LATEST ADDITIONS

It's important for readers to remember that I've spent my adult life as an artist and mechanic. Making things. Working as a tradesperson during the day then at an easel or workbench at night.

When I finished high school, all I wanted to do was work in a fancy, well-equipped shop building drag race engines. Engine building was something I had already shown a talent for, but my parents insisted I go to college. Unfortunately, my high school grade point average was so low I was turned down by every college I applied to. Consequently, my parents forced me to attend Wright Junior College in Chicago, a place where teachers rolled joints for their students. And I got straight A's. Those easy A's got me into Western Illinois University, a small state college in a tiny rural town called Macomb near the Mississippi River. My mother was so proud, she told everybody she knew that her son was accepted into "university," but she could never remember which one.

Newcomer Eastern Bay Sound brought its new “Farm-to-Table” speakers to CAF2024.

The buzz was palpable weeks before I hit the show. David Chesky’s son, Lucca, had designed a pair of small bookshelf speakers—the LC1—while still in high school and developed the speakers while interning at Princeton University with Professor Edgar Choueiri, the brains behind Bacch SP.

Perhaps my biggest discovery at the 2023 Warsaw Audio Video Show was Fezz Audio's reasonably priced line of excellent-sounding electronics.

Here's a hard truth: A written review of a full-sized speaker—any speaker, really—is, at best, semi-useful. We all listen differently, we have different musical tastes, our system electronics are different, and our listening rooms vary a lot. You will gain a general picture of a speaker's capabilities and foibles from John Atkinson's measurements, and I can tell you how the speakers sound to me, in my room. But that's it. You need to hear them for yourself before making a buying decision. The best I can do is tell you how my music brain felt when the speakers were in my house and making music.

But hey, that's better than nothing. If you're in the market for a pair of modestly sized, reasonably priced floorstanding loudspeakers, I encourage you to read on as I describe the lively musical times I spent with the Sonus faber Sonetto V G2s ($6499/pair).

Although I did happen upon Peak Consult speakers in Munich and Southern California in 2023, we last reviewed a Peak Consult speaker almost 18 years ago. Hence my excitement when I encountered genuine full-range sound (albeit too loud) in the room that paired a new reworking of the company's El Diablo loudspeakers ($79,000/pair) with Extraudio electronics.

Robin Wyatt always gives great room, and this year’s CAF appearance was no exception. Prancing like a jolly bartender offering beautiful audio reproduction in place of libations, Wyatt’s room creates anticipation and soon enough, audio ecstasy.