Gramophone Dreams’ columnist Herb Reichert has written glowing amplifier reviews of Elekit of Fukuoka, Japan, and Sun Valley, of Nagoya, Japan, both distributed by Victor Kung’s VK Music.

At CAF2024 Victor showcased many amplifiers at his CAF booth, most boasting fat tubes and open circuit boards, the kind of which activates my reviewer’s twitch.

It is unusual to begin a review with a detailed discussion of setup. But setup protocol for the Moon 861 power amplifier ($22,000 each), the top-level amplifier in the North Collection from Moon, which I reviewed bridged in mono, proved crucial to its sound.

The setup saga began when Moon co-owner Costa Koulisakis traveled to Port Townsend from Quebec to help remove two 861 amplifiers from their sturdy flight cases and set them up.

Sisound of Poland's Product Manager Rafal Wofczyński presented the world premiere of his 3-way Sisound Solidus S loudspeaker. The speaker, which is currently available only in Poland, claims a frequency response of 26Hz-20kHz, a 4-ohm nominal impedance that dips to 2.5 ohms or lower in the extended LF setting, and 90dB sensitivity.

Hailing from Lithuania, which lies right across the Northeast border of Poland, one-year-old audacious speaker company Silent Pound made its second consecutive appearance at the Warsaw Show. The company returned to the same large, irregularly shaped room that allowed them to place four listening chairs, one behind the other, in a straight line, midway between the standmount speakers on active display.

A chance after-dinner encounter with Jacek Grodecki, owner of Warsaw-based Closer Acoustics, impelled me to visit their room. So did my memories of the positive listening experience I had with Closer Acoustics in 2023.

Gestalt Audio held two rooms at CAF, each holding the kind of esoteric equipment I would love to get my grimy, ink-stained hands on.

West Seneca, New York’s Vinyl Sound Hi-Fi Audio Systems assembled an unusual rig of German analog gear, Japanese electronics, and classic Scottish loudspeakers. Is this the United Nations of hi-fi?

We've still got a few more posts to go from last month's Capital Audiofest, here's the first of the final batch:

I ain't no digital techie. Big headphones and me? Never gonna happen. But these guys from Warwick Acoustics, Martin Roberts and Orazio Pollaci, they've got a certain je ne sais quoi. We were knocking back drinks in the packed Hilton bar, and they were so damn charming, I ended up in their room. What a night. What a blast.