A large and constant crowd surrounded the bins at the Aux 33 Tours booth. Men, women, and children were all diving in, happily.

Montreal's finest vinyl record shop (according to them, l-r): Simon, Pierre, and Tony. Aux 33 Tours has been operating for two years at its present location: 1379 Mont Royal Est, right here in beautiful Montreal. Owner Pierre Markotanyos had collected vinyl for more than 10 years before deciding to open his own shop. The store now carries approximately 80% vinyl, and has a healthy clientele.

Meet Mass Fidelity's Benjamin Webster. Ben's lil_doosey monoblock amplifier is making its world debut here at SSI 2009.

But the Cutest Amp of Show Award has to go to Mass Fidelity's "lil_doosey." You see? It's even cute about how it spells its name. You gotta love that.

The two Sashas of Obad Imports (l-r): Sascha Kuettel hefts the JohnBlue JB3 loudspeaker ($370/pair), while Sasha Obad struggles with the KingRex T20 amplifier ($259) and PSU power supply ($189). These units are just a little bit heavier than Michael Fremer's reference amplifiers.

High-end audio companies take different approaches to staying successful. One way to maintain a market position is to continue improving fundamental designs, offering a little higher sonic performance with each model. The latest products from a company employing this approach will look and operate very much like their first products.