AXPONA 2023

When I first heard JMF Audio components from France at AXPONA 2022, I had no idea that, paired with the right speakers, they would produce heavenly sound. But in the room jointly sponsored by Fidelis Distribution, who handles Harbeth loudspeakers, and Audio Skies, which distributes JMF Audio and Ideon Audio, the mating of JMF with Harbeth delivered some of the finest-sounding music I heard at AXPONA 2023.

First up, "Fragile" from Nils Landgren & Rigmor Gustafsson sounded gorgeous, warm, and smooth. Midrange could not have been more pleasing on Bebe's "Animales hambrientos" and John Coltrane's "Nancy (with the Laughing Eyes)." Bonus points to Audio Skies' Michael Vamos for snatching that track from some of my recent reviews.

"This is perfect sound for mellow music," I scribbled in my notebook after hearing the Coltrane. The breathy edge of his tenor sax was to die for.

From Harbeth: M40.3 XD speakers ($24,700/pair) on Ton Trager M 30.2 speaker stands ($1600/each).

From JMF Audio: HQS 6002 dual-mono power amplifier ($40,000), PRS 1.5 dual-mono preamplifier ($36,000), PCD 102 Power line filter ($20,000), SR8 speaker cables, CM4 XLR interconnects, and PC3 power cable.

From Ideon Audio: Absolute Epsilon DAC ($47,000), Absolute stream server ($20,000), Absolute Time reclocker ($10,000), and Siren USB cable.

To me: bliss.