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Opening day was the one day needed to pretty much cover the entire High End segment at CES 2018 and I wasn't exactly rushing. What's happened? Most of the business these days is at Munich High End. It's more of an international event (for the High End) and Spring is a more opportune time for fall and holiday season buying. For a few years meeting with west coast dealers was sufficient reason for exhibiting at CES but the dealer network has shrunk. I was handed the vintage Stereophile issue in the Paradigm/Anthem room.

Every time I attend CES in Las Vegas, I wonder if this is the year the seemingly fragile analog bubble has finally burst. That day may eventually come, but not 2001. On Day One in the Alexis Park's ballroom booth area, where the record and accessory vendors hold court, I ran into Music Direct's Josh Bizar, who volunteered, "This December through the Christmas season we sold more turntables, more cartridges, and more vinyl than in any Christmas we've ever had. This is the biggest vinyl heyday we've had in our company's history."

Step away from your predictable audiophile fare and consider this double 45rpm LP set from the U.K.'s Gearbox Records of artists you've mostly never heard of playing music you've probably never heard either.

In 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick depicted a Pan American Airlines shuttle whizzing space commuters to an orbiting circular station, where they communicated with earthbound loved ones via a Bell Telephone videophone. Pillbox-hatted stewardesses served up vacuum-bagged space gruel sucked from straws.