In an effort to provide more efficient support for their network-based products, AURALiC has decided to move to a hybrid sales model, combining direct and dealer-based distribution.

Editor: Please join me in welcoming Darren Henley to the TM review team. Darren’s experience and interests will see him focusing on all things head-fi.

Sonos owns a huge chunk of the $18 billion home-audio market [footnote 1]. They got there by making smart products that were easy to set up, even easier to use, and easy on the wallet.  Even though profit margins were slim for resellers and installers, people loved selling Sonos because it was easy to set up, even easier to use,

Vincent Brient, Mr. totaldac, has been busy, releasing not one but two new DACs—the d1-twelve-mk2 and the d1-direct. According to Vincent, the d1-twelve-mk2 improves on the original d1-twelve by using “new techniques from the d1-direct and d1-seven DACs” . The d1-direct, as its name suggests, has direct outputs from the R2R ladders just like the d1-twelve.

“Champagne for my real friends, real pain for my sham friends.” Anonymous (incorrectly attributed to Francis Bacon and Tom Waits). Naim Audio has dressed up its popular one-box Mu-so player in a limited edition (2,000 units) champagne anodised aluminium finish. I think it looks smashing.

dCS, maker of some of the most engaging digital products I’ve heard, announced the birth of Bartók, an Upsampling Network DAC and the entry point in the dCS lineup when sorted by price (ascending). Bartók retails for $13,500 and/or  $15,000 if you opt for the integrated Class-A Headphone Amplifier.

This news just hit my desk: “Tampa, Florida—August 2018—The Florida Audio Expo is excited to announce its inaugural show. This show will be held on Friday February 8th through Sunday February 10th, 2019 at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Tampa Airport Westshore. ”