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For years, my Stereophile colleagues have laid claim to Zesto Audio’s exhibits; so at this AXPONA, I was glad to cover a room where I could enjoy Zesto’s sparkling tube sound again.

Room 1230 featured a collaboration led by Rhythm Distribution and joined by Qobuz, Silent Angel, AudioQuest, Focal Naim America, Vicoustic, and HRS—an all-star cast giving a confident performance.

Cliff Duffey, TJ Goldby, and Steve Huntley of AXISS Audio aren’t just savvy representatives—they’re passionate advocates for the high-end brands they carry. Their rooms at AXPONA reflected care, from product selection to well-curated playlists that demonstrated a serious grasp of what makes music sound alive.

Craig Hoffman, co-founder and managing director of Rhythm Distribution, presented a system in Room 1229 built from components sourced across Switzerland, the UK, Sweden, and Japan.

Texas-based Bandwidth Audio brought a suite of handsome, industrial-style, tube-based amplifiers to AXPONA. Consumers can buy direct from the manufacturer.

I’ve commented on this combination so often—five of these eight brands occupy my music room—that I didn’t linger long in Quintessence Audio’s excellently assembled “Knowledge” room. That didn’t stop me from admiring the contrast between the riveting yellow finish of Wilson Audio’s Chronosonic XVX loudspeakers ($387,000/pair) and the bold black-and-copper livery of Dan D’Agostino Master Audio Systems’ Relentless M800 monoblocks ($195,500/pair). I began to wonder if the lovely blue of my Wilson Alexia Vs is a bit too sedate. When I chose my speakers’ finish I almost opted for the perfect shade of orange—bolder, like the XVX’s yellow—and now I wonder what the past few years might have sounded like had I gone that route.

From the 1088 establishment of the University of Bologna, the oldest university in the Western world, to the invention of the radio by Guglielmo Marconi in the mid-1890s, Italy has been at the forefront of innovation and artistic pursuit. Modern Italy stands as a testament to its vibrant past.

"The Italian Renaissance, which began in Florence in the 1380s, marks the first moment when Europeans stepped away from the traditional and medieval pious Christian view of man to embrace values and attitudes they had discovered through studying the culture of the ancient world," wrote William ("Bill") Adams, a former professor of Italian history, in an email. "Those values, belief in the dignity and worth of man, in human development through education which, having spread through Europe, led to the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment."

In 1996, Bill and I journeyed to Tuscany, where we stayed in a mountaintop castle nestled within the ancient walls of San Gimignano. Returning to Italy in the summer of 2024, I embarked on a tour with kindred spirits. Our travels took us from savoring perfectly al dente pasta in Rome to indulging in boot-sized portions of tiramisu in Tuscany. We also ventured into the Treviso countryside, where we toured the Unison Research (UR) factory. This is where I had my first exposure to Unison Research's S6 Black Edition Integrated Amplifier ($6999).