DC-area dealer Command Performance A/V had a number of rooms at CAF 2018 and my favorite was the one with Doshi and DeVore in it.
The Doshi Audio side of the system included their Stereo amplifier ($19,995), Line Preamplifier ($17,995), Phono Preamplifier ($17,995), and Tape Playback Preamplifier ($17,995) for this:
The speakers in play were a pair of the DeVore Super 9s ($9,990/pair). The other analog front end came courtesy of the J.Sikora Standard Max turntable (projected $18,995) .
One night, just after show hours, I found John DeVore sitting in the sweet spot listening to tape. Well, the music on that tape which was a mixed bag and included T-Rex (I like T-Rex), Van Morrison, The Rolling Stones, and more. I want to say two things—I’ve worked in other industries, mainly IT for 18-odd years, and as soon as the work day is done, people scatter to the winds faster than you can say plenum. Not so in hif because many of the people in hifi love what they do. Or perhaps better stated as they love the product of their hard work which is nothing more and nothing less than the enjoyment of music.
The second thing I want to say is this was one fine sounding room. I own DeVore speakers so I am intimately familiar with their sound and the more I hear from Doshi Audio, the more things I find to like about them. Oh, and one more thing—tape is perhaps the finest-sounding way to play back recorded music. There. I said it.
