In years past, Fidelity Imports filled room upon room with the hi-fi equipment they distribute. This year, New Jersey dealer The Listening Room shared the load. Fidelity and The Listening Room compiled six systems in six—um—listening rooms full of hi-fi goodness.

The memory of the sound of the Audio Research 330M monoblock amplifiers ($90,000/pair) at AXPONA 2025 is so vivid I can still recall what I heard and felt. I sat front and center in a room sponsored by Quintessence Audio . . . The sound was so colorful, rich, and effortless—the images so convincing in size, weight, and timbre—that I felt my eyes open wide in amazement.

I've watched the DeVore Fidelity factory develop from its humble start as an early tenant in the Brooklyn Navy Yard—once a sprawl of crumbling ruins, now a sleek high-tech hub—into a thoroughly professional facility housing a cabinet shop, assembly, and R&D. It is also the legendary Monkeyhaus, where late-night listening sessions and pizza feasts are a tradition.