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It's rare for a Stereophile reviewer to review two loudspeakers in a row from the same manufacturer, but then these are unusual times. Because of the pandemic, Magico's M2s got stuck here for a year (I know: poor me). By the time they were packed up and shipped out, it was time for a long-scheduled review of the less-expensive, more-massive Magico A5 ($24,800/pair).

If you've ever paused in front of a painting by Peter Paul Rubens, you may have noticed that the canvas seems to glow. Everything in Rubens's paintings celebrates abundance. A golden light bathes his landscapes, and his figures are epitomes of radiant health—the women ample and voluptuous (a body type sometimes called "Rubenesque"), the men vigorous and athletic. Invariably, these expanses of rosy European flesh appear to be in motion, an effect Rubens mastered more thoroughly than arguably any artist of his age.

Chairman at the Board: Recording the Soundtrack of a Generation, by Bill Schnee. Backbeat Books, 2021. 219pp. $24.49, hard cover; $21.49, Kindle e-book.

It was September 2012, and Sasha Matson and I were in Los Angeles to record the singers for his jazz opera, Cooperstown. We had already recorded the instrumental backing with engineer Mike Marciano at Brooklyn's Systems Two studio, and the venue for the vocal tracking sessions was Bill Schnee's studio in North Hollywood.

"We are so proud of everyone who made T.H.E. Show 2021 come to life," texted show coordinator Emiko Carlin about what was the first post-pandemic audio show to take place in North America. "After more than a year of unprecedented losses, this was no doubt a true celebration of audio and musical connection. We are thrilled that 1416 unique attendees showed up to reconnect, and we are delighted that [they] all did it safely and responsibly. As the first audio show in the US to open, and one that had to honor venue attendance caps, we are over the moon with how of T.H.E. Show 2021 turned out. We can't wait for our next event!"

Folks were already packing up in the Wyred4Sound room when I happened upon an active display of their just-completed prototypes, none of which is listed on their website. If you total up the total cost of the Aura preamp ($2999, Aura GaN amplifier ($2999), MS i3 music server ($2999) with its outboard HCPS power supply ($999). Isolink USB reclocker ($399), 10th Anniversary DAC ($4499), and Reference Standard 1 speaker ($14,999/pair), plus cables and all the rest, you end up with a $31,213 system.

In this moderately priced system, speaker designer and recording engineer Tony Minasian paired his new Oriaco G6 standmount loudspeaker ($3500/pair with stands) with Denon and Marantz gear. "Most of the sound comes from the full-range driver," he told me. "The tweeter mostly acts like a supertweeter." From what I could tell, its impact is major.

I love when industry veterans get excited by new discoveries. Thus, when David Solomon of Qobuz began one of our interactions with, "Have you been to the room that's premiering the GaN (gallium nitride) tubed components?" I asked him to tell me more. David followed with something like, "I couldn't figure out how anyone could have possibly incorporated GaN class-D power technology into KT150, K88, and K120 GaNTubes™ until the guy showed the 'tubes' to me." That's when I knew I had to visit.