Audio Advice Live

Audio Advice Live is off and running at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Raleigh, NC.

I love a great 2.1 system like this pair of Solano tower speaker and a Varro DS1000 12-inch dual-opposed subwoofer. Just a couple of good towers and a powerful, precise sub, along with transparent, competent electronics doing their job. And that's what I found in this all-ELAC rig at Audio Advice Live 2023.

What a fantastic time it is to be an audio enthusiast, that we have this capacity to create true full-range audio delivering an audiophile listing experience with gear that looks great and fits comfortably in a living room environment.

The Audio Advice Live home entertainment show that ended yesterday in Raleigh, North Carolina was a resounding success. Some of the event’s biggest moments were documented by S&V editor Mark Henninger. Let’s take a look…

Large, powered, wireless party speakers have been around for some time, but 2023 marked the first year I truly took notice. I recently reviewed a Sony party speaker, and this year seems to indeed be the year of the party speaker. At Audio Advice Live in Raleigh, North Carolina, I entered a room in the Sheraton and instead of the typical two-channel high-end system or home theater setups, what I found was a dance floor just waiting for a party to get started. This included disco lights, a DJ rig, and a pair of full-size JBL Partybox 710 speakers handling the PA duties.

I attended two separate Macintosh demos at Audio Advice Live 2023. They were strikingly different. One was the classic two-channel demo, in this case using new Macintosh equipment that has the classic build quality and aesthetic. The highlight of that demo? Trying to figure out the mysteries of tube sound.

But the other demo also got my attention because it is automotive. The Jeep Grand Wagoneer McIntosh demo—held in front of the hotel—featured an in-cabin entertainment system that is about as over-the-top as any OEM system I've seen or heard in a motor vehicle.

Audio Advice Live 2024 concluded a week ago, and I have just finished organizing all the photos and videos I captured during the event. This show is unique because it is the only consumer-focused exhibition I attend that is structured like a high-end two-channel audio show, while also giving equal importance to the home theater category. In fact, Audio Advice CEO Scott Newnam stated in his keynote address that it is the largest home theater show of its kind in the world.