What area or country do you live in ?

La Crescenta, CA — just north of Pasadena (hi jameswei) and LA (hi Erik, and thanks for the tip on Higher Note — I’ll check them out). 
@David Pritchard — where would I find more info on the audio open houses you mentioned?

Italy
Some of the stuff you talk about here it's very hard to come by over here

50 miles S/O Cleveland, Ohio but this time of year St. John’s USVI.

@jsandman

I'm not too far from you, nitrobob: I've settled in the Pittsburgh, PA area. Although I had lived in multiple states from coast to coast

My son just started a new job in Pittsburgh; he moved there from the Jersey Shore.   How do you like Pittsburgh?   I get the sense it has done an awesome job of reinventing itself after the winding down of  the steel industry.  

South Africa where we had a heatwave most of the summer so far. Lived in the USA from 1998-2008. The exchange rate is not in our favor so hifi is a luxury. Just bought a Musical Fidelity MX dac and will have to cut back on every thing to survive. LOL
The sound difference is significant and the redbook cds sound like top class SACDs. Using a Oppo DV-981HD and a Sony DVP-S9000ES. I so wish that there was a way to push the SACD's through this DAC.