AXPONA 2022

It was Sunday afternoon, and Nick Doshi (Doshi Audio), Jeff Joseph (Joseph Audio), and Jeff Fox (Notable Audio, J. Sikora, Command AV) were relaxing. It was all smiles, jokes, and laughter with this crowd. I scanned the room for illegal substances. Then legal substances. Nothing. Nada. Finally, I got it. It's the music!

Analog glory came in a J. Sikora Standard MAX turntable ($19,995/$20,995 starting 6/1/2022), J. Sikora KV12 VTA tonearm ($8495/$8995 starting 6/1/2022), Lyra Etna SL ($9995) and Benz LP-S ($6000) cartridges. There was digital too, in the shape of an Aurender A20 Server/DAC ($14,000), streaming files from a laptop. Tubed goodness was translated by the Doshi Audio Evolution preamplifier ($19,995), Doshi Audio Evolution class-AB monoblocks ($43,995/pair, 160Wpc into 4 ohms), Doshi Audio Evolution phono stage ($19,995), and a Doshi Audio Evolution tape stage ($19,995). Jeff Joseph's Joseph Audio Pearl Graphene floorstanding speakers ($43,999/pair, specified sensitivity of 86dB/2.83V/m and impedance of 8 ohms), and Cardas Clear Beyond cables (prices vary) finalized the rig.

I've heard Jeff's Pearl Graphene speakers a number of times, and this was undoubtedly their best performance to date, confirming the fantastic synergy of this well sorted system. The sound was resonant, big, clear, and beautiful.

Playing Dean Martin's Dream with Dean LP, Dino's every inhale and exhale blew through the small room as if meant to extinguish our flames. If we'd been smoking something. Which we weren't. With music this beautiful and hi-fi this wonderful, the music is all you need.