When I arrived on the second floor the first day of AXPONA, the large open landing that had served as a reception area for exhibitors the night before had been transformed into a mellow entryway to sonic heaven. Paving the way on the keys was John Yurick, who was playing John Lennon's "Imagine" as I snapped his picture. Facing him were May Audio's CD display on the left, and Transcendental Meditation on the right. Note that the TM folks do not simply chant themselves to bliss in mantra land, they are also very connected on a cellular level.

To the left of the May Audio exhibit lay the entryway to the Flamingo Room. The entrance paved by a number of attention grabbing banners, the displays within were a curious mixture of well laid out, as in Darren Hovsepian's DH Labs cable exhibit, and cardboard retro, as in a lot of McIntosh gear, new and vintage, and a host of accessories, all sandwiched between, around, above and through enough cardboard boxes to fill a small Fed Ex delivery truck.