|
| |
|
High-Performance
Audio Gear Reviews,
Music News, Show Reports, Articles & More!
30 Years Of Service To Music
Lovers.
|
|
Catalog Kings Unite — BMG & Concord Merge To Create Independent Music Powerhouse
BMG and Concord have agreed to merge into a single, independent music company operating under the BMG name, creating a combined business controlled roughly 67% by Bertelsmann and 33% by affiliates of Great Mountain Partners, with Concord CEO Bob Valentine named CEO and
BMG's Thomas Coesfeld to serve as chairman. BMG and Concord announced a definitive agreement on April 28, 2026 to combine their publishing, recorded-music, theatrical-rights, and digital-distribution operations into a unified company that will operate under the BMG brand while keeping a recorded-music arm called Concord Records. The new company will be headquartered globally in Nashville with a European base in Berlin, reflecting the two
firms' existing footprints. The transaction is structured so that Bertelsmann will own about 67% of the combined business and affiliates of Great Mountain Partners will hold about 33%, with the latter receiving a one-time cash payment of $1.16 billion as part of the
deal.
---> BMG & Concord Merge To Create Independent Music Powerhouse.
AXPONA 2026 Show Recap And Acquisition By Sound & Fury LLC
AXPONA (Audio Expo North America) closed its 2026 edition, drawing
over 10,000 attendees to the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center and showcasing
hundreds of brands from many countries. The three-day event featured dedicated Listening Rooms, an expanded Ear Gear Experience, as Expo Hall and nightly live concerts that helped fuel a 15% attendance increase over 2025 and a notable jump in Gen Z passes.
It is great to see the audiophile audience getting younger, breaking
what felt like decades of age increase. Organizers and exhibitors described the atmosphere as energetic and generationally broader than in past
years. Liz Smith, AXPONA's VP and Event Director, said the show
"exceeded all expectations" and highlighted the surge in younger attendees as evidence that
high-fidelity audio is reaching new audiences. Days after the show, owners announced a change in stewardship:
with little known about Sound & Fury LLC, a company that has acquired
AXPONA....
---> AXPONA 2026 Show Recap And Acquisition By Sound & Fury LLC.
Part 6 — Best Of Montreal
Audiofest 2026 Blue Note Awards And Honorable Mentions
Celebrating the best high-end audio
exhibit rooms, plus an overview of the show and industry.
Montreal Audiofest Show Report By Rick Becker
This year's show report is dedicated to the memory of Ernie Fisher, Editor of
The Inner Ear, who was one of the first friends I made at the Montreal show when I was getting started. He passed away in the spring of last year, and I wanted to make this dedication in the Montreal report, where our roots are
deepest. In 2005, back in the days it was held at the Delta Hotel, and known as Le Festival Son et Image de
Montréal, Ernie sponsored a room which earned Best Rooms
recognition....
That's the kind of guy Ernie was—seeking out the best, no matter how unknown or unusual a company might be. He was, and still is, an inspiration for me. I hope the music in heaven meets his
expectations. Looking back after more than four weeks from the show, it's time to sit down and commemorate the Best Rooms and salute a bunch more as Honorable
Mentions. But first, a few comments on the show.
---> Part 6 — Best Of Montreal Audiofest
2026 Blue Note Awards And Honorable Mentions.
"Woodstock Of High-End
Audio" Lone Star Audiofest 2026
The Lone Star Audiofest 2026 is set to return Memorial Day weekend, running May 22nd through 24th at the Embassy Suites in Round Rock, Texas. The
three-day event promises a mix of exhibitor rooms, seminars, and live demonstrations aimed at audiophiles, hobbyists, and industry professionals. The festival highlights a long tradition of
hands-on listening rooms, DIY, and a marketplace atmosphere where both established brands and
up-and-coming builders present loudspeakers, amplifiers, turntables, and DIY projects. Demonstrations and seminars will run alongside the exhibit rooms, covering topics that matters to audiophiles and music lovers alike. The festival's venue, the Embassy Suites Round Rock, places the show minutes north of Austin and provides exhibitor rooms open to the public Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4
p.m. Attendees can expect a casual, community-oriented atmosphere—described by organizers as
"the Woodstock of high-end audio shows"—with opportunities for
one-on-one conversations with designers and hands-on listening.
---> "Woodstock Of High-End Audio" Lone Star Audiofest 2026. 
audioXpress'
May 2026 Issue
Editorial: Hear No Evil
Designing the Dynaco ST-70 Series 3 Vacuum Tube Audio Power Amplifier
The Yin & Yang Circuit
Stabilizing Tube Feedback Amplifiers Without Much Math Part 1—Diagnostic Principles
Rediscovering The EF184: A Surprising MM RIAA Preamplifier
Building a KT170 Class-A Amplifier
Thoughts On Igor Popovich's Audiophile Vacuum Tube Amplifiers Books
Revisiting An Elegant Idea The Augmented Follower
New Expressions For First-Order Filter Phase Response And Group Delay Part 2
Hermon Hosmer Scott
And Much More!
---> audioXpress May 2026
Issue.
Montreal Audiofest 2026
Luxury Hi-Fi Audio Show Report
The ultimate audiophile and
music lover experience.
Montreal Audiofest 2026 (Salon Audio Montreal)
returned March
20th through 22nd, bringing Canada's premier high-end audiophile event to the city. Organizers
enjoyed welcoming thousands of music lovers and audiophiles eager to listen, see, and handle cutting-edge audio gear, with over
luxury 300 brands showcased under one roof. The three-day festival was designed for audiophiles, videophiles,
immersivephiles, and curious music lovers seeking modern immersive, hands-on
experiences. As the largest audio event in Canada, the event gathered top distributors, manufacturers, and retailers from the
high-end consumer electronics industry. Attendees joyously explore dedicated demo
listening rooms, vendor booths, and curated exhibits that highlight the latest in
luxurious loudspeakers, top-rated amplifiers, precision Hi-Res Audio DACs, turntables, immersive
headphones & portable audio, plus home A/V systems. The show's scale and industry presence
made it a
must-visit for anyone tracking trends in premium sound and home cinema.
---> Montreal Audiofest 2026 Luxury Hi-Fi Audio Show
Report.
AXPONA 2026 Features Audiophile Gear, Master Classes,
& Seminars
AXPONA 2026 is a three-day high-end audio event for audiophiles and industry insiders, running April 10th through 12th at the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center just outside Chicago. AXPONA's programming emphasizes education and community: the schedule featured seminars, master classes, live concerts, and
after-hours events designed to pair technical deep dives with musical experiences. For attendees planning a visit, organizers and reviewers offered practical tips: plan your route through the many exhibit rooms, use the AXPONA app to track
must-hear demos, and expect international brands to debut flagship systems that are best experienced live rather than via specs
alone. Over three days, the AXPONA 2026 show combines a sprawling Expo Hall with many listening rooms, a trade pavilion, live musical performances, and specialty areas such as the Ear Gear Experience, and IASCA car audio showcase.
---> AXPONA
2026 High-End / Luxury Audiophile Show Report.
World Premiere Review!
Heartsound Audio Holostage Review: Scientific Voodoo Or Genuine Upgrade?
Hands-on evaluation of sonic impact, transformative sound, and where Holostage fits in your audiophile journey.
Review By Rick Becker
It was pure chance that I stumbled upon Heartsound
Audio's Holostage to review here at Enjoy the Music.com. I'm not an avid reader of audio
blogs, but occasionally an
e-mail
with a Weekly Recap of the Audiogon Discussion Forum will slip past my email
filters. The subject was actually the Nirvana
Chronos, which I had previously
heard at AXPONA in 2025 and subsequently reviewed very
favorably. People
wanted to know if the Heartsound Holostage was similar or as good, since it was
considerably less expensive. I fired off an inquiry. Kristine Tetrault, founder of the company in 2021, replied
shortly with an offer to send me a review sample. The Holostage is sold in sets
of four blocks for $1000. It arrived via Priority Mail from Concord, NH, which
is too far inland to catch any scent of saltwater. Inside the Flat Rate USPS box
was a black cardboard box of the kind you might expect a gift from Macy's to
be wrapped.
--->
Heartsound Audio Holostage Review: Scientific Voodoo Or Genuine Upgrade?
MooVu DIY Loudspeaker Review — Big Bass, Easy Build, Great Value
Construct, listen, love — a gateway to DIY audio'phile hobbying fun.
Review By Brett And Dylan Rudolph
Last
year at the Capital Audio Fest, I saw Vinh Vu, principal at Ginkgo Audio,
sitting at his booth with his MooVu speakers. I was fascinated by these $815-ish
Do-It-Yourself (DIY) speakers, which he explained to me were his latest
brainchild. So, while I had no real time to do more than look at them, we
chatted a little longer and then put a pin on it, thinking we would come back to
it later. There is one thing that you need to know about
Vinh, and it is absolutely to his credit: he is very organized. Shortly before
the end of the year, he called to ask if I was interested in reviewing the MooVu
speakers. While I have many strengths in this world, one of them is not the
ability to work with my hands, which, coupled with my current vision issues,
leaves me unable to review things such as this; however, my son Dylan was
absolutely thrilled to help with this review. So, we set up for the second
weekend in January for Vinh to come and show us both how to build speakers and
put the MooVus together.
---> MooVu DIY Loudspeaker Review — Big Bass, Easy Build, Great
Value.
Sneak Peek World Premiere Review!
Audio Research I/70 Fully Loaded Integrated Vacuum Tube
Amplifier Reviewed
In-depth review of Audio Research's
fully-loaded I/70 integrated stereo unit including the
optional Hi-Res Audio DAC and MM/MC phono stage: performance, design, and reference-level listening notes.
Review By Ron Nagle
I can trace my interest in high-end audio back to the 1970s, long before the
internet, and the 1995 launch of Enjoy the Music.com. Before we discuss
today's review of Audio Research's impressive I/70 vacuum tube integrated
amplifier, let us step back to the very beginnings. My first serious Audio
Research audio components, as back then, I recall vacuum tubes versus
transistors controversy was still raging on. That was when some audio wags
predicted the death of vacuum tube audio. I credit Audio Research and the late
Harry Pearson as the two stalwarts that fended off the Japanese avalanche of
cheaper transistor-powered audio components at the time. And that was the time when the shifting public interest was to
transistor audio. Audio Research Corporation (ARC) was founded by William Zane
Johnson in 1970 and was originally located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They are
one of the longest U.S. companies of vacuum tube-powered high-end audio
equipment for audiophiles and music lovers still in operation.
--->
Audio Research I/70 Fully Loaded Integrated Vacuum Tube Amplifier Reviewed.
Discover more hi-fi reviews and expert articles within our Review Magazine.
|
|
|
