Even if audio isn’t your thing, I always advise everyone within earshot to visit Jeffrey Catalano’s hi-fi rooms, the world over. ‘Cause more than a smart-witted audiophile, Jeffrey is a seasoned musician and experienced listener, his vinyl collection spreading to the many thousands. This man has serious taste in music, an influencer, you might say, of the highest degree.

I think of Audio-Technica as the maker of some of the best high-value cartridges out there. From the ubiquitous AT3600L, which can be had for a little more than a Big Mac meal at McDonald's, to the popular OC9 moving coil series, A-T's cartridges have long been easy-to-recommend options that deliver great sound mounted on just about any turntable.

But occasionally, Audio-Technica likes to show off its technological chops by launching a cartridge that breaks new ground. Last year, they celebrated their 60th anniversary by stunning everyone with the AT-MC2022, which uses an outrageous integrated stylus and cantilever fashioned from a single piece of lab-grown diamond. In 2016, they flexed their capabilities with the AT-ART1000, which completely reconfigured how the elements of a moving coil cartridge are arranged, with spectacular results.

Now, eight years after the AT-ART1000 was launched, A-T has introduced the AT-ART1000x, which incorporates several small but important improvements.

NLH’s Aaron Sherrick was busy, yet oddly calm, as he sat and directed the action in the Executive Lounge. NLH’s Matt Early (an old friend of mine from Tower Records on 66th St. NYC) controlled the iPad, while Qobuz’s David Solomon offered support, emotional and otherwise!

MC Audiotech's Mark Conti, ever the gentleman, even when confronted by a rabid reporter, unveiled a system of such sweet tone and dynamic might that it soothed my inner beast. At

Gramophone Dreams’ columnist Herb Reichert has written glowing amplifier reviews of Elekit of Fukuoka, Japan, and Sun Valley, of Nagoya, Japan, both distributed by Victor Kung’s VK Music.

At CAF2024 Victor showcased many amplifiers at his CAF booth, most boasting fat tubes and open circuit boards, the kind of which activates my reviewer’s twitch.

It is unusual to begin a review with a detailed discussion of setup. But setup protocol for the Moon 861 power amplifier ($22,000 each), the top-level amplifier in the North Collection from Moon, which I reviewed bridged in mono, proved crucial to its sound.

The setup saga began when Moon co-owner Costa Koulisakis traveled to Port Townsend from Quebec to help remove two 861 amplifiers from their sturdy flight cases and set them up.