The 2022 Society Calendar

Our guests are the spectacular husband and wife recording team of  Jim Anderson and Ulrike Schwarz, responsible for the latest Patricia Barber release Clique! on Impex Records SACD and various download and streaming sites. Clique! has been nominated for a GRAMMY this year for Best Immersive Audio Album. It has also been named NativeDSD’s Best Album of the Year with praise for the production team for their “Stereo and 5 Channel Surround Sound album that is easily one of the best of the year.” , and Clique! received honorable mention from the Society for Audiophile Recording of the Year Award (ARYA).

As partners in life and music, Jim and Ulrike have more than 60 years of combined audio experience earning 31 Grammy nominations, 2 Emmy nominations, 2 George Foster Peabody Awards, an Oscar win, and dozens of international honors between the two of them. Their brilliance is evident on many audiophile-approved records. Recently, PS Audio praised Jim and Ulrike as “unsung heroes of the audio world” in Copper’s latest issue, and that couldn’t be more accurate. Throughout their careers, Jim and Ulrike have continued to push the sound quality standards to the next level and developed their own technology to release brilliantly-recorded records in multiple formats, including their latest Grammy-nominated Clique!, which was recorded, mixed, and produced in Digital eXtreme Definition (352.8kHz/24bit).

Please join us to hear more about Jim and Ulrike’s perspectives on high-resolution and immersive audio recording and playback. You’ll have the opportunity to ask questions to learn more from these insiders about the production of some of the great albums we, as audiophiles and music lovers, love and enjoy.

From humble beginnings making transducers and headphones by hand in Orange County, Audeze has pushed the envelope on what is possible with Planar Magnetic Designs. Factory Tour at Audeze! Dragoslav Colich (CTO) and Sankar Thiagasamudram (CEO) will take you behind the scenes tour of Audeze which will include how Audeze products are designed and manufactured. In addition to all the design, prototyping and testing Audeze manufactures a majority of its products at its Santa Ana Facility. All the new products for 2021 will be available for demo. The presenters will follow up the tour with a Q&A. Special pricing will be 25% Off on all Audeze products in person at the factory and the raffle will include the new LCD-5 planar magnetic headphone. You can look forward to an exceptional raffle and a great lunch.  Free parking is nearby. Guests, visitors and new members are invited. For more information visit www.laocas.com or call Mike Wechsberg at (714) 906-9780.

On demonstration will be CH Precision’s 1 Series and 10 Series, as well as the Wadax Reference DAC and Streamer. Consultation will be available regarding Brinkmann Audio’s full line of turntables and electronics, plus NEODIO Audio, EMM Labs, Meitner Audio, Jeff Rowland, Bryston Audio, Audible Illusions, NAD, Bluesound, and Meridian DACs, speakers, amplifiers, and streamers. Hear speakers from Vandersteen, Stenheim, Egglestonworks, Martin Logan, Marten, Vivid Audio, KEF, Aerial Acoustics, DALI, Avantgarde, and REL and view audio stands by Harmonic Resolution Systems, Salamander, Target, and Quadraspire. Industry representatives will include Vinnie Rossi, as well as John Woo of Bluebird Music and John McDonald from Audience Cables.

Sunny’s has some great new AudioQuest Mythical Creatures Thunderbird, Firebird, and Dragon interconnects to show the society.
The new Vinnie Rossi Brama Series products will be available for this event.
The Wadax Reference DAC, Reference Server and a complete 10 series CH Precision system with Stenheim Reference Ultime 2 Loudspeakers will be displayed.
We have a special promotion on Stenheim Reference Ultime 3 with CH Precision made Crossover.

A NUMBER OF ITEMS WILL BE ON SPECIAL PROMOTION FOR THIS WEEKEND ONLY.

1. Martin Logan Motion 60 XTi — 1 pair only New in box Piano Black.
2. Martin Logan Motion 40i — 1 pair only
3. Martin Logan Motion 20i — 1 Pair only Motion 35XTi and Motion 15 1 pair
4. Bowers and Wilkins 702 S2, 704 S2, 702S2, HTM S2
5. Bowers and Wilkins 702 Signature series in Midnight blue…All sold out now !
6. Bowers and Wilkins 801D4, 802D4, 803D4, 804D4 and 805D4 in stock Lead times are 60-120 days…Secure your speakers now.
7. Bowers and Wilkins in-Ceiling and In-wall speakers, beautiful sub-woofers and more products for custom applications.
8. Marten Oscar Trio Store Demo on special promotion.
9. Technics Sl-1210GR, SL-1200GR, SU-G700M2 Integrated Amplifier, SU-R1000 Integrated Amplifier, SL-1000R Store Demo,
10. Brinkmann Bardo with 10.0 Tonearm New in Box, Brinkmann Taurus, Brinkmann Spyder with Acoustical systems tonearm.
11. Several Cartridges under $1000.00 on special promotion.
12. HRS RXR Store Demo audio stands at 35% discount
13. HRS SXR Silver in store Demo on promotion.
14. HRS Isolation Demo bases at 20% discount
15. CH Precision promotion on 10 series and 1 series.
16. CH Precision factory certified with 2 year warranty : L1 Pre-amplifier, M 1.1 Amplifier, A 1.5 Amplifier,
17. Stenheim STOCK instant delivery on Alumine 2, Alumine 3, Limited edition sold out Alumine 3 Special edition, Alumine 5 Special Edition
18. Hegel Demo H95, H120 in white ( Match this with B&W 704S2 ) Hegel H-190, Hegel H-390, Hegel H-590, Hegel Mohican CD Player. — Some store Demos available….Price hike coming ! Do not Delay.
19. NAD M10 — New in box at 30% off.
20. Krell Duo 300XD Current Amplifier at $6995.00 for our club
21. Bryston Amplifier, Pre-amps, DAC’s in stock. We even have the BR20 on display.
22. Egglestonworks amazing speakers are available in any automotive color.
23. We have a few specials on Vivid Audio G2 Series 2, G1 Series 2 factory demos with 5 year warranty.
We also have Vivid Audio Kaya S12, S25, S90
24. Special promotion on Rega tables, Phono stages, Integrateds etc….
25. Meridian DSP7200SE in White finish. Get a DSP3300 Center for free with purchase.
26. Vandersteen VLR CT, Quatro CT, Kento CT and a NEW pair of M5 HPA Amplifiers.
27. Definitive Technology BP9060 Towers $749.00 each 4 in stock. Matching CS9080 for only $495 with purchase of towers.
28. Vienna Acoustics Haydn Grand $895.00
29. Dynaudio Focus 340 Towers only 2500.00 per pair. Trade-in.
30. Martin Logan 2 each Balanced Force 210 Dark Cherry Store Demos $5000.00 for the pair.
31. Technics SBC700 White $995.00 1 pair left DEMO
32. Martin Logan Helos 100 in ceiling 1 pair.
33. Several DEMO Subs etc for sale…30% to 50% off….
34. Revel C32 Center channel —– MSRP $1995.00 Sale at $649.00
35. Dali Mentor Menuet. Only 795.00

A raffle is planned and an extraordinary lunch will be served. Free parking is nearby. Guests, visitors and new members are invited. For more information, visit www.laocas.com or call Allen Taylor at (714) 299-1509.

Message to the Society from T.H.E. Show!

“We are delighted to welcome LAOCAS members to T.H.E. Show, Long Beach, CA 2022, this coming June 10-12 at the Hilton Long Beach as we do annually. With 190 brands and exhibitors, a full marketplace, our new Headphonium™, as well a packed seminar and evening events schedule there will be plenty to experience. As always, we will have T.H.E. Lounge, our special room for society members, with refreshments to enjoy. Please visit our website at thehomeentertainmentshow.com to learn more.
We look forward to seeing all of you next week! ”

Plan on showing a current Covid-19 vaccination record or a testing record that was completed within the prior 3 days to participate.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
29th Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society Founders Award Goes To John Atkinson, Technical Editor, Stereophile Magazine

It is with great pleasure that the Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society, the world’s largest, awards its 29th Founders Award to John Atkinson. The Founders Award is the highest honor the Society annually bestows in our industry on those extraordinary individuals who have advanced audio and audiophile enjoyment worldwide.

John Atkinson was born in Hitchin, England in June 1948. At the age of 15, he was faced with a difficult decision. Academically, his grades in science subjects were excellent but his passion was for music. He played violin in school and youth orchestras and bass guitar with a local pop group. But for his final three years at grammar school, he had to choose between the sciences and the arts. The sciences it had to be, and he ended up getting his B.Sc in physics and chemistry from the University of London, followed by a post-graduate qualification as a high-school science teacher. Early jobs included working in a government research lab on developing higher-  efficiency LEDs – he is probably the only audio journalist who has made his own transistors, using a vapor-epitaxy oven and gallium-phosphide substrates – then working in another lab on mining chemistry. His passion for music was kept alive by playing bass guitar in rock bands and getting involved in making recordings. When, in June 1972, JA was offered the opportunity to join a band led by Matthew Ellis, a singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist who had just signed a record contract with Warner Bros, record an album at Abbey Road Studio, and tour the US, he abandoned his scientific career without hesitation. The album was recorded at Abbey Road, but the band’s manager did a runner with the record company’s advance, the US tour was canceled, Abbey Road didn’t get paid, the album was never released, and three months after leaving the lab, JA was out of a job.

For the next four years, JA played bass guitar with various bands, worked in cabaret clubs, toured with the 1960s “teen singing sensation” Helen Shapiro, and made other albums and singles, but it eventually became clear that he would need a steadier source of income. JA had been what we now call an “audiophile” since the end of the 1960s and was an avid reader of the British magazine Hi-Fi News & Record Review.

In September 1976 he joined that magazine as an editorial assistant. Six years later, at the age of 34, he became Hi-Fi News’s editor-in-chief. By the end of 1985, he had almost doubled the British magazine’s circulation when then-Stereophile owner and publisher Larry Archibald invited him to take over from the magazine’s founder, J. Gordon Holt, as the American magazine’s editor.

JA joined Stereophile in May 1986 and increased its circulation from around 20,000 to a peak of 92,000 15 years later. He remained editor until April 2019, when approaching his 71st birthday and having published 390 issues, he handed over Stereophile’s editorial reins to Jim Austin. JA took up the new position of Technical Editor and continues to provide the measurements to accompany the magazine’s reviews. To date, he has measured more than 900 loudspeakers, 600 amplification components, and 400 digital products, all with a standardized test regime for each category.

John Atkinson is a member of the Audio Engineering Society and until recently was an associate member of the IEEE and a member of NARAS, Producers and Engineers Wing. In 2011 he was invited by the Technical Council of the AES to present the Richard C. Heyser Memorial lecture at its 131st Convention in New York. JA continued to be involved in recording music after joining Hi-Fi News – to date he has produced, engineered, mastered, or played musical instruments on more than 40 commercially released recordings, half of which were on the Stereophile label. The album Translations, performed by the Portland State Chamber Choir, which JA co-engineered and mastered, was released by Naxos in 2020. It was chosen as one of Gramophone magazine’s Critics’ Choices for that year. Recently honored by the City of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society now celebrates its 29th year serving top audiophiles in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. The largest audio society in the world with over 2700 members, the non-profit organization provides up to 14 major events per year in Greater Los Angeles and showcases and promotes the very best in great gear and recordings worldwide. Though the majority of members hail from Southern California, the Society boasts members from 14 states and nine countries.

The Society’s Board of Directors awards the Founder’s Award annually to those professionals in the high end who continue to advance fine musical reproduction in the home and distinguish themselves as the best in their profession.

The 2021 Founders Award went to George Cardas, founder of Cardas Audio. The 2019 Founders Award went to Andrew Jones, VP and Chief Speaker Designer for ELAC
The 2018 Founders Award went to Michael Fremer, The Absolute Sound.
The 2017 Founders Award went to John Grado, President of Grado Labs.
The 2016 Founder’s Award went to Bob Carver, President of Bob Carver Audio.
The 2015 Founder’s Award went to Harry Weisfeld, founder of VPI Industries.
The 2014 Founder’s Award went to Chad Kassem, President of Acoustic Sounds.
The 2013 Founder’s Award went to Robert Harley, Editor-in-Chief of The Absolute Sound.
The 2012 Founder’s Award went to Tim de Paravicini, President of E.A.R. of Great Britain.
The 2011 Founder’s Award went to Richard Vandersteen, President of Vandersteen Audio. The 2010 Founder’s Award went to Keith Johnson, Executive Producer of Reference Recordings,
and the 2009 Founder’s Award went to EveAnna Manley, President of Manley Labs.

Other previous winners include Harry Pearson, founder of The Absolute Sound, Dave Clark, Managing Editor of Positive Feedback, Dennis Had, founder of Cary Audio, David W. Robinson, Editor-in-Chief of Positive Feedback, and Ray Kimber, President of Kimber Kable, and our most-honored member.

The Founder’s Award will be awarded at the 29th Annual Gala and Awards Ceremony in John Atkinson’s honor in Los Angeles on December 4, 2022. The trophy that will be awarded to John Atkinson is specially produced by the same company that created the Oscar for The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.