Show Report

Ola Björling speaks with Audrius Balčiῡnas of Silent Pound about the company's Parallax loudspeaker at Audio Video Show Warsaw 2026.

At SouthWest Audio Fest 2026, Ken Micallef speaks with Steven Rabitz (shown above) and James Harvell of Altec Lansing, as well as Hans Loomans of Infigo Audio, about the gear seen and heard in Austin Ballroom 3, including the Altec Lansing Ribbonacci Reference loudspeakers and Infigo Audio Method 4 DAC.

Audio Video Show 2026, the 28th edition of the hi-fi show in Warsaw, will open in just a few hours, on Friday, October 23, at noon local time. Three intrepid Stereophile contributing editors—Jason Victor Serinus, Ken Micallef, and Ola Björling—are on hand to cover as much of it as (in)humanly possible. Serinus kicks off our Warsaw coverage here.

The three days I spent at Toronto Audiofest (October 16–18, 2026) delivered on the promise of a wonderful mix of collective cheer and musical bliss, with a dollop of very unusual-looking gear.

In the Belgian city of Ghent stands a formidable artifact of military technology: Dulle Griet ("Mad Meg"), a 15th-century cannon that weighs about 12.5 tons. Despite its fearsome appearance, the weapon apparently never fired a shot. But it does lend some historical inspiration to Bombard, a new Belgian loudspeaker company whose first product, the OB1, made its debut at the 2026 Dutch Audio Event. OB1 stands for Open Baffle 1, but if your first thought was of a Star Wars character…same.

Whenever I spend time in Vienna, I never think I'm going to eat schnitzel every day, but somehow it happens anyway. The truth is that when done right, schnitzel is a scientifically perfect dish: unexpectedly light, texturally complete, and oddly comforting.

At Audio Advice Live 2026, Ken Micallef speaks with Eric Smith of Fidelity Imports about the gear in this room at the show, including a Cambridge Audio streaming amplifier, integrated amplifier, and active bookshelf speakers.