Stephen Mejias

"I love hard work," John Atkinson had said earlier. "I can watch it all day long."

And there he stood, watching while I maneuvered the large Acapella High Violoncello II loudspeaker from corner to corner.

"Wanna take a photo of this, John?"

I hadn't meant it as a joke, but JB Stanton Communication's Bryan Stanton thought for sure that I was taking the piss.

"No, seriously. For the blog!"

On Saturday morning, I went to John Atkinson’s home to help pack up the Acapella High Violoncello II loudspeakers.

Here you see me tilting the loudspeaker to one side while Aaudio Imports’ Brian Ackerman gets beneath and covers the underside with protective plastic wrap. Round and round went Brian as I circled the speaker, tilting it from side to side, allowing Brian to cover every inch.

By this point, we had already removed and wrapped the speaker’s 100-lb horn enclosure, lifting it carefully from the large V-groove in which it sits. Once the 200-lb bass enclosure was thoroughly wrapped, Brian would lean the loudspeaker towards him while I got down on the bottom and lifted, carefully, up. We’d then carry the speaker, gingerly, up the few steps from JA’s listening room, out through the front entrance, and deposit it, gently, into a large wooden crate.

Hey, don't make me laugh! I'm about to drop this thing!

It was fun. Really! Lifting loudspeakers is the only real exercise I get&#151running is a drag and sit-ups hurt&#151so I sort of look forward to this. By the end of the visit, my t-shirt was drenched with sweat and hung down to my knees.

Good work.

Afterward, I tagged along on a visit to Fred Kaplan’s beautiful home in Park Slope, where we packed up the McIntosh MC275 power amp (review to come). There, we listened to tracks from a couple of Music Matters’ exquisitely reproduced, 45RPM Blue Note reissues. The sound of these treasures, played back on Fred’s VPI Classic, was wonderful.

It was a good day.