LATEST ADDITIONS

Shayne Tenace is a cigar smoker, like me. So once we meet up at shows, we know smoke is in the works! But first, business.

Peter Qvortrup and Adrian Ford-Crush brought a smashing Audio Note UK system to New Jersey, including the US premiere of the brand's TT Three Reference turntable ($63,000). It fed an AN-1S Sogon tonearm ($16,730), fitted with an IO I moving coil cartridge ($5586), then into an AN-S8 step-up transformer ($18,130).

Sharing one of two HiFi Loft rooms with owner Jason Tavares, 2WA Group (led by Walters Schofield and Swanbon) showcased a system built around SPL components and Falcon Acoustics speakers.

McIntosh, which is based in my home state of New York, has long been in my audio life. It was the "house sound" where I grew up. My parents' stereo system was powered by a pair of MC75 tubed amplifiers (fed by a Marantz 7B preamp, driving Bozak Concert Grand speakers). In my father's recording studio, McIntosh amplifiers powered the monitors.

Efficient and focused like the brand he represents, Technics business and development manager Bill Voss arrived in Hasbrouck Heights with a full array of Technics offerings including the direct-drive Technics SL-1210GME Master Edition turntable in a world debut ($TBA) and the recently released SL-50C compact turntable ($899).

At least three premieres, a number of rooms with glorious sound, and reunions with old friends both human and electronic distinguished my romp through the hallways of Warsaw's PGE Narodowy on the first day of Audio Video 2025 in Warsaw. Compared to other days I've spent at shows in Chicago, Munich, Florida, and Seattle, it was a pretty fine day.

Walking through any big art museum, even at a brisk pace, it's impossible not to notice how boldly each object wears the unique stamp of its time and place of manufacture. It doesn't matter whether the artist worked in Paris or Polynesia, in the 15th or 20th century. The force of the creator's persona, united with the constraints of the cultural system that supported the making of that type of art, determines the vibe the object emits. That vibe is what I'm hoping to grasp.