Stereophile – August 2019

stereophile.com n August2019 15

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of rules so arcane that many drivers

don’t understand them—especially

drivers from out of town.

Central Stockholm audio dealer

Pause is responding in a creative way. If

you get a parking ticket, the store will

give you credit in the amount of your

fine. Just pay your fine—Stockholm lets

you pay on the spot with an app—and

present your ticket at the store.

The incentive applies only to the

purchase of Totem loudspeakers. Pause

itself—not the Canadian loudspeaker

company—is covering costs. As I

learned via email from Erik Ström of

the Backroad agency, which is helping

Pause with this promotional campaign,

“Pause’s CEO, Fredrik Hjelmquist,

just loves Totem, and wants everyone

to have a pair of Totem speakers at

home!” You can only get credit for one

parking ticket per purchase, and the

ticket has to have been issued in 2019.

UK: WORTHING

Paul Messenger

A couple of weeks before High End

2019 in Munich, Bowers & Wilkins

introduced a tranche of hi-fi compo-

nents called the Formation Suite: a

variety of powered loudspeakers that

use B&W’s proprietary Formation

wireless technology to function within

their own local, nonhierarchical mesh

network. Formation technology also

includes the company’s patented “per-

fect speaker synchronization” func-

tion, claiming improved performance

through superior timing.

The initial launch includes five

products, two (or perhaps three) of

which are likely to interest Stereophile

readers. The most interesting is a

small, active-drive bookshelf loud-

speaker called the Formation Duo

($3,999.99/pair), which features a

B&W 800-series Continuum-cone

mid/woofer and a 700-series carbon-

dome tweeter and comes in black or

white. The Duo handles resolutions

up to 24-bit/96kHz and is Bluetooth,

Roon, AirPlay2, and Spotify Connect

compatible. Those wanting more bass

extension can add one or more Forma-

tion Bass units ($999 each), each with

two 6.5" drivers mounted back-to-back

in a drumlike enclosure that incorpo-

rates a class-D amplifier and dynamic

EQ. Easy setup is promised.

Also available is a wireless hub

called, simply, Formation Audio

($699). About the size and shape of

a small book, the hub incorporates

a D/A processor, an A/D processor,

and AptX Bluetooth compatibility.

Based on Apple AirPlay2 technology, it

incorporates multiroom capability and

allows you to add analog components

to the streaming Formation network.

GERMANY: MUNICH

Jim Austin

In May, the biggest audio show I’m

aware of—High End Munich—took

place at Munich’s MOC, a conference

facility in the city’s upscale Schwabing-

Freimann district. For four days, the

center’s 30,000 square meters were

packed with hi-fi—as it is every year

at about this time. Stereophile had

three writers there—this editor, Herb

Reichert, and Jason Victor Serinus—

taking in as much as we could (and

friend said he was taking some time
off. Eventually, I heard he had landed
somewhere, but no one seemed to
know where.
Then, in Munich, I saw Josh at High
End 2019. He handed me a business
card. It said: Josh Clark, CEO,
Rockport Technologies. Clark is now
the sole owner and proprietor of the
esteemed loudspeaker brand. “In the
future we expect Rockport Technolo-
gies to be a very similar company to
what it always has been but with more
production and a stronger presence in
the market,” Josh told me in an email.
Longtime owner Andy Payor is stay-
ing on in the role of Director of Tech-
nology. “We will continue to be a small
company so Andy and I will continue
to wear many hats,” Clark wrote.

SWEDEN: STOCKHOLM
Jim Austin
If life gives you lingonberries, make
lingonberry-ade.
For at least one sort of downtown-
Stockholm fruit, a local high-end audio
dealer is taking a frequent source of
frustration and sweetening the deal.
Parking is tight in central Stock-
holm, and enforcement has gotten
stricter. Then, in April, parking fines
went up by 20%-30%, to a maximum
of 1300 kronor, the equivalent of about
$136, for any violation deemed danger-
ous by the parking police. Stockholm
drivers—like drivers everywhere—are
questioning the motives of police,
complaining that parking fines these
days are more revenue source than law
enforcement. Police, they say, issue
tickets for even the smallest infractions

aspowerconditioningandcablingfrom

ShunyataResearch.Manufacturers’

representativeswillbeavailablefor

questions.Complimentarylunchwill

beservedat2pm.EastwindImportwill

bringhand-selectedLPsandCDsfor

sale.Enjoyasuperbrafflewithexciting

prizes!Parkingisavailableandfree.

Guests,visitors,andmembersalike

areinvited.Formoreinformation,

visitlaocas.comorcallBobLeviat

(714)281-5850.

❚Friday–Sunday,July26–28:The

CaliforniaAudioShowtakesplaceatthe

HiltonOaklandAirport(1Hegenberger

Rd.,Oakland,CA94621).Formore

information,visitcaaudioshow.com.

❚Sunday,August25,2-5pm:TheLos

Angeles&OrangeCountyAudioSociety

willholditsmonthlymeetingatThe

SourceAudio/VideoDesignGroup

inTorrance(thesourceav.com;

KashiwaSt.,Torrance,CA90505).You

willnotwanttomissthisevent,which

bringsnewproductreleasesfromSonus

FabertotheSourceaswell.Inaddition,

ourhostsStevenandJasonLordwill

demonstratetop-of-the-lineequipment

inspacescustom-designedtomaximize

yourmusical(andvisual)enjoyment.

ListentoMcIntosh,MBL,Boulder,Dan

D’Agostino,ViennaAcoustics,Meridian,

Moon,Wadia,PearlEvolution,Marantz,

Denon,Linn,TotemAcoustics,andother

fineexamplesofhigh-endequipment

thatwillallowthoseattendingtomake

comparisonsand/orjustenjoythe

music.EastwindImportwillbeonhand

toofferpersonallyselectedvinyland

CDsforsale.Araffleisplanned,and

astunninglunchwillbeserved.Free

parkingisnearby.Guests,visitors,and

newmembersareinvited.Formore

information,visitlaocas.comorcallBob

Leviat(714)281-5850.

❚Saturday,September21,2-5pm:The

LosAngeles&OrangeCountyAudio

Societywillholditsmonthlymeetingat

Sunny’sAudioVideo(sunnyaudiovideo.

com;1370E.CypressSt.,Covina,CA

91724).Sunny’sispresentingwhatthey

calla“RockYourWorldEvent.”Check

outspecificsystemswithexcellent

price/performancestartingat$10K.

Reviewavastlistofspeakerproducts

includingEgglestonWorksReference,

Stenheim,Vandersteen,Avantgarde

Acoustics,VividAudio,Meridian,

MartinLogan,Dali,AerialAcoustics,

KEF,andmore.Electronicsinclude