LATEST ADDITIONS

I might have missed the wine tastings, but I did not miss the gourmet food trucks. Like vinyl and nautical-themed clothing, lunch trucks have been making a big comeback. Don’t ask why. Just enjoy it.

T.H.E. Show Newport was also home to a car show and wine tasting, held each day in the Hilton Courtyard. I must have missed the wine, but I did see this awesome little guy&#151a BMW Isetta, I think&#151from the collection of Upscale Audio’s Kevin Deal.

One of my favorite displays of T.H.E. Show Newport: Focal’s sleek XS Book multimedia speaker system ($399) was making big sound, playing music from a laptop (through plain-old iTunes, I think) and connected to Cambridge Audio’s smart DacMagic Plus ($599). My mind raced, counting all the friends who could use a system like this.

Carlsbad dealer Audio Revelation put together a beautiful little system: Vivid Audio V1.5 loudspeakers ($7650), Luxman SQ-38u integrated amp ($5990), Wavelength Cosecant DAC ($3500), and Well Tempered Versalex turntable ($4400) with a Dynavector XX2 phono cartridge ($1950)&#151all you need to make music.

First of all, I loved the way On A Higher Note’s Philip O’Hanlon coordinated his outfit with both his demo room and the Vivid B1 loudspeakers&#151the dude can rock a Hawaiian shirt, khaki shorts, and slippers like nobody’s business. Second, it was awesome to hear O’Hanlon say, “Up next is a song by Destiny’s Child, with Beyonce, called ‘Bills, Bills, Bills.’

Pay no attention to the gentleman snoozing in the front row. The crowd at JA's seminar on loudspeakers measurements was riveted, captivated, enthralled.

Zach Galarza is a 20-year-old audiophile and music lover. I’ve met Zach a few times at different shows across the country, and I was happy to learn that he’s now working with AV Showrooms.

When people ask me about the future of the high-end audio hobby, I always become at least slightly annoyed. I’m tired of the question. To be honest, I was tired of the question from the very start.