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Let me tell you a story that involves a young lady and a preteen.

I sat in a central seat in the room hosted by importer Asona and manufacturer Innuos, encountering a system fronted by a pair of slim, 6'10" Italian Fonica Internation Flag L speakers ($13,000/pair)—a two-way, boxless, isodynamic design that uses neodymium magnets and a vibrating, ultrathin Mylar film. Powering them was a Pathos InPol 3 stereo integrated amplifier ($13,000, 45Wpc into 8 ohms) The digital front end was an upsampling Cen.grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe ($7800), from China, and an Innuos Statement music server…

Although it may seem like it sometimes, not all the exhibitors at an audio show play the same typical audiophile fare, which sounds great but rarely challenges the power and dynamic reserves of their systems. Mark Jones, of Ontario-based retailer Audio by Mark Jones, is one of those exceptions to the rule. The first track he played for me was Led Zeppelin's chord-crunching, drum-whacking "Moby Dick," at high volume.

And that was Mark's point, wasn't it? To show how his system could play big, hard, loud rock music while remaining cool under pressure. And it did. Listening to "Moby…

The second demo I heard in Focal Naim's spacious, hall-sized room was centered around the brand new Naim NSC 222 streaming preamplifier ($12,000) from the company's New Classic Series. This is big news in the realm of Naim, though it doesn't entirely replace Naim's last Classic Series, which was launched … 50 years ago! The New Classic Series also includes the NSC 222 preamplifier (without streaming), the NAP 250 power amplifier, and the NPX 300 power supply. You might say the NSC 222 replaced Naim's Statement NAC S1 preamp ($129,999), but only at this show: The NAC S1 was supposed to…

Does anyone who's been in our audio-hobbyist orbit for some time not know speaker designer Andrew Jones? Wouldn't it be funny to imagine that in alternate 'verses in the multiverse, Jones might be something other than a famous speaker designer? Perhaps a famous pianist in one 'verse, an accountant in another (footnote 1)?

Luckily for us, this Jones has devoted himself to designing speakers. He has done so for years, very successfully, for many audio manufacturers. Such is his reputation as a speaker designer that every new design he creates is an event.

It's…

When I think of MartinLogan, I immediately envision an electrostatic speaker. One of their tall ones equipped with the dynamic woofer. A second later, I'll be reminded that MartinLogan also makes good cabinet-style standmounts such as the one I saw at the 2019 Toronto Audiofest, the Motion 35XTi.

What I won't naturally equate with an ML design is a box-design floorstander, which is what I encountered in retailer Planète Haute Fidelité's room, and which prompted me to blurt out to the shop's owner, Chris Vézina, "Hey, a Martin Logan tower in a cabinet!". To which he nodded genially…

Description: Electronic record cleaning machine with motorized turntable platter, built-in fluid tank and suction turbine system, and aluminum record clamp. Turntable speed: 30rpm. Maximum noise level: 57dB. Suction system tank content: 450ml. Power consumption: 18W in cleaning mode, 175W in suction mode, <1W in standby mode.
Dimensions: 12.9" (330mm) W × 9.8" (250mm) H × 11.8" (300mm) D. Weight: 15.4lb (7kg).
Finish: High-gloss black acrylic with chrome and stainless steel accents.
Serial number of unit reviewed: ESL203AB000171. Manufactured in…

As soon as I entered the room hosted by distributor / reseller Distribution Phonographe's room, I thought, "where's all the gear?" There wasn't much around, and of the few items that were around, one was so small as to be nearly imperceptible at first glance.

The first component to hit my eye was the one sitting front and center against the far wall, under a banner that contained the only word I saw at the show with an umlaut over one of its vowels. That word was brand name—Thöress—and the umlaut is a clue to the country of origin: Germany. Thöress is also the family…

Beautiful strains of music lured me into the Audiophile Experts room, where the song "Göttingen," written in 1964 by French chanteuse Barbara (real name Monique Andrée Serf) as an ode to the German city by the same name, was playing. As well as having become a hit in her native country, the song has been credited as having helped improve relations between France and Germany in the years following the Second World War. Barbara called the song "a hymn to Franco-German reconciliation".

It's a melancholy song, sung in a style reminiscent of Edith Piaf. Along with vocals, it includes…