When Editor Jim Austin asked me to review the new Rogue Audio DragoN monoblock amplifier, my first thought was, "Isn't that Herb's beat?"

The DragoN monoblock is the latest amplifier from Rogue Audio's Mark O'Brien. The DragoN is a hybrid of tubes and class-D, using Hypex's class-D NCore module in the output stage. Hence the big N in the name of the product.

Van Halen: Van Halen
Warner Bros./Mobile Fidelity UD1S 2-032 (2 45rpm LPs). 1978/2023. Ted Templeton, prod.; Donn Landee, Krieg Wunderlich, engs.
Performance ****½
Sonics ****½

I remember the day I walked into radio station WTGP, "The Great 88," at Thiel College and saw the Van Halen jacket for the first time. Drummer Alex Van Halen was a stereotypical blur. Bassist Michael Anthony acted the part of the metal bro. But that guitarist holding a ramshackle Stratocaster crisscrossed with electrical tape? On the back cover was a hairy-chested dude in profile, athletic tape on his knuckles, bent over backward in high-heeled boots.

Dear audio show exhibitors: This one's for you. As members of the press who have spent decades covering audio shows, we've developed a clear sense of what works for us and—we think—for other show attendees. We ask your indulgence as we share our observations about how to mount a successful exhibit and get the best coverage possible from Stereophile and, presumably, other publications.

Reinbert de Leeuw: Der nächtliche Wanderer / Abschied; Sandrine Piau: Reflet; Prokofiev: Symphony 5; Tchaikovsky: Symphony No.4; Robert Schumann: Piano Quartet & Quintet.

Chien Chien Lu: Built In System; Mareike Wiening: Reveal; Billy Mohler: Ultraviolet; Ambrose Akinmusire: Owl Song.

Social Distortion: Mommy's Little Monster, 40th Anniversary Edition; Mötley Crüe: Shout at the Devil 40th Anniversary Edition; The Allman Brothers Band: Bear's Sonic Journals: Allman Brothers Band Fillmore East February 1970.