Broadcast Audio Consoles

After admiring the ducks floating motionlessly as they listened to Terry Riley's Music For Urban Wilderness, I retraced my steps and headed up the stairs to the 2300 hallway. After climbing the stairs there is one room in the hallway to the right which is traditionally a 'must-see / hear' room. The names on the floor plan vary somewhat from year to year but many of the players here carry over year after year. Frank Fazzalari of Coherent Speakers frequently parks himself in the hall outside the door to attract folks who might not know there is this one room in that hallway. After premiering the five-unit tall version of his new speaker in a much larger room at the Toronto show last October where it received a Best Rooms award, Frank chopped it down to just three units for this smaller room.

Set to take place from April 5th through 7th at the Sydney Central Hotel, this year's even builds on the success of the Australian Hi-Fi Show Sydney in 2023. Brought to you by Australian Hi-Fi, What Hi-Fi? and Sound+Image magazines, the Australian Hi-Fi Show 2024 will celebrate the latest and greatest in the hi-fi and AV industry, giving visitors the opportunity to see and hear a range of products from all around the world. Tickets are now on sale for Sydney's premier hi-fi and video show in April.

It's always an experience when you get the opportunity to review cables. They take a while to break in, and if they do their job correctly, they should disappear, leaving you with the ultimate playback system, where everything is perfect. In reality, of course, no playback system can be perfect — the components and speakers you use always impact the quality of the sound you hear. However, what people fail to realize is that, although sometimes subtly, the cables you use can and usually do impact the sound, as well. It seems like yesterday, but in reality, it was a few months ago when I first spoke to Roger Skoff, the designer and owner of RSX cables. Roger was involved in cable design for quite several years. The first brand of cables he launched was XLO, the brand whose most famous ad was a two-page spread showing just a loop of cable (no connectors) and, in small type, just the words: Looks like no other, sounds like no other, sounds like nothing at all.

Aric Kimball is an audio component designer and is a self-made audiophile. It is seldom to come across an audio designer who has eluded the radar among the audiophile community. His father somewhat inspired Aric to take a journey into the audio universe. Aric told me that his dad owned a Pioneer Rack system back in the 1970s that Aric had admired. Aric wanted to own one of his own. That compass point ignited his passion for ultimately designing his gear — a big step from the glitzy look of the Pioneer Rack system. I used to sell those in my previous life as an audio salesperson. Oh, those meters!

Although the brand lives on and stores worldwide will continue, The Body Shop in the UK has gone into administration and its future is uncertain. This might seem an odd opening gambit in an editorial about audio, but there are lessons to be learned. The Body Shop was the brainchild of the late Dame Anita Roddick. Starting in 1976, Roddick launched the first Body Shop in Brighton, on the coast of Southern England, using locally-sourced skin care products in recyclable bottles and with minimal hype. The concept took off and quickly became a national and international success. The Body Shop's failure in the UK speaks of many things that plague audio companies. The company suffered greatly after the passing of the founder. It became part of a larger brand, was spun out to venture capitalists and lost its identity. And perhaps most importantly for the brand, it traded on past glories.