Jason Victor Serinus

Yes, I too noticed the signs, liberally distributed around the baggage pick-up area at O'Hare, that welcomed visitors to four shows other than AXPONA. "AXPONA 2015 NOT WELCOME IN CHICAGO!" quipped Michael Fremer in his first show blog for AnalogPlanet.com. Judging from the comments so far, it's clear that some readers forget that behind Mikey's New York outrage lies a seasoned stand-up comedian...

In the consumer audio show arena, the newly rebranded Audio Con (after Comic Con) from AXPONA Chicago seems on course to claim the crown as one of the three top high-end shows in North America. Taking place April 24–26 in the Westin O'Hare in Rosemont, the show is prepared to welcome a significantly larger number of visitors (pre-registration is up 30% 11 days before show opening) to 105 active exhibits (two-channel and multi-channel), plus an entire ballroom's full Ear Gear Expo (participation is up 50% from last year) and a sizeable marketplace area (displays up at least 30%).

Yet another Bay Area audio retailer has defied industry trends by moving from home-based business to a storefront and simultaneously revamping its product line. Audio Video Integration (aka AVI Marin) celebrated the Grand Opening of its new San Rafael 6000ft² retail store and 3000ft² warehouse on April 2, 2015 via a ribbon-cutting ceremony officiated by San Rafael Vice Mayor Andrew McCullough. Even before the ceremony got underway, and for several hours thereafter, a host of loyal customers, friends, and well-wishers began to ogle the store's capacious layout and multiple audio and AV installations, enjoy food and drink, and discover anew the glories of high-end sound.

"Smash and grab thieves," as Bay Area media are wont to call them, have hit Music Lovers Audio in San Francisco for the second time in a month. This time, at 4am on Wednesday, March 4, three thieves wearing bandanas or ski masks over their faces and either long hoodies or overcoats drove up in a red truck, smashed one of the store's windows, and tried to make off with as much they could.

Nearly 500 audiophiles descended upon Definitive Audio's Seattle location on Thursday, February 26 for the 10th Music Matters event in the Pacific Northwest. The "mother" of all Music Matters, and inspiration for all the other similarly named events that happen around the country, Definitive Audio's definitive four-hour gathering was so large in scope that it qualified as a mini-audio show. With major industry presenters including Stereophile's Michael Fremer (above) and John Atkinson, the evening also offered sufficient food and drink to satiate the most ravenous, and enough interesting music to ensure that even an inveterate show attender named Serinus never once experienced that "if I hear this cut one more time" feeling.

To put it mildly, Jack Vad (second row in photo, orange shirt) was dismayed. The Grammy Award–winning media producer and chief engineer for the San Francisco Symphony had just returned from the 2014 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, and was trying to make sense of his experiences there. When he'd carried his latest recordings, which I think are superbly recorded, into rooms at the show and asked if he could play them, exhibitors were anything but enthusiastic.

In what may be the first collaboration of its kind, the San Francisco Audiophile Society (SFAS) has partnered with a major urban arts presenter, the SFJAZZ Center, to offer its members a prime block of "audiophile-approved" seats to major SFJAZZ Center events. The instant success of the SFAS Concert Series collaboration is reflected in the fact that all 30 tickets to the first event, a March 1 concert with Taj Mahal, sold out in four hours.