterworth
- Parent Category: T.H.E. Show Newport 2016 T.H.E. Show Newport 2016
- Created: 05 June 2016 05 June 2016
T.H.E. Show Newport 2016: Source Devices
It’s always fun at audio shows to watch how the choice of source devices evolves. At T.H.E. Show Newport 2016, the source devices of choice were computers, record players, and half-inch analog tape. I’m sure there was a CD player somewhere, but I didn’t notice it. Here are the most interesting developments in source devices I found at the show, with the products arranged in alphabetical order by brand and all prices in USD.
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- Written by Brent Butterworth Brent Butterworth
- Parent Category: T.H.E. Show Newport 2016 T.H.E. Show Newport 2016
- Created: 05 June 2016 05 June 2016
T.H.E. Show Newport 2016: Amps and Preamps
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 Brent Butterworth
- Parent Category: T.H.E. Show Newport 2016 T.H.E. Show Newport 2016
- Created: 04 June 2016 04 June 2016
T.H.E. Show Newport 2016: Speakers
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 Brent Butterworth
- Parent Category: T.H.E. Show Newport 2016 T.H.E. Show Newport 2016
- Created: 03 June 2016 03 June 2016
T.H.E. Show Newport 2016: Affordable Headphones at a High-End Show?
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 Doug Schneider
- Parent Category: High End 2016 High End 2016
- Created: 08 May 2016 08 May 2016
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- Written by Administrator Administrator
- Parent Category: High End 2016 High End 2016
- Created: 08 May 2016 08 May 2016
High End 2016 Product Coverage Gallery 5
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 Administrator
- Parent Category: High End 2016 High End 2016
- Created: 08 May 2016 08 May 2016
High End 2016 Product Coverage Gallery 4
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 Brent Butterworth
- Parent Category: High End 2016 High End 2016
- Created: 08 May 2016 08 May 2016
The Coolest Equipment Racks at High End 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 Brent Butterworth
- Parent Category: High End 2016 High End 2016
- Created: 07 May 2016 07 May 2016
Brent's Guide to Affordable New Gear at High End 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 Administrator
- Parent Category: High End 2016 High End 2016
- Created: 07 May 2016 07 May 2016
High End 2016 Product Coverage Gallery 3
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 Brent Butterworth
- Parent Category: High End 2016 High End 2016
- Created: 06 May 2016 06 May 2016
BACCH-SP and MQA -- A Great Demo and a Not-So-Great Demo
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 Administrator
- Parent Category: High End 2016 High End 2016
- Created: 06 May 2016 06 May 2016
High End 2016 Product Coverage Gallery 2
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 Administrator
- Parent Category: High End 2016 High End 2016
- Created: 05 May 2016 05 May 2016
High End 2016 Product Coverage Gallery 1
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 Brent Butterworth
- Parent Category: Shows-Events Shows-Events
- Created: 21 March 2016 21 March 2016
CanJam SoCal 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 Doug Schneider
- Parent Category: BloggingOnAudio BloggingOnAudio
- Created: 19 March 2016 19 March 2016
Off Again, On Again -- the 2016 Montréal Salon Audio Show
On March 9 I received an e-mail from the Chester Group (CG), which is based in the UK, saying that the annual hi-fi show in Montréal had been cancelled this year, but the organizers promised to attempt it again in 2017. It was scheduled for March 18 to 20. In that same e-mail, they cited a lack of exhibitors this year as their excuse for letting everyone down so close to the show dates. What a blow to the Canadian hi-fi scene, I thought. But less than one day later, I received an e-mail from Michel Plante saying that it was still on. They were both right. I’ll explain . . .
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- Written by Jason Thorpe Jason Thorpe
- Parent Category: BloggingOnAudio BloggingOnAudio
- Created: 02 March 2016 02 March 2016
Keeping the LPs and the Wife
I hate water. Over the past 20 years, I’ve had a number of house-related floods, including a sewer-backup shit-water apocalypse, two washing-machine overflows, and a leak behind a wall that required removing and replacing the entire wastewater stack, spanning four floors of my home.
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Parent Category: BloggingOnAudio BloggingOnAudio
- Created: 25 February 2016 25 February 2016
Shunyata Research and the Power-Cable Tryouts -- Part 2
If you read “Shunyata Research and the Power-Cable Tryouts -- Part 1” when it was first published in early January, then you will know that I am about a month behind with this article. In that first part, I wrote that I installed Shunyata Research Venom PS8 power distributors, Venom HC power cords, and Venom Defender noise suppressors in my system and that you should “check back for an update toward the end of this month to find out how it all performed.”
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- Written by Hans Wetzel Hans Wetzel
- Parent Category: BloggingOnAudio BloggingOnAudio
- Created: 11 February 2016 11 February 2016
One Day at Magico
I often find that a company’s products are a reflection of their creator, and in the case of Magico’s loudspeakers, the resemblance to Alon Wolf is unmistakable. The founder of the Hayward, California, manufacturer is a serious man, one who talks with an unwavering sense of purpose. As I sat across from him in his office, his fanatical attention to quality became quickly apparent. Behind him was part of a medium-format camera on a gorgeous wooden tripod that he used to take the stunning photographs that adorn the walls of his office. On his wrist was a Japanese watch with a movement that makes a Patek Philippe’s look amateurish by comparison. And on his desk were a couple of drivers from a competing loudspeaker maker that he eagerly compared to his own designs, explaining in detail how the materials and methodologies that Magico employ offer superior performance. For Wolf, appearance comes a distant second to technical excellence. “We build loudspeakers, not furniture,” he told me matter-of-factly.
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