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John Marks also arranged, courtesy of Audio Power Laboratories and Wharfedale, to present Arturo Delmoni performing the slow movement from Karl Goldmark’s Concerto for Violin in their room. Arturo played live, but Steve Martorella playing his transcription for pipe organ of the orchestral part was recorded by John Marks in the First Baptist Church in America and played back from CD over the Wharfedale Neo Airedale speakers. The result was impressive, both on the grounds of the system’s sound quality, with extended low frequencies demanded by the organ, but also for Dr. Delmoni’s lyrical virtuosity. This wasn't so much Live vs Recorded and Live with Recorded.

We all owe John Marks a big "thank you" for bringing live music to Axpona New York.

I tried but failed to photograph the on-screen image from the home-theater dem in one of the two Emotiva rooms, so you’ll have to take my word: Eric Clapton wore a black short-sleeved shirt and a pair of ripped and faded jeans (shame how some of these rock stars just frittered away their millions), and played a baby-blue Fender Stratocaster. But the real stars of this slick and commendably spare-sounding band were the three backup singers, who were sufficiently passionate to convince me that they had, working together, indeed murdered a sheriff somewhere. The excitement of it all was delivered by Emotiva electronics and loudspeakers, including XPA-2 and XPA-5 amplifiers ($679 and $764, respectively), UMC-1 surround-sound processor ($594), ERT-3 floorstanding loudspeakers ($1278/pair), and ERD-1 stand-mounted surround speakers ($319/pair). The sound was quite decent by any measure—and exceptionally good for the money.

During the half-hour Julia and I spent visiting Channel D Software's Rob Robinson, the room never ceased to be mobbed with attendees. That was partly due to the good sound (provided by Joseph Audio Pulsar speakers, Hegel H20 amp, Artemis record player with Zu cartridge, and Audio Research DAC8—plus, of course, a Synology NAS and a brace of Apple computer gear, driven by Channel D software), and partly to the fact that the exhibit was like a free seminar on both the basics and the minutiae of computer audio, with Robinson as the generous instructor. Channel D's Pure Music 1.8 ($129) is now available, and I hope to try it soon after returning home.