April's Fun Audiophile
Review Magazine
Plus SWAF, Montreal, AXPONA, And More!
We're fully into the spring show season, and with the Florida International Audio Expo
2025 now complete, we're working on our SWAF and Montreal show coverage, so be sure to check back daily as we post updates. As a publication with a healthy sense of humor, we're sure you'll enjoy the various fun articles and review we've posted
this month. The April 2025 edition of Enjoy the Music.com continues celebrating our 30th anniversary with a focus on high-performance audio and the audiophile hobby. This issue features historic reviews of audio gear from the past decades, alongside articles discussing the evolution of the audiophile industry. Highlights include a continuation of the series "The Future of Our Audiophile Hobby" by Roger Skoff, which explores the challenges and opportunities in the world of high-fidelity sound systems. Additionally, the editorial by J. Martins delves into the importance of questioning established knowledge to advance audio
technology.
---> April's Fun Audiophile And Music Lover Hi-Fi
Review Magazine.
Southwest Audio Fest 2025
Show Report
(Updated 04/02)
Now
in their second year, the Southwest Audio Fest
(SWAF) high-end audio show by the dynamic duo Gary Gill (Capital Audiofest) and Lou Hinkley (Pacific
AudioFest / Daedalus Audio) brings magical music to Dallas. SWAF 2025 follows
their sensational success with the popular Pacific Audio Fest event. Attendees
may listen to many of the world's top manufacturers who create a wide variety
of exciting home and portable audio products. Within this expansive Resort
environment, bask in luxurious sounds that caress your ears and bring newfound
meaning to many of the songs you've heard many times in the past. All this and
more within a curated experience filled with fine art and acres of event
space. The show promoters worked very hard to secure this amazing event venue, which is extremely safe, family fun friendly, and features great weather during March too!
---> Southwest Audio Fest 2025
High-End Audiophile Show Report.
Montreal Audiofest 2025
Audiophile Show Report
(Updated 04/01)
The Salon Audio Montreal Audiofest
2025 took place from March 28th through 30th with more than 5000 visitors
expected who desired listening, seeing, and touching over 300 brands of high-end
audiophile products
all under one roof. As the largest show in Canada, attendees experienced
the very best high-end audio and video / videophile industry distributors, manufacturers, and retailers in Canada.
Within each listening room, exhibitors were overjoyed to share their passion for music with you by demonstrating some of the world's best sound systems from
$5000 to $500,000. Montréal Audiofest was celebrating its 36th edition
in 2025 and remains the must-attend event for audiophiles, high-end audio gear
enthusiasts, and music lovers. This long-standing
event has become a tradition in showcasing the very latest advances in high-technology,
high-fidelity audio equipment in Canada. More than 300 brands will present their latest
innovations from music streamers and high-quality headphones to cables, tweaks,
loudspeakers, turntables, and much more!
---> Montreal Audiofest 2025 Audiophile Show Report.
HIGH END 2025 Audiophile Show
Info & Report
The HIGH END 2025
audiophile / immersivephile event is an internationally renowned audio exhibition that will take place from May 15 to May 18, 2025, at the
M.O.C. Event Center in Munich, Germany. This event is a must-visit for anyone passionate about high-quality audio technology, as it brings together
manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and in open to consumers from over 40
countries. The HIGH END 2025 exhibition will feature hundreds of exhibitors showcasing their latest innovations in
consumer electronics technology, including hi-fi audio, high-end video, home theater, and bespoke entertainment
solutions for millionaires and billionaires alike. Visitors can expect to experience groundbreaking trends, technological advances, and exclusive world
premieres. This year's brand ambassador is the Norwegian singer Anette
Askvik, who embodies the event's motto "Passion for Music".
---> HIGH END 2025 Audiophile Show Info & Report.
AES Conference: Breaking Barriers In Audio
The Audio Engineering Society (AES), a longstanding and well-respected organizations which promotes the growth, knowledge, and appreciation of the science and art of audio, is producing their inaugural AES International Conference on Breaking Barriers in Audio from April 3rd through 5th. The AES desires to bring together academics, audio professionals, industry veterans. This AES gathering aims to inspire meaningful change, promote cross-disciplinary collaboration, and amplify the voices and contributions of those driving progress towards the future in audio. Originally scheduled as a live event, various papers, workshops, etc of this Conference will be offered in a virtual (online) format only. Created by the audio engineering industry, the AES is a non-profit volunteer based organization designed to inspire, educate, and promote the technology and practice of audio
worldwide.
---> AES Conference: Breaking Barriers In Audio.
RIAA 2024 USA Recorded Music Revenue Report
According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), an organization that advocates for recorded music business, "Last year, for the first time ever, paid streaming subscriptions hit 100 million in the US." The report is quite an eye-opener as "The digital milestone represents the largest source of revenue – coupled with
vinyl's nearly two-decade resurgence and emerging partnerships – and shows the variety of ways fans are interacting with music. The full RIAA 2024 Year-End Revenue Report reflects sustained and continued growth in recorded music, now valued at
$17.7 billion retail and $11.3 billion wholesale." With an estimated $17.7 billion in revenue, the continued growth in 2024 adding half a billion dollars since 2023. As expected, the streaming music sector is financially the largest driver at $14.9 billion via ad-supported services, paid subscriptions, custom/digital online radio, social media platforms, etc. While we'll get to vinyl LP sales shortly, note that digital music revenue accounts for 84% of total revenues for the third year in a
row.
---> RIAA 2024 USA Recorded Music Revenue Report.
Total HiFi Experience
Features Three Shows In 2025
Total HiFi Experience is a premier event for music, entertainment, tech, and media enthusiasts. In 2025, it will feature several exciting events across the United States of America. T.H.E. Lone Star Audiofest is from May 2nd through 4th at Embassy Suites Round Rock in Austin, Texas. Next up is T.H.E. Show SoCal from June 6th through 8th at Hilton Orange County Costa Mesa in California. Under new show promotion leadership is T.H.E. New York International Audio Show from October 24th through 26th (venue to be announced). These events plan to showcase high-end audio demonstrations, retailers offering for sale rare vinyl and CDs, and more.
Total HiFi Experience's events also include seminars, personal audio experiences, and opportunities to connect with industry
leaders.
---> Total HiFi Experience Features Three Shows In
2025.
The Future Of Our Audiophile Hobby Part
3
More about things to come and how to make them better.
Article
By Roger Skoff
In Part 1 of "The Future Of Our Audiophile Hobby",
and more in
Part 2 of The Future about our hobby and the industry that serves it, I
wrote about earlier times, when our hobby was at its peak and everyone was "into"
stereo and hi-fi, and the future seemed unlimited. I also recounted how the old
saying "Familiarity breeds contempt" proved to be true and, as "hi-fi" (or the "mid-fi"-or-less
gear claiming to be it) and stereo lost their novelty and became commonplace,
the old "What have you done for me lately?" syndrome set in and – like the
ears on the sides of our heads – people not only stopped commenting on them,
they also stopped noticing them as well. As I pointed out in Part 2 of this
article, it's
gotten so bad that many people – largely among the young, but including one
woman in her fifties that I specifically mentioned last time, have never heard
or don't know the meaning of the words "hi-fi" and "stereo".
--->
The Future Of Our Audiophile Hobby Part 3.
World Premiere Review!
Grandinote Mach 8 XL Floorstanding Loudspeaker Review
Reproducing the heart and soul within recorded music.
Review By Dr. Matthew Clott
What has eight woofers, one horn
compression tweeter, no crossovers (well maybe a single capacitor, first order
high pass for the tweeter. So a filter, not formally a crossover), and a semi
resonance tube 'transmission line like' cabinet? You guessed it, the Grandinote
Mach 8 XL speaker does. Wow... You're good! And so are they! Although it sounds counterintuitive, the one word that comes
to mind when describing these very tall, nine-driver speakers is, "Simple."
Massimiliano Magri's design philosophy equates to the K.I.S.S. principle (Keep
It Simple Stupid). Reduce resonance in the simplest way possible. Reduce
intrusion of capacitance, inductance, and resistance as much as possible by
eliminating the use of crossover components. Utilize elegant and simple speaker
design to improve performance by implementing a modified transmission line that
they refer to as a Semi resonance tube.
--->
Grandinote Mach 8 XL Floorstanding Loudspeaker Review.
World Premiere Review!
Synergistic Research PowerCell 14 Power Conditioner Review
Raising the performance of audiophile gear you plug into it.
Review By Rick Becker
The naysayers on internet forums will have
a "hey"-day with this review. They complain about reviewers who proclaim that
each new product they review is better than the last one. Well, I'm here to
plead "guilty" as this is the third power conditioner I've reviewed in the past
seven months, along with an incredible 650 photos and 59,000 words in the
reviews of the Toronto Audiofest 2024 and Capital Audiofest 2024. Each power
conditioner was better than the last, as well as significantly more expensive.
Let me give you an overview in case you haven't been following along. My longstanding power conditioner, since July 2017 when the
review was published by Enjoy the Music.com, had been the Synergistic PowerCell 8 UEF SE with an
Atmosphere Level 2 power cord, a unit that sold for about $2000 at the time.
--->
Synergistic Research PowerCell 14 Power Conditioner Review.
More reviews & articles within our Review Magazine.
High-Performance
Audio Gear Reviews,
