Well Pleased AV/Alma Music & Audio: QLN, Qualiton, Merason, Innuos, Kubala Sosna, GigaWatt, Finite Elemente, AB-Tech

Well Pleased AV/Alma Music & Audio: QLN, Qualiton, Merason, Innuos, Kubala Sosna, GigaWatt, Finite Elemente, AB-Tech

Mark Sossa, the best-dressed and best-mannered exhibitor at CAF 2024, under the banner of Well Pleased AV, had new gear to play for me and I was all ears.

High Water Sound: Cessaro, Zeiler Audio, TW-Acustic, Dalby Audio Design, Codia Acoustic Design, Silent Running Audio, Stein Music

High Water Sound: Cessaro, Zeiler Audio, TW-Acustic, Dalby Audio Design, Codia Acoustic Design, Silent Running Audio, Stein Music

Even if audio isn’t your thing, I always advise everyone within earshot to visit Jeffrey Catalano’s hi-fi rooms, the world over. ‘Cause more than a smart-witted audiophile, Jeffrey is a seasoned musician and experienced listener, his vinyl collection spreading to the many thousands. This man has serious taste in music, an influencer, you might say, of the highest degree.

Spin Doctor #19: An exotic Audio-Technica cartridge and a Vivid flagship speaker

Spin Doctor #19: An exotic Audio-Technica cartridge and a Vivid flagship speaker

I think of Audio-Technica as the maker of some of the best high-value cartridges out there. From the ubiquitous AT3600L, which can be had for a little more than a Big Mac meal at McDonald's, to the popular OC9 moving coil series, A-T's cartridges have long been easy-to-recommend options that deliver great sound mounted on just about any turntable.

But occasionally, Audio-Technica likes to show off its technological chops by launching a cartridge that breaks new ground. Last year, they celebrated their 60th anniversary by stunning everyone with the AT-MC2022, which uses an outrageous integrated stylus and cantilever fashioned from a single piece of lab-grown diamond. In 2016, they flexed their capabilities with the AT-ART1000, which completely reconfigured how the elements of a moving coil cartridge are arranged, with spectacular results.

Now, eight years after the AT-ART1000 was launched, A-T has introduced the AT-ART1000x, which incorporates several small but important improvements.

Now Listen Here: Vandersteen, Acora, Pure Fidelity, EMM Labs, Bel Canto Design, Innuos, Ayre, Rega, Audio-Technica, AudioQuest, Finley Audio

Now Listen Here: Vandersteen, Acora, Pure Fidelity, EMM Labs, Bel Canto Design, Innuos, Ayre, Rega, Audio-Technica, AudioQuest, Finley Audio

NLH’s Aaron Sherrick was busy, yet oddly calm, as he sat and directed the action in the Executive Lounge. NLH’s Matt Early (an old friend of mine from Tower Records on 66th St. NYC) controlled the iPad, while Qobuz’s David Solomon offered support, emotional and otherwise!

VK Music: Elekit, Sun Valley

VK Music: Elekit, Sun Valley

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.

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