Usher Fooled Me!
I walked into Usher's room, where the $8000 (USD) Dancer II Beryllium held pride of place. I thought the sound was a little small and every so slightly forced, but I loved the rhythmic tautness and drive. "Not the best sound I've heard today," I thought, "but not too shabby."
Vintage
Mr. Hou's tasty vintage Fender Jazz bass.
W'inner
Zhou Yi of W'inner is kind of a crazy guy—audiophile crazy. His stuff is all big, and so are his aspirations. He really likes class-A, too.
What's Mu?
Wow, what are those?
What's Zhou With You?
Show organizer Matthew Zhou is what we call an audio lifer. He wrote for hi-fi magazines for three years, penned a newspaper column on the high end for three years, has put on this show for 13 years, and has hosted a three-hour Sunday radio show on music, hi-fi, and sound for 16 years.
When He Says "Hand-Made," He Means It
This is not the fastest way to heatshrink trannie leads, but this guy obviously takes his job seriously.
Wowsers
These were in my favorite store in the used audio market. One half of the floorspace was devoted to projectors, ranging from 8mm to big theatrical arc-lamp jobs; the other half to classic hi-fi, like this pair of RCA MI-12182As.
XLH Factory Floor
Since high-end audio isn't how Mr. Hou makes his living, he has his real factory elsewhere in the building. This is just his audio playground.
York Du
This is York Du of Original, which makes "CD players and only CD players."
Zou Yuan Yuan
This is Zou Yuan Yuan, managing director of Dussun Electronics Co. Ltd. That's pronounced da-sun, as in "Da sun, boss, da sun!"