Ken Micallef

Not to toot our own horns, but Stereophile magazine's reviews of the J.Sikora Initial, Reference, and Standard Max Supreme turntables helped catapult the Polish manufacturer into the audiophile spotlight.

As the jazz buyer for Tower Records's Lincoln Center (66th St.) location in the early 1990s, I held a unique vantage point on New York City, its music and culture. My position guaranteed daily encounters with an eclectic variety of unforgettable characters. Between regular visits by the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (grouchy), Kathleen Turner (pushy), and Michael J. Fox (perpetually running from the store's female staff), I saw a lot.

Like many aging American music lovers, my earliest memories include watching the televised supernova that was The Beatles performing on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. Immersion in various British pop groups followed, including the melodically graceful Chad & Jeremy, the polished Peter and Gordon, and sentimental pop purveyors Gerry and the Pacemakers.

Like many vinyl obsessives, I've amassed a considerable CD collection—a 10' × 15' wall of them, behind dark blue curtains in my listening room. It is almost as if I was concealing a dirty secret from purist analog snobs, including me.

My fondness for Greg Roberts's Volti Audio loudspeakers has been documented in reviews of the company's Rival and Lucera speakers.