The last show I went to I saw many components I had only read about. I have been going to high end audio stores since I was 16 years old and I never tire of walking into the room holding the best gear. When you go to a show the number of high end manufacturers is unreal.

The last show that I attended I was taken by the Balanced Audio Technology amplification.

I dunno. Does "Girls Gone Wild" usually have a demo at these things? If not, I would probably seek out companies that I have never heard of that seem to offer high value products and are also made in the west. And, of course, I'd try to hear a few SOTA rooms and cram as many discussion events in as possible.

I've not been to one of these things, yet.

Back when I used to work at a high end store, I was certainly interested in seeing and hearing all the new products, even from our competitors. But I had been an audiophile (according to my Mom) from about age 2 when I told her I wanted Santa to bring me a stereo.

Since about age 12, when I finally came upon audio magazines, I have been devouring info on audio. Well my disease got geometrically worse and by the time I went to my first show (back when they were for industry insiders) the designers and manufacturers were literally celebrities to me.

Meeting people like Keith O. Johnson and Rick Fryer , Dave and Sheryl Wilson, Dan and Rhondi D'Agostino, Antony Michaelson (back when the A20 "hotplate" amp was new), Jim Thiel, Richard Vandersteen, Harry Weisfeld, Paul McGowan, Mark Levinson (we were not Cello dealers) etc. was an even greater buzz than the awesome to awful sounds I heard at the show.

Heady times for a then youngish lad.

What I emphatically DISLIKE about hi-fi shows is the limited range of music used to demonstrate the wares on view. I listen to classical music exclusively, but when I ask someone on a stand if they have anything other than the constant diet of loud and compressed rock and pop music I'm usually treated as a perverted deviate.

More than a few manufacturers and distributors have lost a sale by forgetting that people like me sometimes have a little more disposable cash than the kids who lap up the more popular genres.

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I listen to classical music exclusively, but when I ask someone on a stand if they have anything other than the constant diet of loud and compressed rock and pop music I'm usually treated as a perverted deviate.

I'm surprised to hear this. At the first few shows I attended, I always felt so out of place playing my favorite indie and punk rock music, afraid that I'd run people out of the room. (And I did!) I thought that classical was more common and accepted at the shows. I've become much more comfortable, however, and have come to find that people who really love music are at least tolerant, if not enthusiastic, of most anything new and interesting. So much of the fun of these shows, for me, comes in simply sharing music.

To answer my own question, I'll be especially looking forward to inexpensive (under $1000) loudspeakers - my time with the PSB Alphas has increased my interest - and headphones(!) because they're light (heh) and attractive to such a wide audience.

For me, going to the show is an opportunity to see new pre-announced technology releases, get infomation on products I'm thinking of buying, and to hear how really super systems sound compared to what I have and can afford. I also see new stuff that I never heard about. Lastly, I buy some stuff, like accessories, CDs, and if the time is right, a bigger purchase sometimes at great discount show price.