As We See It

If buying a hi-fi product from an internet retailer is like an arranged marriage, a hi-fi show is like speed dating. Not everyone, I realize, approaches hi-fi shows (or speed dating, for that matter) the same way, and anyway, the analogy between hi-fi and dating is far from perfect. Speed dating is how this year's AXPONA, America's biggest hi-fi show, held at the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center (above) near Chicago in April, often felt to me as I moved from room to room. Every new system I heard had the potential to become a long-term relationship. Could I live with this one forever?

It may seem strange to be so passionate about something as pedestrian as consumer electronics—to equate commerce to romantic relationships—but to me, that kind of affection is the essence of our hobby. I would not want to own a system I didn't love.

Whether you truly buy this or not—but especially if you do—anticipating a long-term relationship is a good way to approach a hi-fi show. It focuses the ear and mind on what really matters—to you. You're not judging ultimate quality, checking off qualities on a list. You're judging the possibility of pleasure plus compatibility: "She may not be classically beautiful; I just love her laugh."

Some romantic notions should surely be cast aside. My wife auditioned me for eight years before we got married, as I auditioned her, and we are still together. But does our success in love mean that it was meant to be? To believe so is to close your mind. While there are certain qualities I would always want in a partner, I could be happy with others, with very different qualities—or at least I think I could.

If you approach every room as a possible long-term commitment, a show can be exhausting. Add to that the responsibilities of being Stereophile's editor—magazine production must continue as I scout new musical partners—and there's a limit to how many rooms I can visit over the course of a show. Among those rooms I made it to—perhaps 15% of the total—I did not encounter a system that set me searching for a Las Vegas–style wedding chapel, but I did encounter several that would warrant further investigation if I were on the market—and if cost were no object.

What did I hear at AXPONA that qualified? A big room hosted by Aldo Filippelli, proprietor of high-end distributor Luxury Audio Group, featured a pair of Estelon Forza loudspeakers in a gorgeous finish (called Violet Night, which I first read as Violent Night). Amplification was a pair of Vitus Audio SM-103 Mk.II monoblocks; in fact, all the electronics were by Vitus, except for the music server, which was an Innuos Statement. Cabling was from Crystal Cable's Art Da Vinci series, except for the power cords, which were Crystal Cable Infinity, in a worldwide debut.

This big system could massage your body with air on EDM music, but it also impressed with subtlety. Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man is an obvious (which is to say, not so interesting) choice for a hi-fi demo, but the version played here was conducted by Bernstein, not by some no-name conductor on a hi-fi label. The scale and foundation were sturdy and large; I heard a whole concert hall. You'd need a big budget and a big room to pull this off at home.

The big room hosted by Rutherford Audio employed a brand I'd never heard, Britain's Stratton Acoustics. Two Stratton models alternated; the most notable to me were the big, wide Elypsis 1512s. Electronics were by Accustic Arts (Mono VI amplifiers; Tube Pre V preamplifier, the Power V integrated) and an Antipodes Oladra server. The room held turntables from Acoustic Signature (the Montana Neo) and Vertere (the RG-1), which alternated. As Saturday drew to a close, I chose an early pressing of Deep Purple's Machine Head from a batch of LPs and requested "Smoke on the Water." Sitting in the front row, the pressure I felt on my chest could have pushed a good-sized sailboat along Lake Geneva, let alone dissipate some smoke. This system, too, would require a big budget and room.

For the second straight year, the system with big Stenheim Ultime Two SX speakers, now with their new Reference platforms, biwired with four VTL MB-185 Series II Signature monoblocks, sounded superb. The preamp was also VTL, and the digital source was a dCS Rossini APEX DAC/Clock. Several fine LPs were spun—by Bea Lamm, always a treat—on a VPI Titan Direct 'table with a Lyra Etna λ Lambda cartridge. This was another big system, in a big room, that was capable of warm, imtimate sounds and music.

At a more suitable domestic scale, I very much enjoyed the Bel Canto room with that company's "Black" amplification system, YG Peaks Ascent speakers, and a Pure Fidelity Harmony turntable. Cabling was Cardas Clear Beyond. Though hardly inexpensive, this system would work well in a modest-sized room—indeed it did work in a regular hotel room. The Bel Canto system digitizes all its inputs, including phono (though RIAA correction is in the analog domain), yet the character of the LP playback was retained. Listening was relaxing and enjoyable.

Also worth a mention: the Harmonia Distribution rooms, particularly the one with Fyne Audio's F703SP loudspeakers—a compromise between that company's old-school aesthetics and approach and something a bit more modern: Fyne's big coaxial driver in a beautiful wood cabinet with a modern teardrop-tower shape. With PrimaLuna's new hybrid integrated amplifier, this system offered the woody warmth of those traditional wood-furniture loudspeaker designs but without the image diffuseness some such systems display. Warm and pleasant but also incisive.

Please don't mistake this for a best-of-show report, since, as I already wrote, I heard only a fraction of the systems on active display at the show. How could anyone hear everything? Spending a mere 10 minutes in each room, it would have taken just shy of 34 hours—more hours than the show was open—not counting time spent waiting for the elevator, and you'd miss the Exhibition Hall and the Ear Gear Experience, not to mention lunch. The message I'd like to convey is, if you have a chance to visit a show like AXPONA, you should do it, even if it requires a drive or getting on a plane. Then ask yourself, in every room, if you could live with the sound long-term. A committed approach can be exhausting, but it will pay you back eventually in emotional involvement in the music.