High End 2015 • TABlog
“Lincoln, I’m telling you, it will never fit in the elevator of your apartment block!” Besides giving visitors the chance to see and hear a whole range of audio equipment, shows are also an opportunity to spot the faces that go with the names we all see on the bottom of magazine reviews. Whereas most US and European readers would recognize the likes of John Atkinson or the late Harry Pearson, how many would be familiar with Lincoln Cheng and Rebecca Chin? Charming, unassuming and invariably polite, they are respectively the editor and publisher of Audio Technique magazine, the most important Chinese-language title in Hong Kong, and organizers of the Hong Kong show. That in turn makes them the most important members of the audio press in China -- which pretty much makes them the most significant audio press people in the world.
Lincoln is a massively respected and
influential reviewer, with vast experience of the highest of high-end products. But while
we are used to affording editors exalted status, underestimate Rebecca at your peril. A
seasoned audiophile in her own right, her unstoppable energy, acute business brain and
astonishing network of contacts that extends into every corner of the global audio
industry make her a force to be reckoned with. Together they are responsible for turning
out a dozen magazines a year, each as thick as a telephone directory, as well as
overseeing the remarkable Hong Kong show. It’s hard to overstate their importance to
the health of the international audio industry as a whole, yet at the Munich show they can
pass almost unnoticed. |
