Of all the systems I auditioned at this year's CES, Nagra's was the unquestionable standout. Its sound was full-range and transparent, with brilliant and glistening highs, a totally realistic midrange, astounding low bass reach, and an ability to flesh out complex overtones and undertones without distortion. Had this thoroughly musical system been placed in a much larger room at AXPONA or the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, perhaps even with one of Wilson's larger speakers in place of the excellent new Wilson Audio Sasha DAW seen here ($37,900/pair), it could easily have topped many of the other big rigs that I've raved about in the past.

One of several small, wireless speakers unveiled at the Venetian Hotel, Audioengine's A2+ ($269/pair), with built-in DAC and aptX Bluetooth, is manufactured in China, and scheduled to ship at the end of January. I didn't get a chance to hear the A2+, but our niece, who has the wired version, raves about its sound with her Mac laptop.

Although I no longer attend the audio pageant that was once the annual Consumer Electronics Show, I now seem to be traveling more, in hopes of recapturing the excitement CES had once provided. Last May I attended High End, in Munich, and found that while it was entirely as advertised, there was, alas, not enough emphasis on the playback of high-resolution files, and hardly any attention paid to multichannel music.

As a longtime user of Nordost's cable and AC-power products, my ears opened wide when they released their three QKore Ground Units and QKore Wire at High End 2017, in Munich. While I've never questioned the importance of proper electrical grounding, to prevent problems with safety and noise—the latter including measurable noise generated by transformers, appliances, LED lighting, power supplies, and Bluetooth, WiFi, and cellular devices—I couldn't fathom what difference a passive grounding device might make in a high-end system that, in my case, is fed by an 8-gauge dedicated line with its own copper ground rod driven into the terra infirma of the fault-ridden Pacific Northwest.