Have you been sitting there, mumbling to yourself, “You know, I really do have too much free time on my hands.” Doe the phrases “metaphor smashing” and “hyperbole burping” sound oddly sensual to you? Has […]
Scot was kind enough to give me a little space at the end here to think out loud about THE Newport Beach. I went back and forth a bit over whether I should summarize my feelings […]
An audio show may be the way some of us hear gear, but, after a while, it’s the madness and enthusiasm of the people involved that becomes a large part of the draw. A few […]
Digital may be sounding better every year, but analog continues to dominate the scene and the imagination. Analog, which was declared dead thirty years ago, is still around simply because — and let’s be clear […]
TAD Floor 10 is the Penthouse Level, and you’ll generally find the statement systems here. Pioneer brought two with them. TAD’s resident genius Andrew Jones fronted the show in the big room. There wasn’t much […]
Emerald Physics Emerald Physics makes a point of showing that relatively affordable hi-fi system doesn’t have to compromise on soundstage or dynamics. Especially not dynamics. Their $6000 CS2.3 MK2 speakers were almost over-amped, with EP100.2 amps […]
This is my third audio show in a year, so obviously I am now an expert and qualified to give you advice on getting the most out of your audio show experience. Or at least, […]
Onda Ligera Latvian newcomer Onda Ligera was here to demonstrate what two eight inch woofers can do if you’re mildly crazy. Their WAVE 168D speakers ($35k) run opposing bass-reflex woofers slot loaded for an almost […]
Positive Feedback It almost sounded real in here. Must have been the booze. Perfect8 You’ll forgive me if I passed by this crowded room several times. “Clear speakers,” I thought, “more of that stunt crap. […]
Fidelis The eye-catching Palmer 2.5 turntable ($12k) was fitted with a Stein Music Aventurin 6 cartridge ($6000) to anchor this system. LD phono preamplification ($1900) and amplification ($7500) powered the Harbeth Monitor 30.1 speakers ($6000). […]
Reus Audio Let’s start with the sound that everybody at the show heard, the Reus Audio SLS. Granted, everybody heard this thing belting out “Hotel California” on the kind of infinitely repeating playlist that can make […]
Zesto Audio George and Carolyn Counnas’s Zesto Audio room was, as always, a real pleasure. The source was a Merrill Williams Audio REAL 101 turntable ($7,200) with a Tri-Planar 9″ tonearm ($6,000), running through Zesto’s […]
Hilton Marketplace The Catalina Room in the Hilton was once again turned into an open bazaar for music and gear. I’m going to concentrate on the gear, because Chad Kasem (in the big pink shirt) […]
Profundo / Blackbird / Heed Four of Heed Audio‘s minimal looking Obelisk PM monoblocks ($4200 per pair) were used to biamp Heed’s odd, upward firing Enigma speakers ($4250 as shown) for a musical, social sound. […]
Snake River Audio Look at this. Just look at it. Honestly, that’s all I did. Sorry about that. The impressively eye-catching speakers in the room came from the Italian EMMESpeakers. Their large, white Gamma speakers […]
Perfect Sound Taiwanese maker Perfect Sound was demonstrating their stylish in-ear headphones as well as their full-size d901 “Dido” cans. I listened briefly enough to the d901 think that the sound and build quality seemed […]
Audience AV The folks at Audience AV brought their small, ClearAudient 1+1 speakers ($1800) and enough confidence to plug their new Wavepower amplifier ($18,000) into them. The Wavepower is built around the Hypex NCore platform, […]
Anthony Gallo Acoustics Gallo was showing off their Strada 2 speakers ($999 each) and TR-3D subwoofer ($985 each) in the Atrium. It’s hard to believe how good these things sound at reasonable volumes. When we […]
I used to work with a guy who was awfully cagey about how he spent his vacations. Eventually, I learned that he raced pigeons as a hobby, but he’d gotten so sick of being teased […]
Attending a show is a fun game for some folks. The 2013 edition of THE Show in Newport Beach (or Irvine if you have to be pedantic) was my third show in the last year. My […]
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