Jason Victor Serinus

Most US shows experience a big drop in attendance on Sunday. Not at Audio Video 2022. Over 90% of Poland's residents may identify as Catholic, but that didn't stop thousands of them from visiting the Warsaw Show's three sites on the last day of the show. I still had to play musical chairs in many rooms before finally landing in or close to the sweet spot, and there were a few rooms that felt too crowded for comfort.

My trip to the Audio Video Show 2022 in Warsaw, Poland seems to have devolved into an unanticipated journey of protests. First, we almost delayed our pre-show mini-vacation in Paris—bless you, frequent flyer miles and friends—when, in the middle of a Workers' Strike, protestors were tear-gassed one block from the apartment of our hosts in the Montparnasse District. Then, on Day One of the show, I spent 45 minutes in the cold courting pneumonia as the shuttle bus between the Stadium and the Radisson Blu Sobieski Hotel was delayed due to a non-violent protest in the street near the start of the bus route.

We've all been in similar situations. We approach an undertaking with the highest of expectations. Then reality intervenes, expectations change radically, and we have another story to tell, post on social media, or use to begin a review.

This tale of altered expectations began a few years after my birth, at AXPONA 2022, where I covered several stellar-sounding rooms that included Simaudio Moon electronics. By the third such room, I'd resolved to contact Simaudio, check in with Jim Austin, and see if there was a product that made sense to review in my system.

Aloys Schmitt: Piano Concertos 1–2; Rondeau brillant, India Gailey: to you through, Brahms: Symphonies 3, 4 and György Kurtág: Kafka-Fragmente.