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The first album I ever bought with my own money—cash earned mowing neighbors' lawns—was a British plum-label pressing of Led Zeppelin II. It was 1971. I rode my prized Raleigh Chopper bike from our home on the coast of Denmark down the road a couple of miles to the local record store in a small town called Hørsholm.

After entering the store and browsing for a few minutes, I mustered up sufficient courage to head to the counter with the second Zeppelin LP and ask to listen to it. All was musical bliss for a few minutes. Then just as I was really getting into it, about halfway through "What Is and What Should Never Be," the clerk decided I'd heard enough and rudely interrupted my listening session with a "get lost kid" look on his face. I surprised him by pulling out my lawn-mowing cash and buying the album. I pedaled home furiously, as fast as I could, and slapped my first LP onto the family Garrard Autoslim, which I wrote about in Spin Doctor #11.

Gary Dews of BorderPatrol Audio Electronics and Pete Grzybowski of Triode Wire Labs presented a system that played with fantastic dynamics and equally impressive resolution.

Years ago, at one of the milestone NYC anniversary parties for Blue Note Records, a piercing voice burst out above the clinking glasses and chattering tongues, loudly declaiming (quoted here with several profanities omitted), "Blue Note never gave me a dime!"

A lot of people turned to see who dared profane the label within earshot of beloved Blue Note president Bruce Lundvall and his staff, including the late Tom Evered. A gasp of recognition followed when it was discovered that those words had come from Lou Donaldson, one of the few original Blue Note bebop stars still out partying and playing music in the 21st century.

More than five years have passed since I evaluated the original, Canada-made DV2 D/A converter ($30,000 in 2019) from EMM Labs. Since then, I've heard it and other top DACs—many of them at audio shows; some in my reference system—and my appreciation for what the original DV2 could deliver has only increased.

Now arrive two new components, the DV2's twin successors: the DV2i, an "integrated" stereo D/A converter with a software-driven, high-resolution digital volume control, and the subject of this review, the DA2i, a straight D/A with no volume control. Both cost $35,000.

At the Florida International Audio Expo, Julie Mullins interviewed the Scott Walker Audio team as they showcased Aldo Filippelli’s installation from Luxury Audio Group. Every component was selected to suit a 35×55' room with 10' ceilings, ensuring the system delivers precise, adaptable sound in a challenging space.

One of my favorite things about this pastime is the modesty of its aims. Despite the sometimes-astronomical sums spent on gear, and the small handful of drama queens who populate various corners of this hobby, all we're doing is trying to enjoy recorded music at home. No one here is reversing planetary warming or solving the Riemann hypothesis. The sole purpose of the pursuit we write about in these pages is to please, enlighten, and entertain. I like that about it.

This means that aesthetics matter. During a recent trip to Japan, I found myself marveling at the many vintage audio components used in both public listening spaces and people's homes, and the high prices these meticulously restored devices command. I found many of them lovely, the patina of age only adding to their allure. In the West, where we believe in eternal progress, it's common to ask whether these components' performance is up to contemporary standards. "Sure, it looks cool, but how does it sound?" we might ask, as though the physical beauty of the gear is a distraction or, worse, a ploy. Recall the old audiophile joke about the initials of the design-forward Danish manufacturer Bang & Olufsen standing for "beauty only."

Michael Ochs of Upstream Audio in Deerfield Beach, Florida, brought a sweet rig to FLAX that included the new Clearaudio Unity tonearm, allied with the Clearaudio Reference Jubilee turntable that I reviewed for Stereophile back in June 2022.