George Ligerakis (CEO) and Vasilis Tounas (Chief Designer) proudly flanking their latest creation: The Axiom DAC.
Miguel Barrio reports: On Thursday April 2nd at
Park Avenue Audio in NYC,
Ideon Audio introduced their latest and greatest creation, the Axiom DAC. Walter Schofield, Co-Managing Director of the 2WA Group with Walter Swanbon, did the introductions.
George Ligerakis, Ideon's CEO, explained (with a characteristic Greek passion) that the Axiom DAC is a no-holds-barred product, every aspect of which has been taken to the extreme. The new DAC takes up three-chassis: "The Grid," a 2kW multi-rail linear power supply that Ligerakis said delivers fast, plentiful power; "The Chrono," a clock and signal regeneration unit; and "The Engine," a 16-channel hybrid parallel DAC described as having exceptional linearity, ultralow noise and distortion, and a powerful, 2Wpc output stage.
Vasilis Tounas, Ideon's Chief Designer, said that the output stage was
so capable that it could drive even low-sensitivity speakers all by itself. Specifications are impressive: THD+N, –120dB (A-weighted); S/N ratio (A-weighted), >138dB. The Axiom features three "sync-isolated" inputs: USB, AES3, and S/PDIF on RCA, plus TosLink and standard (not isolated) AES3 and S/PDIF. It's capable of converting PCM up to 32/384 and DSD up to DSD512, or 8x. The Axiom costs $199,000, and its three chassis together weigh 291 lb, according to the company. It is built to order in Greece, and it takes about two months to get one.
The Axiom DAC’s three chassis construction: Power supply (bottom), Input unit and clock (middle), and Digital-to-Analog Converter (top).
The rest of the playback system consisted of the Ideon Absolute Stream streamer ($28,500), Burmester 077 preamp ($75,000) and 159 monoblock amplifiers ($400,000/pair), and Dali Kore speakers ($150,000/pair). All cables were by Siltech (prices vary with length).
The system sounded powerful, yet nuanced. Amber Rubarth's voice on "A Kiss to Build a Dream On," from the album
Sessions from the 17th Ward (24/96 FLAC, Chesky Records/Qobuz), was lively, floating in space in the middle of the room, just as the best systems render it. Anouar Brahem’s "The Astounding Eyes of Rita," from the album of the same name (24/96 FLAC, ECM Records/Qobuz), presented a stunning soundscape and dense guitar tone. This system expressed Patricia Barber's "The Thrill is Gone," from the album
Café Blue (16/44.1 FLAC, Premonition Records/Qobuz) with all its signature soundstage depth, dynamic range, and piano tone.
I suggested that we end the night with Mikis Theodorakis’s "Zorba’s Dance" from the "Zorba The Greek" soundtrack (16/44.1 FLAC, FM Records/Qobuz). Everyone agreed, and we danced to it.
The system consisted of Burmester pre and amps, Dali speakers, and Siltech cabling throughout.
