Stop #5: DeVore Fidelity. Since the day was winding down fast enough to make a visit at the DeVore manufacturing plant in the Old Navy Shipyard fodder for another day, our motley crew of audiophile wankers congregated in John's digs instead where we were welcomed by his pretty Vietnamese wife Mai who mixed Lychee cocktails with the savoir-faire of a trained mixologist. While the groggy boys were doing their thang, she told Ivette that she's working on a semi-fiction novel about post-war Vietnam that combines real incidents and various interviews into composite characters.
Too overstimulated to pay too much attention to matters of sounds at this point, we simply socialized to shoot the breeze, digest the truly humongous prior Pastrami sandwiches at Katz's, admire John's stunning new Cherry finish on his Gibbon 8s and note his custom multi-tier suspension mod of a VPI turntable.
				When Jules and Ken left for prior engagements and Jonathan on a scheduled demo in his loft, the DeVores were easily persuaded to hit Curry Canyon and introduce us to one of their favorite Indian restaurants in a mile-long stretch of 70 Indian eateries. With no Saag Paneer on the menu but the tantalizing promise that "if you don't see what you want, ask us and we make it", Ivette rustled up the best Saag Paneer grub we've come across yet. It was as though the chef had taken extra delight in being asked for something special and given it heavy luv. John divulged some top-secret forthcoming news for his product mix but I would have to kill you if I spilled more. Since the Internet is a dubious instrument for making such threats plausible, I better shut up now. I will reconfirm that if you're an apartment dweller like Mai & John, seriously consider their Gibbon 8 as the only speaker you'll ever need, with close wall placement not an issue as the master's own setup above clearly shows. Don't OD on speakers - small rooms demand small speakers and the Gibbon 8 is one of the best. I'll leave it to Jules to fill us all in on the mighty Silverback. Though chronologically premature since we hit the next two NYC stops upon returning from New Jersey and Pennsylvania, I'll include them now as part of the geographical terrain. Next stop: Ears Nova, recently relocated to Manhattan on 207 East 84th Street (between 2nd & 3rd Avenues) where Jules needed a hand to deliver his review Redpoint turntable. This store was in between installations hence no listening took place. Still, I thought you'd appreciate some pix. Think Naim and Linn, Viva and Quad, Innersound and Von Schweikert and Penaudio.
	The last NYC stop occurred at Lyric Hifi while Ivette and I walked back from the Metropolitan museum on Lexington. We had travelled down Madison for 20 blocks south before only to find that Lex was way more our speed. I'd have shuffled right past this famous shop by not having audio but food on my mind. However, the wife spotted the window and tugged on her hubby's sleeve with the rightful assumption that diligence gets the better of neglect. In we went to be left entirely to our own devices, kick tyres and eventually penetrate the Sanctum Sanctorum where a pair of Verity Audio Parsivals were leashed to Burmester gear and Operatic soprano. I've always had a weak spot for the Parsivals and this setup only rekindled unseemly fantasies, proving that despite the need for profit and turnover, not all audio stores forget that it is -- or at least should be -- about the music in the end.
Petite, attractive, beautifully finished, always a superlative performer regardless of setting encountered, this Verity Audio two-box speaker is rather expensive but worth every penny if you can afford it and appreciate the finer aspects of the hobby. With these ruminations, I shall leave you to contemplate the hideous ugliness awaiting anyone who takes the Lincoln tunnel into Jersey - that is, until you hit upon Sandy Hook and Colts Neck. Those areas explain the byline The Garden State where Vinh Vu and his wife Mai were expecting us with a home-cooked Vietnamese dinner of monk fish boulabaisse and grilled shrimp and meat balls. See ya there soon.