The NuForce HP-800 headphones seemed cunningly named.

Onda Ligera recently profiled by Joël Chevassus managed to make very good sound in their downstairs space in this diagonal setup!

Orpheus Labs from Switzerland showed with Alfred Vassilikov's gorgeous Estelon speakers from Estonia. As the inheritors of Anagram's digital tech, Orpheus Labs has since lost their competitive edge when CH Precision, Soulution and others began relying on the same ABC PCB supplier for their modules so today Orpheus has adopted a different solution.

Here is the backside of their smallest €10.000 streamer/DAC with digital iPod dock.

The world's largest manufacturer of turntables had a color for everyone. Pro-Ject it is.

QAT has new smaller models in the work that will stream, preamplify and drive speakers. See blue below.

Two Qualia components in the raw.

There was real buzz in the hallways about Raidho's small two-way monitor but when I entered these mid-sized towers were playing.

Aptly called The Beast, this ambitious server from Swiss company ReQuest Audio runs on MSB's top boards. What looks like a fan opening in the back is merely a passive air exchange. There are no fans. Pricing in the €30.000 neighborhood.

Though I was told that a downstairs exhibit had a top-down unit for the gutted wonder impression, I failed to find it.

Jeffrey Kalt and sales/marketing director Steve Huntley (previously of Great Northern Sound) represented Resolution Audio on the ground floor and a pair of my much loved Gallo Strada 2 sat on the floor firing up to do their massive space-filling thing even from that angle.

Rosso Fiorentino from Italy reminded us that big and heavy aren't the sole providence of the Americas.

Spec Corp. from Japan showed with Amphion.

Walter Swanbon of US dealership and Harbeth import house Fidelis AV reported an excellent success rate with the Stein Music acoustic treatments. "All I really need from Holger now is a cogent explanation or at least feasible theory of their workings so we can exit the voodoo category of tweaks. I've only ever had two customers return his Harmonizers. One of them was an engineer who just couldn't get his head around them. They clearly work - but an explanation would be useful." Check out that garden hose on the turntable conducting millivolt signal...

Here are the big Engelholm Audio speakers. We'd seen a smaller version in the Auris Audio exhibit already. Electronics were by Straussmann.

Here is a Symphonic Line integrated from Rolf Gemein in the raw. Owners of Klaus Bunge's Odyssey Audio equivalent can pop the hood on theirs and compare.

T+A Elektroakustik from Germany have a shockingly broad product mix which spans from ambitious solid-state to tubes to speakers to digital.

TAD played a really big space. If you can, show it off!

Tannoy's vintage dual-concentrics cater primarily to the Japanese market.

Tidal from Germany do upscale electronics and speakers.

Totem's smaller monitors with exclusive Torrent drivers were set up very close to the wall to augment their bass response. This came off predictably well to impress those not expecting it.

Transrotor overwhelmed with sheer mass.

The room calibration experts from Trinnov teamed up with Focal. Here again one saw Absolue Créations cables and my double-wide Artesania Audio Exoteryc stand.

Van den Hul introduced a new amorphous cable, these Excalibur amps and showed with Zellaton.