It was one of those New York days when all you want in the world is for something, anything to come down from<I>Betwitched</I> or Zeus' cloud or the time space portal to Northern New Mexico and transport you like smoke to somewhere far, far away. It was also one of those days when John Atkinson and I were torturing each other with visions of our old home in Santa Fe and the steaming bowls of green chile stew we each now crave like dogs. "Hurry up, Tie off the vein, get the sopapillas ready for after…"

Look what I found hanging out front of my hotel.

When I checked in late last night, I noticed the cribs lined up along the halls of my corridor, but all I thought was, "What a child friendly country." Nor did I think much about all the Caucasian couples I saw carrying Asian infants amidst all the audiophiles thronging the halls.

What do you expect from me after 20 hours of travel and only four of sleep? I'm going to bed before dinner and promise I'll actually blog about hi-fi tomorrow.

Denon definitely "gets" vinyl&mdash;just not necessarily LPs.

Not exactly <I>old</I> blighty.

Cayin was showing the stunningly retro SP 105i table radio, which had me drooling. Nobody here knew what US importer Sze Leung was going to sell them for, but having seen the show sample, it's not what I thought I remembered, obviously. Importer VAS is still trying to determine a price, I've now been told.

For the 40th anniversary, B&W is introducing the limited edition Signature Diamond, a $20,000 floorstanding two-way featuring the Diamond tweeter and B&W's kevlar 7" mid/bass driver. The flared port is tucked into that wedge-shaped cut-away on the bottom. Only 500 pairs will be made.