At CES, the Vandersteen/Audio Research room always strikes me as being like an oasis—and not just because of the potted plants they have in the room. And so it was in the room sponsored by New Jersey dealer Audio Connection at HE 2007: music presented without hype or bombast, and simply relaxing to listen to. The speakers were the Vandersteen 5As ($16,900/pair +$5000 for carbon fiber cabinets), with Audio Research PH7 phono stage ($5995), CD7 CD player ($8995), Reference 3 line-stage preamp ($9995), and Reference 110 amplifier ($9995). The analog front end was the Clearaudio Anniversary TT and Stradivari cartridge, with a Graham Phantom tonearm. Cables were Audioquest William E. Low Signature interconnect and Everest speaker cable.

Other <I>Stereophile</I> writers, like <A HREF="http://blog.stereophile.com/he2007/051307Sjfon/">Wes Phillips</A> and <A HREF="http://blog.stereophile.com/he2007/051407sweden/">Stephen Mejias</A>, had mentioned how impressed they had been with the sound in the Sj&#246;fn room, but what I had not appreciated until I visited the Swedish manufacturer's room towards the end of the Show was: a) how small these speakers were; b) how good the stereo imaging was despite the speakers being right up against the wall behind them; and c) how much thunderous bass was being produced by just two reflex-loaded 4" woofers! Of course, the Guru speaker ($1800/pair), photographed here by Larry Greenhill, is designed to take advantage of the low-frequency boundary reinforcement afforded by the close-to-the-corner positioning, but even so, I was surprised by the result. The speakers also sung on soprano vocals; Sj&#246;fn is a company to watch out for, especially as the fact that the speakers must not be used out in the room makes them <I>very</I> spouse-friendly.

<I>Stereophile</I> columnist John Marks brought an encyclopedic knowledge of music and musicians to the magazine when he started his "<A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/thefifthelement/">Fifth Element</A>" column in March 2001. At HE2007, he played some of his favorite recordings in as many rooms as he could, including <A HREF="http://stereophile.com/thefifthelement/1006fifth/">his own recording</A> of the Herbert Howells organ piece Larry Greenhill mentioned in another posting (<I>Master Tallis's Lament</I>, a personal favorite of mine) and an extraordinary choral recording, <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/thefifthelement/207fifth/index1.html"><I>When David Heard</I></A>, from the young composer Eric Whitacre. As you can see from this photo taken in the Egglestonworks, Rogue, and Echobusters room, Showgoers very much appreciated John's efforts.

As Robert Deutsch mentioned in his <A HREF="http://blog.stereophile.com/fsi2007/041307gershman/">report</A&gt; from the 2007 Montreal Show, Ofra (left) and Eli (right) Gershman of Gershman Acoustics have been exhibitors at just about every audio/home theater show the past few years. As in Montreal, the Gershmans were demming their new Sonogram speaker at HE2007. More conventional in appearance than their flagship Black Swan, the Sonogram, photographed here by Larry Greenhill, is priced at a very competitive $2500/pair.

An enduring aspect of Audio Shows is the meeting up of old friends, colleagues, and acquaintances, who all share a sense of belonging to a single community. Shown here in a chance meeting at the Grand Hyatt's entrance are (l&ndash;r): veteran speaker designer Richard Vandersteen, tube amp manufacturer Mark O'Brien of Rogue Audio, and <I>Stereophile</I>'s associate publisher Keith Pray.

Might the Earth's magnetic field reverse itself? And what if it did?

Roger Ebert, too.

When I was in GuangZhou, my hotel was a nexus for American couples meeting their <A HREF="http://blog.stereophile.com/china2006/120206barbie/">adopted</A&gt; Chinese babies. My heart went out to these newly minted families doting over their new additions, eyes brimming with hope and love.