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It was great to hear monoblocks I'd just reviewed—the new, German-made Octave MRE 220 SE mono amplifiers ($28,500/pair) with their Super Black Box PSU upgrade modules ($7000/pair)—in the context of a different system.

TIDAL made a fine showing in the room sponsored by one of its three US dealers, Christopher Thornton’s Artisan Fidelity. Totally drug-free I swear, I melted into the exceptional smoothness and beauty of “The Girl from Ipanema” on vinyl.

Off by itself near Expo Hall, the Journey/Creation rooms sponsored by Scott Walker Audio and Synergistic Research utilized so many Synergistic Research products—eight models of cables, seven for power conditioning (including fuses), six acoustic room treatment thingees, four racks, three grounding devices—that I was tempted to adapt the product list into lyrics for an audiophile Christmas carol.

I walked into the pitch-black room operated by the affable Klaus Bunge, manufacturer of the popular Odyssey amplifier. I stumbled into a seat.

Steve Jain’s Fidelity Imports turned heads at AXPONA with a kaleidoscope of digital and analog sound, a few of which were home-theater focused. They filled no fewer than six rooms, each showcasing an array of products, new and less new, from all corners of the world.

For sleeping, past convention nights have sometimes been a nightmare, stuck next to the rooms of exhibitors who think "lights out" means "crank it up to 11!" Neighbor TriangleArt was a exception. They silenced their space by 7 pm, and their music was so good, it literally floated through the walls, beckoning me in.

I jumped at the chance to review T+A's $47,900/pair Solitaire S 530 loudspeaker for a few reasons. First, because T+A is a well-established company with an approach I like and respect: They make hi-fi equipment of the highest quality but with prices that, though substantial, are in line with their technology and execution. Their stuff is very handsome with impressive industrial design, but T+A doesn't do audio jewelry. What's more, though T+A is aggressive in R&D—their "Company" webpage says, "Actually, we're scientists ..."—but they are selective in the use of new technology. The third reason I was interested in reviewing a product from T+A is that their prices and technical level place them in a market segment I know well.

What I didn't know until recently is that T+A makes loudspeakers, and they're quite different from the loudspeakers other companies make. I only learned this when I started hearing about the S 530 and its larger sibling, the S 540, from friends—friends whose ears I trust.