One of the best things about going to an audio show is that you can audition gear that you've only read about. And if you're lucky, you get to hear some music that you really love. For me, T.H.E. Show SoCal 2026, held in Costa Mesa, California, on June 26-28, 2026, delivered many times over with not only equipment that satisfied both analog and digital tastes, but also great music.

Even though this year's event was undoubtedly smaller than in the past and had fewer attendees, I still had to hustle to visit all the rooms that I wanted to during the one day that I was there. Below are my thoughts on some of the best sounding rooms that I visited.

The Zesto Audio/YG Acoustics/Cardas Audio/Stillpoints room featured one of the show's standout systems. Much has been written about Zesto's Eros 500 Select 250-watt Class A monoblocks ($35,000 per pair; all prices USD), each of which features six KT150 tubes. These amps were shown with Zesto's Leto Ultra II preamp ($11,900) and Athena DAC ($15,000). The speaker was YG's Sonja 3.2 ($106,800/pair). All equipment sat on Stillpoints isolation products, including a gorgeous ESS42-26 component rack ($14,788).

Zesto's George Counnas was a very accommodating host. He accepted music requests and answered technical and pricing questions. But he mostly let the music do the talking. When asked to play classical music, he queued Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's Sheherazade. The opening blazing horns sounded natural and uncolored; the system handled this excerpt with ease. Moments later, pianissimo woodwinds passages and a violin solo demonstrated the system's ability to extract subtle sonic details. This visit left the Eros 500 Select's reputation (and that of the rest of the system) more than intact.

By the way, also in the room, but not demoed during my visit, were a Dr. Feikert Analogue Blackbird ($9,900) turntable, Tri-Planar VII-U2 9.8" tonearm ($7,500), and Zesto Andros Deluxe II Phono Stage ($7,500). My take on those components awaits another day.

The sirens next lured me into the candle-lit room of Odyssey Audio/Stella Acoustics, where I enjoyed the presentation given by the company's head honcho, Klaus Bunge. Odyssey is known for reasonably priced gear that delivers the proverbial bang for the buck. In the demo system was the company's Kismet 2-way, floorstanding speaker ($4,900 per pair), Meilenstein 180 wpc solid-state mono amps ($13,900 per pair), Candela tube (12AU7) preamp ($2,000), and Symphonic Line CD player (from $5,000).

While in this room, I was reminded that one of the most annoying things about audio shows is the attendees who are unable to keep quiet during music demos. Thankfully, Klaus insisted that they do just that. Some really oddball music, including the theme from the old TV show "Rawhide," along with more standard fare such as the Doors' "L.A. Woman," revealed surprisingly realistic, detailed, and linear sound at relatively modest prices. In short, the bell of Bunge's bang-for-the-buck slogan once again rang true.

Showcased in the ATC/Playback Designs/Innuos/Wireworld room were ATC's flagship EL50 Anniversary Active speaker ($99,999/pair) and ATC SCA2 preamp ($12,999), Playback's MPD-8 DAC ($26,000), Innuos' ZENith Next Gen music server ($24,800 as configured), and various Wireworld digital and analog cables. The large crowd in this room made critical listening difficult. I will therefore reserve my detailed judgment for another time. What I did manage to hear though was sound that was effortless and easy-to-listen to with beautiful mid-range bloom. There was no mistaking the EL50 Anniversary Active speaker as being anything other than quintessentially English.

On display but not used during my visit was a Sonorus ATR10 reel-to-reel deck ($35,000). The Sonorus has become a common sight at audio shows lately. I wish I could have heard it again.

The room of Sunny's Audio Video featured a bevy of CH Precision electronics: the M1.1 stereo amp ($57,000), D10 Reference Transport, C10 Reference DAC ($105,000 each), T10 Time Reference Clock ($27,500), and L10 Reference Preamp (price not available at the time of the show). Other gear consisted of Rockport's modestly sized 48-inch-tall, 12-inch-wide Lynx speaker ($83,000), an Aurender N50 music server ($37,995), and, from Shunyata Research, the company's Everest power distributor ($15,000), multiple Sigma-X Power Cords ($4,000 each), Sigma-X XLR Interconnects ($4,950), and Sigma-X speaker cables ($12,500). Very attractive amp stands ($650) and a SV2T equipment shelf ($1,300) were sourced from Quadraspire.

The sound in this room was elegant and precise. The music being played (some type of unidentified jazz) boasted air, detail, and the type of solid, foundational low-end that you might expect from a taller and wider speaker. All told, a very fine-sounding system. 

Upon entering the German Physiks room, my first thought was Walsh driver, Ohm F!  Indeed, the omnidirectional drivers atop German Physiks’ Borderland Mk IV speaker ($54,000) resemble the Walsh drivers of long ago. However, they are said to be much lighter with a much wider range. The speaker’s bottom contains a conventional woofer.

My second thought was that the room was not a sonically easy one. Nonetheless, paired with the company’s Emperor Extreme solid-state integrated amp ($59,800), APL NSP-GR music streamer ($29,000), and DSD-GR tube DAC ($95,000), these speakers sounded fast and effortless with plenty of bass no matter where I sat (including behind them).  Cables were supplied by Stage III Concepts. Although I have heard the German Physiks gear sound even better in other rooms in the past, this was still a very good showing given what they had to contend with.

The atmosphere in Audio Note UK's room was, as is typical, low-key. There was little salesmanship and plenty of music coming through one of the company's AN-E speaker models via its EL84-tube-based, 8-watts per-channel OTO-SE integrated amp. As usual, product information and pricing were pretty much nonexistent, but the devoted audience knew exactly what they were listening to and knew better than to ask about pricing (the company's products are not cheap). There was no sizzle, no flash, no bragging, just very pleasing, silky-smooth, accurate reproduction from the ANE-'s single field-coil woofer per channel. This listener would be very happy with this exact system.

PBN Audio’s very large room was filled with very large sound that bordered on the exquisite. Company founder Peter Noerbaek presented his M2!5 loudspeakers ($34,500/pair) driven by a pair of his EB-SA3 mono power amps ($63,250/pair), Olympia PXis preamp ($25,300), Olympia DX DAC ($20,125), and Groovemaster DP turntable (from $6,325). Noerbaek likes big woofers and lots of them. So, it was a pleasant surprise to hear the subtlety, finesse and detail that this massive system extracted from the Eric Clapton Unplugged LP, seemingly a crowd favorite. Personally, I much prefer EC’s much earlier music, as you’re about to read…

On the opposite end of the driver size spectrum, the Grimm Audio/Viablue room showcased the company’s diminutive LS1c active speaker, a pair of SB1 Motion Feedback subwoofers ($50,490/pair), and an MU1 Music Player ($14,400). A Viablue X-60 3-meter power cord ($1,450) and CAT-6A 3-meter ethernet cable ($350), plus a Matrix Audio SI-1 network isolator ($699), completed the very simple, low-footprint system.

While my many years as an audiophile have provided me with very few true epiphanies, I’m happy to say that this room provided one of them. In fact, in my mind, the little Grimms ranked alongside Quad’s ESLs regarding transparency. The sound was also natural, focused, and coherent. Most surprising was the depth and breadth of bass reproduction, coming from the subwoofers that were hidden in the bottoms of the speakers’ stands.

Late in the day, after the crowd thinned out, I headed back to the Grimm /Viablue (visit two) to request that the remastered reissue of Cream’s Wheels of Fire be played. It’s a rock music masterpiece worthy of a special system. In this case, playing this recording on such a deeply transparent, detailed, and musical playback system made for a listening session that I won’t soon forget.

Finally, I spied Dr. Kirmuss, of Kirmuss Audio, demonstrating his ultrasonic vinyl cleaning products. While I didn’t have time for a demo, based just on what I know about the company from the past, more than a few snaps and crackles were removed from more than a few LPs over the weekend. That probably qualifies the doctor for a “Best of” mention.

T.H.E. Show SoCal 2026 had a laid back, easy going vibe. Despite its relatively small size (or maybe because of it), the attendees seemed have the ability to sit back and just enjoy the music. Personally, I got lucky and experienced an audiophile epiphany. That alone places it on my “must hit’ list for next year.