Driving north on I-25 after the first day of the show. It's dark, we're tired, and only one lane of three is open. It's just as bad on the other direction. Traffic moves forward at 10 to 15 mph as rain comes down and gigantic paving machines emit asphalt roars and smells. The ten miles... Read More »
There's anarchy afoot in the listening room; LP's are stacked everywhere, yet even in the shadow of chaos, there is a renewed love for that old black plastic magic. Yep, spinning records has become quite the pastime again, and it all started with a realization that I wanted better vinyl playback. While writing Phase One... Read More »
Another year and another RMAF show is in the books. I'm going to tell you about some of the rooms that I considered to sound very, very good, and I will leave out the rooms which didn't sound so great. As we all know by now, pulling off setting up a system in a hotel... Read More »
It's that time of year again! I've been spendin' weeks gearin' up for my favorite audio show: Rocky Mountain Audio Fest. This show has always meant far more to me than the gear displayed or even the music played. It's a time to see good friends whose paths I don't cross too often, maybe because of geography, maybe because we're too damn busy for phone calls, but the bottom line is RMAF has always been more about the people than high fidelity - at least to me.
Lambertville, NJ—September 30, 2015—Channel D, developers of the innovative Pure Vinyl™ and Pure Music® computer audio software for Apple Macintosh computers and the creator of the Seta® Ultra Wide Bandwidth Phono Preamplifiers has released a major update to its Pure Music® software. The new Pure Music 3 software includes nearly 50 new features and performance... Read More »
September 30, 2015-Rocklin, CA – MIT Cables continues moving into the more popular personal audio and headphone market with its newest product, the HC/AB-29 Headphone Amplifier, the worlds first high current, battery powered Class AB headphone amp housed with MIT’s Multipole™ Technology featuring twenty-nine poles of articulation. Until now, MIT’s Multipole™ Technology has only been housed within the little... Read More »
It is hard to find own niche on the market. The smaller the industry the smaller potential customer group and thus the more difficult is to reach them. On top of that there is this, sometimes even unaware, preference audiophiles have for products made in Western Europe, USA or Japan. If you consider all that... Read More »
AURALiC’s New ARIES MINI Offers Music Streaming to Broader Consumer Market; Includes Free Year’s Subscription to TIDAL HiFi Gardena, CA & 2015 RMAF, October 2, 2015 — Ambitiously expanding upon its pioneering role in the audio industry for high-resolution music streaming with its Lightning DS Streaming technology and ARIES Streaming Bridge, AURALiC is now significantly... Read More »
Irvine, California September 28th, 2015 – Synergistic Research Inc., announces the release of several new products at RMAF 2015 October 2-4, in Denver Colorado, Marriott Tech Center Hotel, Room #8009. The World Debut of Synergistic Research Atmosphere Series AC Power Cords, featuring the world’s first use of Graphene in an AC Power cord. Graphene has... Read More »
Peterborough, Ontario September 28th, 2015 — Bryston has announced that it will begin exclusively offering Canadian manufactured Target speaker stands through its domestic and international sales channel effective immediately. Target is a respected brand with over three decades in the accessories business offering premium steel loudspeaker stands in an array of sizes. Originally founded in... Read More »
Holger Adler, the genius behind Voxativ has been at it again! This time Voxativ introduces amplification especially designed for optimal sound and performance with the Voxativ loudspeaker line. These electronics follow on the heels of the US debut of the award-winning Voxativ 9.87 system Loudspeakers, which won the AV Showrooms Best Sound award at the High... Read More »
New York, NY, September 28, 2015--Antipodes Audio (an TIP uh deez), New Zealand-based manufacturer of industry-leading audio servers, is pleased to be exhibiting two server models in Room 542 of the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest at the Denver Marriott Tech Center, October 2-4, 2015. Being shown are the DX, listed this month in Class A+ of Stereophile's Recommended Components, and... Read More »
WALTHAM, MASSACHUSETTS | September 29, 2015 – dCS Americas, Inc. is pleased to announce the U.S. debut of the new Rossini product range at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in Denver, CO: October 2nd – October 4th, 2015. On behalf of dCS, Ltd, we welcome you to join us from Friday, October 2nd through Sunday,... Read More »
Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, Denver, CO, October 2, 2015 After a successful soft launch in November 2014, Russ Andrews USA, online supplier of hi-fi and home theater accessories, is using the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest to unveil its full product line and customer offering as it expands its business in the important USA hi-fi market.... Read More »
STOW, OH, September 29, 2015 - In-ear headphones have become so popular that you probably can't go a day without seeing someone wearing them - or listening to them yourself. Small wonder - they're the perfect companion to portable music players, smartphones and other devices. However, a big part of ensuring they sound and feel... Read More »
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA September 29, 2015 Join Cary Audio at the 2015 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest (RMAF) in the Marriott Towers Room 8025 from October 2nd-4th in Denver, Colorado. Cary Audio is excited to be displaying two of our newest products at this year’s show! Our system will consist of the NEW DMS-500 Network Audio... Read More »
ATLANTA, GA (September 29, 2015) – Leading acoustic treatment manufacturer GIK Acoustics has announced the launch of a new product series that is literally changing the face of acoustic panels and bass traps. Introducing the GIK Acoustics Alpha Wood Series, a line of acoustic panels and bass traps with a wood face which has a mathematical... Read More »
Melbourne, Australia | September 29th, 2015 | Burson Audio, manufacturer of fine USB DAC/Headphone Amplifier/Preamplifiers, Headphone Amplifiers and Stereo Amplifiers, and its subsidiary Supreme Sound Audio Components, is excited to exhibit at this year’s Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, October 2nd through the 4th at the Marriott Denver Tech Center at CanJam. The Conductor Virtuosos Burson... Read More »
Toronto, ON, September 29, 2015: exaSound Audio Design will present for the first time the PlayPoint Network Audio Player at RMAF Suite 421. The PlayPoint enables network access to exaSound DACs via UPnP, Apple AirPlay and HQPlayer NAA. exaSound PlayPoint supports asynchronous bitperfect streaming, native DSD256 up to 12.28MHz, PCM/DXD up to 384kHz/true 32bit, stereo... Read More »
Audeze Introduces New Products at RMAF CanJam Booth C23 Costa Mesa, CA | September 28th, 2015 | Audeze, maker of award-winning planar magnetic headphones, is excited to introduce new products at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, October 2nd through the 4th at the Marriott Denver Tech Center, CanJam Booth C23. The press is invited to visit... Read More »
I'm baaaack! Hey, this place looks really different. I like what you've done with the wallpaper and the new carpets. You look great too. You've gained a little weight and put on a touch of grey but I must say, it looks good on you—very distinguished. It's been thirteen years since I last graced the... Read More »
This award winning synergy will be playing again in Denver. GTT has assembled all the players for an encore performance at RMAF. Audionet, Kronos, Kubala•Sosna and YG Acoustics. Don't miss it, Room 535. This synergy won Best Sound at Axpona and T.H.E. Show Newport this year by AV Showrooms, Positive Feedback and TAS. Come hear... Read More »
Boulder, CO: 9/25/15: Autumn is gorgeous in Denver, and veteran audio manufacturer PS Audio is excited to invite you to the first active demonstration of the BHK Signature Preamplifier at the 12th annual Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, October 2-4, at the Denver Marriott Tech Center. PS will be exhibiting in Room 1107. Hot on the heels of... Read More »
Andreas Koch of Playback Designs, RMAF 2014 Direct Stream Digital, or DSD, encoding has been used for years already for SACD and also as an intermediate format inside analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters. It's basic concept is Delta-Sigma modulation and uses 1 bit per sample with a sample rate of at least 2.8224MHz (64 x 44.1kHz).... Read More »
In Issue 78 I introduced you to the remarkable Mr. Shirokazu Yazaki of Tokyo, Japan (above, center, with friends), in my article about the SPEC RSA-M3 Real Sound Amplifier. Mr. Shirokazu Yazaki has been a successful professional audio designer in Japan for over 40 years, and has been involved in the design of many fine... Read More »
Positive Feedback will once again be hosting, and I will be moderating, a panel on DSD at RMAF 2015. This year we'll be exploring a different aspect of DSD. Our seminar title is "DSD: The artist and the studio perspectives." We'll be discussing what performing artists and producers/audio engineers have to say about their experiences... Read More »
Melbourne, Australia | September 21st, 2015 | Burson Audio, manufacturer of fine USB DAC/Headphone Amplifier/Preamplifiers, Headphone Amplifiers and Stereo Amplifiers, is pleased to announce its latest generation of their world-renowned discrete-circuit audio op-amps, available through subsidiary Supreme Sound Audio Components. Overlooked But Essential A surgeon would never use a Swiss Army knife on a patient.... Read More »
HAYWARD, CA – Magico, LLC is pleased to announce the North American debut of the new S7 loudspeaker and the new SSUB at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest (RMAF) in Denver, CO. We welcome you to join us on Friday, October 2nd (12pm – 7pm) and Saturday, October 3rd (9am – 6pm) in the Presidential... Read More »
Armonk, NY. September 23, 2015 – Autonomic, makers of the finest whole-house music systems, has announced that the highly respected Japan Audio Society has certified the Mirage Media Server MMS-2A and MMS-5A as delivering high resolution audio output that meets their exacting standards. The Mirage Media Server aggregates music file formats of all types to... Read More »
The Editors Series Numbers show how much the world of hobbyist magazines has changed. In a book entitled EISA. Looking Back, Moving Forward published in 2007, which was to add splendor to the 25th anniversary of the EISA reward, we read that the German Stereo magazine had an impressive circulation of 70,000 at that time... Read More »
BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA, September 22, 2015 - Spiral Groove today announced the availability of its new top of the line Spiral Groove SG1.2 turntable, which incorporates a host of upgrades from the previous SG1.1. The SG1.2 features a new platter, isolation feet, damping material and various other parts and an improved magnetic platter levitation system to... Read More »
Montréal, Canada—September 21, 2015—Classé has announced the expansion of its popular Sigma series to include a new monaural amplifier. The first three Sigma series models, launched earlier this year, were designed to deliver a compelling performance and feature set at prices below the entry level of other high-end brands but within easy reach for anyone... Read More »
Once you know better, who wants to live with worse? PF Editor Dave Clark once described the letdown of listening to speakers from one’s youth and realizing that they don’t measure up as, "Kind of like running into that girl who you thought was so hot back in high school and wondering what the hell... Read More »
Preface Without Mirth How many years will it take to tame, or dissolve, mind-numbing noise suffusing "audiophile" events? Year after year, more than twenty five in my experience, any expectation of focused attention with music and superior audio gear—formerly at CES and now THE Show Newport Beach, as elsewhere, where the claim of audiophile privilege beckons... Read More »
Okay so in my last two Ramblings I shared my experiences, and expectations, of music servers or streamers; specifically the Antipodes DX and the Aries from Auralic. Both stunningly good, and yet both at rather opposite ends of the "what does it cost to get the best," and how they are packaged to the end... Read More »
I guess not many of the owners of high quality audio components even realize that brands that made their devices often actually belong to the same mother-company. Like, for example, Audio Research, Sonus faber, Wadia Digital, Sumiko, McIntosh—they all belong to the Italian holding Fine Sounds Group; Denon, Marantz and Boston Acoustics belong to Japanese... Read More »
SEPTEMBER 14, 2015 | DALLAS, TX | The Sound Organisation is pleased to announce the new DALI Zensor 1AX and 5AX Loudspeakers. The AX series set you free from the electronics that are traditionally associated with a high quality audio experience. The stand, bookshelf or wall mount 1AX and the floor standing model 5AX come... Read More »
