Notebook

Canada's September 8 counter-tariffs hit smartphones, routers and bread makers — and skipped hi-fi entirely. But American-made audio is getting dearer anyway, and European, British and Japanese gear enters at zero. A distributor on what the customs schedule actually says, the dealer email that got it wrong, and why this is the year to buy from somewhere that isn't charging you for a war.

Notes from High End Vienna 2026, where Rick Rubin walked a hall devoted to addition: an honest look at an industry climbing the price ladder, the vanishing middle market, and four small brands still colouring outside the lines.

Bose retired the SoundTouch cloud service in May 2026, stripping smart features from speakers that still work perfectly. Here's what that reveals about cloud-dependent audio and a feature-by-feature look at how Ruark's approach differs.

A distillation of the Ino-Lab project, a profile of its three hosts drawn from their published work (translated from Swedish where necessary), an extension of their ideas as an alternative perspective on the framework established by Floyd Toole and developed at Harman International — and the connection to the Guru loudspeaker design philosophy.

Unitra Audio is a Polish high-end hi-fi brand originally founded in 1961 and revived in 2021. Known for amplifiers, turntables, CD players, and speakers designed and hand-assembled in Poland, Unitra blends classic audio heritage with modern engineering. The company expanded internationally in 2024–2025, showcased products at High End Munich, entered the UK market, and won major design honors including the iF Design Award 2025 and Red Dot Award 2025.