Steve Jain of Fidelity Imports seeks out high-quality audio brands poised for greater recognition. While some, such as Wilson Benesch—now distributed in the US by Fidelity—are already well-established in the industry, Jain’s commitment is evident in his support of respected manufacturers like Perlisten, Knosti, QED, Unison Research, and Audia Flight.

Some years ago, I visited the home of a well-known American author who happened to be an audiophile. His cramped, dimly lit listening room contained a tube amp, a DAC, and a pair of inexpensive floorstanding speakers surrounded by what looked like a museum of audio tweaks. I recall a scarecrow-like contraption with swiveling wood-and-metal arms that rearranged magnetic fields, assorted boxes and panels that promoted "quantum proton alignment," mysterious dots covering the walls like a rash, and nearly a dozen things dangling from the speakers' binding posts that were supposed to do something I can't remember. The author had an almost mystical belief in the power of these objects to bend the laws of physics and told me that he'd spent more on them than on the rest of the system, because in his opinion they were more important to the overall sound.

The thing that surprised me most is that despite the tweaks—or maybe because of them—his hi-fi sounded pretty terrific.

Refined Audio’s room 688 featured an almost entirely new system, with the exception of Dave Slagle’s familiar EM/IA gear. (Slagle, co-founder of EM/IA and a specialist in transformer-based designs, is known for his minimalist, high-purity audio components.)

In room 1521, I caught up with Wayne Colburn—longtime preamp wizard for Pass Labs (and Threshold Audio before that)—and Kent English, the company’s veteran head of sales. Colburn was debuting his new 85 lb XS Pre 2 line-stage preamp ($55,000), which he called a step up from the XP-32.

For me, Volti Audio systems from Greg Roberts have become perennial standouts at audio shows. Their purity, vivid dynamics, and—perhaps most important—their rich, natural tone create an immersive presentation in which all types of music truly swing and sing.

At this year’s AXPONA, Christopher Hildebrand of Fern & Roby introduced a new system that combined striking design with serious analog and digital performance.