American Sound distribution presented three rooms featuring Avantgarde horn loudspeakers, and, in the two rooms I visited, Wadax digital products.

I like speakers with dark wood finishes. My friend Sphere loves speakers painted red. My partner “bb” prefers blue ones that match her room. Tekton Design makes speakers in these and many other colors and finishes. Tekton speakers, though, also have many tweeters, which gives them a distinctive look.

It pleases me beyond words when modestly priced audio components overperform immodestly.

On the last day of the show, loudspeaker designer Jeff Joseph showed no signs of slowing down. Remote in hand, he bounced around his room like the proverbial battery bunny, welcoming attendees, switching his rig between analog and digital playback, and generally smiling his way through it all.

Two friends whose taste and hearing I respect—and who visited every room at this show—told me they thought the $35K/pair MC Audiotech Forty-10 loudspeakers made the best sound at CAF. No question, these almost five-feet tall decorator-friendly midcentury-modern-looking beauties sounded even better they look, and they look very nice.

Do you know why New Yorkers are always depressed? Because the light at the end of the tunnel is New Jersey.

Every time I encounter a system with Triangle speakers, I stop and take serious notice of their refined but lively sound. As I did Sunday in the room sponsored by The Antal Audio Group.

I mentioned earlier how uncolored, detailed, transparent, and image-specific an open baffle loudspeaker can sound. Unfortunately, not all open baffle speakers are created equal, and making a coherent and musically satisfying open-baffle speaker is much more complex than just bolting a few drivers to a sheet of plywood. The question any loudspeaker designer must ask is, how far should I go? When is done right?

There's a cliché that says that New Yorkers are fond of wearing black. It's a true cliché. But fascination with the dark side isn’t restricted to New Yorkers.