Apple AirPods Pro 3: First Impressions

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AXPONA 2022

AudioQuest & Abt Electronics Empower Rotel, Michi, Klipsch, Roon, and Fender x MoFi

Jason Victor Serinus Apr 28, 2022

Strange as it may seem, this huge air-walled exhibit room's sponsor, AudioQuest with Abt Electronics of Chicago, was the mostly invisible partner that enabled Rotel's Michi P5 preamplifier with phonostage ($4299.99follow-up coming in our August issue) and Michi S5 stereo power amplifiers ($7499/eachreviewing coming in our July issue) to sing through Klipsch Jubilee loudspeakers ($35,000/pair including outboard electronic crossover).

AXPONA 2022

The Sound Organisation: Rega System One

Julie Mullins Apr 28, 2022

It's a good sign that at least some AXPONA exhibitors showed systems that were more budget-friendly than most. On the door to room 666 (perfect, right?) was a piece of paper affixed with blue painter's tape. Handwritten in all-capital letters, it read: "WARNING! DO NOT ENTER IF YOU WANT TO SPEND A FORTUNE ON YOUR HIFI."

Behind that door I encountered a simple but really good-sounding system that didn't call for apologists to stumble over themselves 'splaining.

AXPONA 2022

The Other Sound Organisation Room: Chord Electronics, Spendor, and Aurender

Julie Mullins Apr 28, 2022

The Rega room was one of two rooms the Sound Organisation, a distributor of several brands from the UK, had at the show. Their other exhibit in room 662 consisted of some recent gear from Chord Electronics, such as stacked racks of the Chord Qutest DAC, Huei phono preamplifier, etc. on static display. The active system was rather old-meets-new: It had BBC School Spendor Classic 2/3 speakers ($6100/pair, just over $7000/pair with stands) and a 180Wpc Chord Ultima 6 ($9200) stereo power amplifier.

AXPONA 2022

Sadhan Audio, NuForce, Crystal Cable, Shunyata, Monster, VibraISO

Ken Micallef Apr 28, 2022

A newcomer from Denver, Colorado, Erwin Jesudason's Sadhan Audio made its debut at AXPONA, presenting its new preamplifier, cables, and loudspeakers. Though humble and homey-looking, this minimalist system was sweetly transparent, its largish floorstanding speakers imaged beautifully and practically vanished, casting a wide, deep soundstage. Some more expensive systems lack the Sadhan Audio system's effortless reproduction and natural tone, which made a CD by Edgar Meyer, Bela Fleck, and Mike Marshall a toe-tapping wonder. (The late Art Dudley often said if a system got you bumping and dancing, it's onto something good). I could have plopped myself down in this room and never moved.

AXPONA 2022

Kyomi Audio, Ideon, Audio Skies, JMF, Stealth, Vivid, and Finite Elemente

Jason Victor Serinus Apr 28, 2022

I wasn't the only reviewer who sought Nirvana in the large 16th floor Aster Presidential Suite jointly sponsored by retailer Kyomi Audio of Chicago, Audio Skies distribution, and Stealth Audio Cables. On Sunday morning, less than eight hours after many members of the press hung out in the room until 2AM, several returned for yet another fix.

AXPONA 2022

Source Systems Presents Lumin, Fi-Data, DALI, and Lateral

Jason Victor Serinus Apr 28, 2022

Huge, colorful, and highly engaging sound highlighted my time in the room sponsored by Mark Gurvey's Source Systems distribution of San Clemente. Deserving applause for some of the best signage at AXPONA, Gurvey used Lumin's proprietary playback app to output files stored on I-O Data Device of Japan's solid-state fidata 2TB server/renderer/ripper/tagger/CD player ($1600) to the Lumin X1 flagship streamer with external dual mono linear power supply (LPS) ($13,990). From there, the system output the streaming signal to the brand new Lumin P1 streamer/renderer/DAC/AV hub/preamplifier with internal dual-mono LPS ($10,000) that John Atkinson reviewed in our April 2022 issue.

AXPONA 2022

Alta Audio, Mojo Audio, Rogers High Fidelity, Infigo Audio

Ken Micallef Apr 28, 2022

Upstate New York manufacturer Alta Audio debuted its new The Adam floorstanding speaker ($17,000/pair in piano black, $18,000/pair in rosewood or beech) at Axpona, in two separate rooms.

The Adam features a 5.75" neodymium magnet ribbon tweeter, 6" midrange driver, and an 8.75" woofer "whose tuning parameters are coupled to the unique cabinet design for its infrasonic (floor-moving) bass and for refined cohesion between The Adam's XTL (Extended Line Transmission) and its pure aluminum ribbon tweeter," stated the company's website. That's potentially copious bass created from a transmission-line approach.

AXPONA 2022

More MoFi Distribution: Falcon Acoustics, Manger, Dr. Feickert, Schick, EMT, HiFi Rose, Whest, IsoTek

Julie Mullins Apr 28, 2022

MoFi Distribution showed some classic hi-fi geartube amps and classic speakersin two of their four rooms, suites 330, which I cover here, and 346 (report to come). A few products debuted, including tubed amplification from Mastersound, an Italian company with a rather un-Italian name. MoFi Distribution's VP of Sales & Marketing Jon Derda told me that Mastersound winds their own transformers in-house. The brand is new to MoFi's rosterand new to me.

AXPONA 2022

Unrolling the TigerFox Immerse 360

Jason Victor Serinus Apr 28, 2022

"New Patented Product Replaces Stereo Systems, Headphones and $100,000 Listening Rooms" declared the press release in red bold letters. "Introducing to the public for the first time a transformational new pure acoustic audio technology and the TigerFox® Immerse 360® Pure Acoustic Sound Poda disruptive new high-performance audio product that delivers immersive sound quality without the pain points of modern electronic sound systems."

AXPONA 2022

Fidelis Distribution with Heretic, Lab 12, AVIDHIFI, and Siltech

Jason Victor Serinus Apr 28, 2022

More debuts awaited in Fidelis Distribution's second room, where Heretic Loudspeaker Company's handcrafted-in-Montreal A612 high-sensitivity loudspeaker (price TBDno more than $10,000/pair, I was told) and Lab 12's handcrafted-in-Athens electronics sang with AVIDHIFI's Volvere turntable ($8000, below) equipped with a TA-3 tonearm ($650) and inexpensive (by audiophile standards) Grado Opus3 cartridge ($275). Through Lab 12 and Siltech cabling, the sax on "Trippin' Out," on an LP from Vanessa Fernandez, sounded fabulous, The energy of the track came through loud and clear. It was all I could do to stop myself from getting up and dancing. Without a doubt, this system delivered the most fun I'd had during my first two days at the show.