As American as Harley Davidson. They only use machines for the simple stuff.

The John Atkinson Trio had 'em dancing in the aisles. In fact, only mom Elizabeth Donovan's gentle persuasion kept Ms. Stuelke from dancing on the stage. I think we all wanted to join her.

I tried to get an arty shot of Bob Reina playing the Steinway. His chromaticism and inspired soloing made me aspire to a higher level of craft.

Allen Perkins absolutely <I>owned</I> "A Night in Tunisia."

I never miss the John Atkinson Trio's performances. I like to watch my friends play music and it's a great chance to bond with my fellow audiophiles for an hour or so. But this year wasn't like other years&mdash;the boys just flat-out smoked! Allen Perkins of Immedia, already one of my favorite drummers, has been studying with Peter Erskine for a few years and he has burned away any clutter (not that there <I>was</I> much) and is now even more purely <I>him</I> than ever. Bob Reina's regular gigging with Attention Screen has focused his strengths and, I suspect, freed him from having to express everything he has to say every time out. He's playing freer, looser, and tighter than ever. And JA (photographed here by Bob Deutsch), I suspect he's been woodshedding. With editing <I>Stereophile</I>, producing records, and measuring every component we review, where does he find the time?

Peak Consult's Per Kristoffersen poses with his new floorstanding two-way Princess loudspeaker ($10,500/pair). "You know," he said, "it is really quite amazing what you can get out of a 5.5" driver."

Signals-SuperFi's Chris Sommovigo poses with the new Continuum Criterion turntable and Copperhead Tonearm ($51,500). Well, he <I>is</I> the importer, after all. However, he is also the designer and manufacturer of Stereovox cables, and he had new AC cables, speaker cables, and interconnects to tout&mdash; Dragon AC ($3500), Dragon speaker ($11,000/pair), and Dragon interconnect (tbd). Why didn't he pose with his stuff?

Signals-SuperFi's Chris Sommovigo poses with the new Continuum Criterion turntable and Copperhead Tonearm ($51,500). Well, he <I>is</I> the importer, after all. However, he is also the designer and manufacturer of Stereovox cables, and he had new AC cables, speaker cables, and interconnects to tout&mdash; Dragon AC ($3500), Dragon speaker ($11,000/pair), and Dragon interconnect (tbd). Why didn't he pose with his stuff?

Masataka Tsuda designs and manufactures both Concert Fidelity and Silicon Arts components. What's the diff? Concert Fidelity is his tube line; Silicon Arts Design represents his thinking on&mdash;you guessed it&mdash;solid-state.

"That's an impressive soundstage for a two-way monitor," I thought looking at the diminutive Confidence C1 loudspeaker, but hearing a wide, deep soundstage. Dynaudio's 25 lb pound, two-way ($7000/pair plus $450/pair for two) features a 7" woofer and the Danish company's acclaimed Esotar2, 28mm, soft-dome tweeter. The drivers are mounted on a baffle that is said to be decoupled from the cabinet. Dynamic range was superb driven by Simaudio Moon W-7M monoblocks, thought JA, who thought that this system's reproduction of <I>Stereophile</I>'s new Attention Screen CD was one of the best he heard at the Show.