How I wish I could have seen Stephen Mejias' reaction to the Montegiro Lusso Komplet turntable ($33,000), distributed in the US by Koetsu USA. This thing looks like a cross between a tray of black and white ice cream parfaits and something from a Fellini movie. But it sure sounded good. Equipped with two arms, from SME and DaVinci, and two Koetsu cartridges, the Coral Stone Platinum ($15,000) and Onyx Platinum ($8000), the KMLK (for short) was making magic through Chario Serendipity Sovereign loudspeakers ($17,000/pair).

This system gave the most realistic portrayal of Satchmo's trumpet I have ever heard. On another recording (unidentified), the sound of the sax was equally breathtaking. I'm sure the Aesthetix Rea, Aesthetix Atlas, Airtight ATC-1, and Tripoint Apollo Power Conditioner bear equal responsibility for the wow factor.