Although my house is now home to a borrowed pair of DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/93 loudspeakers—a loan I gratefully accepted early this year, when my 1966 Altec Flamencos proved a bit too large for my new listening room—it's a matter of pride that I own almost everything else in my playback system, cables included. So it's with no small discomfort that I acknowledge having nearly $30,000 worth of borrowed phono cartridges scattered around my living and dining rooms. (The former is where I listen to them, and the latter—the sunniest room in the house—is where I install them.)

In the early 1990s, the Compact Disc was all the rage, and vinyl records were being executed en masse. Thirty years later, and oh, how our tables have turned. Mint first pressings of tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley's 1957 album Hank Mobley (Blue Note BLP 1568), which once could be had for $40, now bring upward of $8000. Each. Vinyl continues to enjoy a global resurgence of popularity, while CD sales have plummeted to all-time lows.

What happened? Apparently, yesterday's pops and ticks are today's "warmth," Record Store Day exclusives, and skyrocketing vinyl values. All things old . . .

Thursday, December 6, 4–8 pm, Command Performance (115 Park Avenue, Ste 2, Falls Church, VA 22046) will be hosting a Naim Audio "500 Event." Saturday, December 8, 12–5pmm, Audible Images (1610 Pineapple Avenue, Melbourne, FL 32935) are holding their annual "Music Appreciation Event."

On Saturday, December 8, from 2:00pm to 4:00pm, Gryphon Audio Designs' new Zena preamplifier will be demonstrated at Kyomi Audio, 4454 West Berteau Avenue, Chicago, IL 60641. The demonstrations will be conducted by Philip O'Hanlon of Gryphon's US Distributor, On A Higher Note, and by Kyomi Audio's George Vatchnadze, a noted concert pianist and recording artist.