Audience this year had a very simple display that showcased their new adeptResponse power conditioner. Housed in a beautifully finished anodized aluminum chassis, it boasts12 independently isolated outlets and so many amazing features that you'd need to click here to read them all. Suffice to say that it looks like one impressive piece of gear, and judging from the quality of music that was coming out of their room, it certainly seems to do its job well.

In spite of the fact that the Audience setup comprised of a pair of Radio Shack speakers that is rumored to sell for US$100 in the States, and some mediocre looking electronics, the quality of music reproduction was pretty amazing! It certainly earned them a lot of respect from me for what their cables and power conditioner was doing to that system.

Bluenote was also exhibiting this year. They had a system with the Bellagio turntable, new Koala DVD player, Davidoff Signature amplifier and Bluenote speakers. They looked very outstanding with their distinctive black acrylic fascias.

Grand Prix Audio racks were very much in evidence throughout the show. The Monaco Modular racks, which use a combination of Carbon Fiber, Stainless Steel and Acrylic, were used in the McCormack, Avantgarde, Audiopax, VTL and Zanden rooms, among many others. Was it a coincidence that they were also among the best sounding rooms of the show?

The Danish tonearm specialist Moerch had a room where they had a static display to showcase their wares, and also a live demo of their top of the line DP-6 Gold arm making very sweet music on a very attractive turntable (the brand of which eludes me now).

Nottingham Analogue was also part of the huge analogue presence at the show. They had the very sexy-looking Dais turntable and Ace Space arm mounted on a Solid Tech Rack of Silence in one room, and their new state-of-the-art, limited production Deco turntable playing in another room.

I have to admit that I did not spend much time listening to the units as I already know the Nottingham "sound" very well, having sold their excellent and user-friendly tables for many years now. Besides, I was too engrossed learning about the many technological features that Tom Fletcher was sharing with me about his massive US$34,000 'baby'.