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Does anyone use the term "record man" these days? In an earlier era, it would have been used in the same way the term "ad man" was used, as a particularly American job description. People who spend their careers in and around the music business. Some of these record men are known by the public—some of it anyway—whereas others may be familiar only to colleagues.

I met Steve Berkowitz under the best of circumstances: sitting in a basement listening room hearing beautiful recordings made in 1958 that I'd never heard before, by the Miles Davis Quintet. It was the recently issued Miles Davis—Birth of the Blue (Analogue Productions APJ 172). The album was, the credits state, "Supervised by Steve Berkowitz." The name rang a bell, though prior to this meeting, I didn't have a face to go with the name.

Woo Audio's 20th Anniversary WA24 headphone amplifier comes in a distinctive, low-slung chassis that welcomes the eye with gentle angular volumes and bright, frosty-surfaced, copper-toned controls. In the always-crowded Woo–JPS Labs–Stax room at CanJam 2025, Woo's new $12,999 flagship caught everybody's eye, sitting on a table next to its similar-looking stablemate, the $8999 WA23 LUNA, a tube-rectified single-ended amplifier that, unlike the new WA24, uses 2A3 tubes.

Launched in 1967, Quad's highly original, elegantly styled 33 preamplifier and 303 power amplifier were Quad's first all–solid state designs and among the first solid state separates. The 303 may have been one of the first "vertical" amplifiers. Together with the 405 stereo amplifier, which came out in 1975, and the FM2 and FM3 tuners, these products proved to be enduring, widely feted successes from their launch until they were discontinued, the 33 in 1982, the 303 in 1985. Meanwhile, they enjoyed massive production runs, were marketed worldwide, and were much admired for their modern industrial design. It's said that Quad sold 120,000 33 preamps and 100,000 303 amplifiers. Across two versions, the 405 sold even more.

Quad introduced new versions of the 33 and 303 (each component $1599) in 2024, apparently moved to do so by the continuing hot market for originals.

Stemming from the foundation of Kondo Audio Note of Japan, Peter Qvortrup's Audio Note UK is, for many, a custodian of the definitive audio heritage. The debut of each Audio Note piece sparks obsession among adherents—ardor that outstrips mere fandom.

There are things that make me feel so unpleasantly lightheaded that some days I worry my cranium might float away like a helium balloon. Like baby animals generated by AI that I can no longer distinguish from real ones. Skin care for tweens. Headlines about American politics that read like headlines about Turkmenistan. The music of Charli XCX.

And being middle aged. Even the term is a con. At 54, I'm not in the middle of anything, and given the way my back feels in the mornings, the thought of living to 108 fills me with terror. There are things about this stage of life that arrive imperceptibly, and not just the physical frailties. Chief among them is the way one's time on earth begins to feel unsettling and sometimes poignant in its suddenly tangible brevity. Now, when I speak to people in their early 20s, I find myself amazed by their belief that life is brimming with endless possibility and lasts nearly forever. I suppose I might envy them, but I remember being their age and wouldn't relish being that person again.

Fortunately, there's more to middle age than bewilderment at cottagecore and one's worsening nocturia.

On May 29, Adam Wexler's Resolution A/V, in Red Hook, Brooklyn, debuted new products from two heavy hitters in the audio world: Brooklyn's DeVore Fidelity and the renowned Swiss brand Nagra.

SVS is best known for subwoofers, but the company also makes speakers. Demo'd at T.H.E. Show in Costa Mesa were a couple of examples: the SVS Ultra Evolution Pinnacle flagship towers ($2500/each or $5000/pair), which were playing when I visited the room, and a pair of rear-ported Ultra Evolution standmounts ($1200/pair; stands not included), which were set up in a system with the SVS SB-5000 R|Evolution subwoofer ($2000), which debuted at AXPONA.