You’ve heard this before from us, but only because it’s true and remains an important point: A great part of the fun (and, therefore, value) in attending hi-fi shows comes from the chance encounters that inevitably take place in the show halls. We’re all trying to get somewhere fast, and these encounters invariably slow us down, but almost always for the better. We get to see the people who work so hard to bring great music into our homes. Here, for instance, I had the pleasure of bumping into Ayre Acoustics’ Steve Silberman (left) and Magico’s Irv Gross (far right).

Surprisingly, this was the first time I’ve actually had the opportunity to meet and shake hands with Irv, though we’ve exchanged countless e-mails and phone calls over the years. Always courteous and professional to the extreme, Irv is a pleasure to work with, and I’m glad we’ve finally met.

Just as Steve was telling us about his own personal modifications to a Technics 1200 turntable, we were joined by Jeff Joseph of Joseph Audio, who kindly stopped to say hello, while on his way to get settled into the show.