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In a bizarre but happy turn of events, recent consumer trends have given even the most socially awkward audiophile something to talk about at cocktail parties and family gatherings at which normal people predominate: the PonoPlayer and vinyl. These are hot topics; each is among the best-sounding music sources available, and both offer hope for our hobby, if not for music lovers in general. But vinyl has the advantage of appealing to a much wider range of budgets. LPs can be had from anywhere to "We'll pay you to haul these away" to "Your loan officer is on line one." Likewise, vinyl playback hardware is available in virtually every price range, from a second-hand Dual 1229 ($50 and up) to the highly praised Continuum Audio Labs Caliburn ($200,000 and down).

Our small hobby contains many even smaller subgroups, some of them openly hostile to one another—itself a partial explanation for the whole small-hobby thing. I have been a card-carrying member of some of those groups, have lurked at the edges of others, and have ignored only a few—most notably that community of manufacturers who believe that the surest way to make a better piece of playback gear is to make it bigger and heavier and more expensive than anything else on the market: a group sadly notable for its influence over much of the reviewing community. Those exceptions aside, almost every approach to domestic playback gear has, at one time or another, had at least some appeal, and I'm lucky to have learned something from many of them.

I got an early start on computer audio. At the end of the last century I was using WinAmp with first a CardDeluxe PCI soundcard, then a similar card from RME, to play files on a Windows PC. After I became a MacPerson, I used FireWire audio interfaces from pro-audio company Metric Halo and an inexpensive USB-connected ADC/DAC from M-Audio. But it was with the USB version of Benchmark's DAC 1 that the computer began taking over from physical discs for my music listening. At first I used iTunes au naturel, but as I acquired more high-resolution files, I began using Pure Music to handle all the tedious audio housekeeping, assigning as a dedicated music server a G4 Mac mini I'd bought in 2006.

On Friday, September 4, from 6 to 10pm, Sonor Filtronique (9343 Rue Lajeunesse, Montreal) will host a special event with Peter McGrath of Wilson Audio Specialties, John Quick of dCS, Dave Gordon of Audio Research, and Garth Powell of AudioQuest. Featured gear will include Wilson's Sabrina loudspeakers, dCS's Vivaldi DAC, ARC's GSi75 integrated amplifier, and AudioQuest's new Niagara 7000 AC power management system, pictured above. There will be 45-minute seminars held throughout the evening.

Music played through custom Quads from Wayne Picquet of Quads Unlimited in Florida via Dave Slagle's Direct Drive Amp ($36,000 for two amps and two full-range electrostatic speakers) made me shake and sob (there are a bunch of witnesses) . . .

Fern & Roby make artful-looking, and (to me) an impressive sounding turntable with a 70lb cast-bronze plinth and 35lb bronze platter. I have always believed that most audio gear sounds like what it is made of, how it is made, and what it looks like. I saw their beautiful plinth and I saw their elegant thick paper literature, and I thought, maybe this will be all show and no go. I thought this might be a lifestyle product. Then I saw the Syrinx PU-3 tonearm and remembered how all my Japanese friends admired the PU-3's lively, natural sound.

It didn't take long for me grasp that this 2015 edition of Capital Audiofest was a big moment for the universally admired (and loved) VPI clan. Everywhere I looked, clan patriarch Harry Weisfeld (center in photo) was smiling and telling great stories. Harry gets my Best In Show award for fascinating tales and amazing tutorials (we talked a lot about drag racing in the 1960s and turntable/arm-bearing lubes). His son Mat (peeking over shoulders in the background) and Mat's fiancée Jane win the Best Couple Ever award and I saw them hugging, kissing, and holding up the "Holy Shit!—That's My Son and Future Daughter-in-Law" trophy.