<A HREF="http://www.axpona.com">Axpona</A&gt;, the Audio Expo of North America, is geared up for its premiere next Friday in Jacksonville, Florida. The new Show runs March 5&#150;7 at the 350-room Wyndham Riverwalk Hotel, which overlooks the St. Johns River and is just 15 minutes from the Atlantic Ocean. Sponsored by <I>Stereophile</I>, which will blog live from the show, Axpona is already looking like a winner. Impressive figures for advance Internet registration (discounted through March 1) indicate that Axpona might meet or even surpass attendance at last year's Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, in Denver.

<i>It’s alive! Nirvana brings nirvana to SM’s listening room.</i>

On two occasions I've caught myself wondering how to afford a pair of Wilson Audio loudspeakers. Interestingly, both happened within the past year. The first was in April 2009, at the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/ssi2009/wilsons_to_the_maxx">Son et Image show in Montreal</A>, during a demonstration of the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/wilson_audio_specialties_m… Series 3</A>. The experience was notable for its blend of genuinely great sound with genuine musicality: Each performance unfolded of its own natural accord, with human randomness and nuance, and without the fussy, mechanical, shallow artifice that attracts some audiophiles in the way a carnivorous plant attracts flies&#151;and, if they're lucky, kills them (the audiophiles, that is).

On two occasions I've caught myself wondering how to afford a pair of Wilson Audio loudspeakers. Interestingly, both happened within the past year. The first was in April 2009, at the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/ssi2009/wilsons_to_the_maxx">Son et Image show in Montreal</A>, during a demonstration of the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/wilson_audio_specialties_m… Series 3</A>. The experience was notable for its blend of genuinely great sound with genuine musicality: Each performance unfolded of its own natural accord, with human randomness and nuance, and without the fussy, mechanical, shallow artifice that attracts some audiophiles in the way a carnivorous plant attracts flies&#151;and, if they're lucky, kills them (the audiophiles, that is).

On two occasions I've caught myself wondering how to afford a pair of Wilson Audio loudspeakers. Interestingly, both happened within the past year. The first was in April 2009, at the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/ssi2009/wilsons_to_the_maxx">Son et Image show in Montreal</A>, during a demonstration of the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/wilson_audio_specialties_m… Series 3</A>. The experience was notable for its blend of genuinely great sound with genuine musicality: Each performance unfolded of its own natural accord, with human randomness and nuance, and without the fussy, mechanical, shallow artifice that attracts some audiophiles in the way a carnivorous plant attracts flies&#151;and, if they're lucky, kills them (the audiophiles, that is).

February is traditionally the month for music features, so I start this column with some recordings you really should hear. This year I had a greater-than-usual number of worthy candidates for "<A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/Records%202%20Die%204">Records To Die For</A>." Which discs got named as R2D4s and which got column coverage was, to quote the Iron Duke, a near-run thing.

February is traditionally the month for music features, so I start this column with some recordings you really should hear. This year I had a greater-than-usual number of worthy candidates for "<A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/Records%202%20Die%204">Records To Die For</A>." Which discs got named as R2D4s and which got column coverage was, to quote the Iron Duke, a near-run thing.

February is traditionally the month for music features, so I start this column with some recordings you really should hear. This year I had a greater-than-usual number of worthy candidates for "<A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/Records%202%20Die%204">Records To Die For</A>." Which discs got named as R2D4s and which got column coverage was, to quote the Iron Duke, a near-run thing.