Jeff Coates of Harmonia Distribution presented several systems in its two-room suite in Rockville.

The preshow buzz was palpable. Is Altec Lansing really back? With a new planar loudspeaker?

Mark Sossa of Well Pleased AV always puts together solid, good-sounding rooms, often featuring Merason DACs and Qln loudspeakers. At this show Sossa's system, fortified by Alma Music & Audio, reached new levels of transparency, quiet, and soundstaging, wowing and entrancing me.

Tom Vu brought a complete Triangle Art system to CAF, with his trademark gold-encrusted turntables at the center of the room—not one, not two, but three! Vu sold the most expensive turntable while I was away fetching coffee.

Linear Tube Audio occupied two rooms and demoed their LTA Century Monoblocks in a world-wide debut.

As a frequent visitor to the High Water Sound rooms of Jeffrey Catalano, I know to look at the records even before I look at the rig. Catalano always brings records I don't know but must own after hearing them in his room.

In addition to their showing in the Democracy room, Command Performance AV brought two US debut products to room 305: the J.Sikora Aspire turntable with the CF9 tonearm ($10,595) and the Innuos Stream3 music streamer with optional PhoenixDAC board ($12,600), which turns it into a fully fledged streaming music player.

Bella Sound's Michael Vice holds more than 50 patents as an electrical engineer. Like other large-brained thinkers I know, such as Stereophile Editor Jim Austin and Spin Doctor Michael Trei, when they talk, I just listen.

Gary Dews of BorderPatrol Audio Electronics and Pete Grzybowski of Triode Wire Labs are old hands at audio shows, yet they bring the zeal of energetic newbie pups. Then again, there's nothing "newbie" about Dews's new BorderPatrol Zola DAC ($3950).

Lone Mountain Audio's Leland Leard brought a compact but mighty rig to Maryland, including an ATC CDA2 Mk2 Preamp/DAC/CD unit ($5499), Innuos ZENith Next-Gen server ($21,700), Innuos PhoenixNET switch ($4800; $3840 bundled with ZENith), and the US debut of the ATC Classic Series SCM20ASL active loudspeakers ($10,999/pair, standard finish).