Audio Video News

It's just about a month away: HI-FI '98, The Home Theater & Specialty Audio Show, will attract thousands of home-theater enthusiasts when it visits The Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel in Los Angeles, California from Wednesday, June 10 to Sunday, June 14, 1998.

"We intend to dedicate several rooms at HI-FI '98 to demonstrations of HDTV and DVD-Audio," notes Larry Archibald, chairman of Stereophile, Inc., which sponsors HI-FI '98. "HDTV, which will be first broadcast in the fall of this year, will be as major a transformation of television as the changeover from black-and-white to color that took place in the 1960s. The excitement and superior quality of HDTV will be fully visible to all HI-FI '98 attendees. The DVD-Audio demonstrations will expose customers to direct comparisons of CD, LP, and the new DVD-Audio format that will open their ears to the fabulously greater fidelity available from a higher-bandwidth digital format."

The five-day event is open to the public for three days (June 12-14). The first two days of the show, which are called Academy Trade Days (June 10 and 11), are devoted entirely to the trade and press. Highlights of the Consumer Days will include multiple concerts each day, stimulating seminars, breakthrough product and HDTV demonstrations, and other exciting events. Exhibitor and event lists are available at the HI-FI '98 Web site.

"We are putting on exciting, interactive demonstrations and exhibits to provide compelling reasons for consumers to attend," adds Show Director Maura Rieland. "Visitors can bring their own movies and music to audition the best equipment on the market, seek advice on how to build a new system or upgrade the one they own, attend concerts, and meet industry legends. They'll be able to see over $2 million worth of equipment in one showcase. It's the one event that lets you do it all for less than the price of a concert ticket!"

The Academy Trade Days are sponsored by The Academy Advancing High Performance Audio & Video. These days will provide exhibitors with the opportunity to conduct business directly with retailers and distributors. The Academy's Music & Film Seminars will run June 9th and 10th, offering educational and technical seminars to the trade.

Currently, HI-FI '98 has confirmed 198 exhibiting companies, which will demonstrate over 300 brands. Show exhibitors set up equipment in their rooms with the intention of accurately creating an acoustic environment for home-theater and audio demonstrations that can be appreciated by all attendees, regardless of their level of sophistication.

According to Archibald, "Attendees go to the Show to see things they've never seen before and hear things they might never hear again. They actively participate in demonstrations, even voting for the 'Best Sound of Show.' There is truly something for everyone to enjoy."

Three-day tickets are now on sale for $25 in advance; they'll be $35 at the door. One-day tickets are available for $20 in advance or at the door. Tickets are available online, by contacting HI-FI '98 Show Management at P.O. Box 5529, Santa Fe, NM 87502, or by calling (505) 992-6600.

Show management has also announced that HI-FI '99, the 13th Home Theater & Specialty Audio Show, will take place at the elegant Palmer House Hilton in Chicago, Illinois, from Wednesday, May 12 to Sunday, May 16, 1999.

"Over the past few years, exhibitors and attendees have voiced their interest in having the HI-FI Show visit Chicago," says Rieland. "We are excited about the prospect of a show in downtown Chicago. After extensive searching and negotiations, we've assembled what promises to be a very rewarding event for the exhibitors and the public."

From Friday, May 14 to Sunday, May 16, 1999, HI-FI '99 will offer three Consumer Days of the world's finest hi-fi and home-theater equipment for the public to experience and audition.