June 2007

Audiophile Shows Galore!
Plus a winning team!
Article By Steven R. Rochlin

  Why yes it is indeed that show time of year as the staff here at Enjoy the Music.com have wrapped up our Montreal, New York City, and Munich reports. Each writer is to be commended for their nearly endless hours of work during the event, as afterwards there is more time spent going over their photos and describing their impressions. While various on track/race events (see my sister site Enjoy the Track) kept me away from Montreal and New York City, there is no way i would personally miss the largest event this side of the CES. Have written an immense amount of cyber ink trying to get America companies to wake up to the advantaged of attending the Munich show and a wise handful did indeed listen.

How can i put this gently to those companies that missed having a booth in Munich? How does this sound, "You totally blew it!" How about many quality Asian and European distributors clamoring for American products? How does a nearly 25 percent discount on American goods at a wholesale level sound to you? Well, due to the low value of the United States dollar my dear manufacturer that is the type of 'discount' those on the Euro are enjoying.

As always, after a show i find those i trust to tell me the truth about their experience of the show and how was their return on investment. After all, perhaps no one in their right mind would just throw away $3000 on a booth at the Munich show and expect to see nothing come of it. Now imagine taking solid orders for tens, and a few were into the hundreds of thousands of dollars of goods combined from their show invoices. Then again some manufacturer are truly into this hobby for the love of it and care not about making it a full time job, so perhaps the Munich show is not the type of place for you as you probably would not want to have the increased workload from all the equipment orders.

In the end everyone from manufacturers and distributors to the staggering amount of press from all around the world came away from Munich with a large smile on their face. Judging by the enormous quantity and quality of products launched during the event, it is without a doubt the most important event this time of year. In fact there were so many new product launches that my High End 2007 report is almost exclusivity first-seen items! i expect the High End Society's High End 2008 show to continue their year after year healthy growth and hope to see more American companies reap the rewards of a weak dollar and thriving European and Asian economy.

Congratulations Enjoy the Music.com Braves!
Family first, then friends, then.... It brings me great joy to congratulate my family and extended friends. You see, a few months back my brother and his wife asked if our little magazine would sponsor a softball team. In short order a check was written, graphics were designed and so the Enjoy the Music.com Braves were born! With two of my three nieces in the lineup it was a natural to be part of the winning team.

And win they did as their 8-4-1 record with the help of Rachel "big stick" who consistently hit it to the fence and was nicknamed "the Rachinator" due to her crowning achievement of 9 home runs! What is more amazing is that all 9 were inside the park homers!

Katie, fondly known as "Scrappy Doo," "Trinkelstien," and "The Kate-ster" ended her season with a home run in her last game (also inside the park — earned the hard way — one base at a time with gutsy running!). Of course there is no 'I' in the word team and so the entire team achieved a great season and deserve my praise. If they keep up this winning streak, when they reach their early 20's they could all be major league players! Of course Enjoy the Music.com will be there all the way to the finals. So congratulations everyone on the team and i look forward to sponsoring you in 2008!

Of course in the end what really matters is that we all....

Enjoy the Music ("Take Me Out To The Ball Game!" right now),

Steven R. Rochlin

"Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,
I don't care if I never get back.

Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game."