AXPONA 2025

As fine as I know Audio Research equipment to sound, I never expected to hear, in a drapery-lined exhibit space that's potentially anathema to quality sound, as thrilling and involving a demonstration as I heard in Quintessence Audio's “Connection” room. Especially not from an overly familiar recording.

That listening session almost never came to be. The first time I entered the Connection room, on the busiest day of the show, sound levels so exceeded the limits of what the room could sustain that music was reduced to clatter. In less time than it would have taken for me to sit down and get comfortable, I was out of there.

Nonetheless, with a review of Audio Research's Ref 330 mono power amplifiers ($90,000/pair) on my schedule, and a history of lavishly praising their “Amplifier of the Year” predecessor [stereophile.com/content/audio-research-reference-160m-monoblock-power-amplifier], I wasn't going to lose out on a golden opportunity. So, after speaking with Dave Gordon, I received assurances that on my next visit, volume would be under control.

None of which stopped me from cringing when I heard the first notes of Reference Recordings’ fabled Minnesota Orchestra take on Saint-Saëns’s Danse Macabre. Oh no, thought I, not for the third time in three days!

But this was no ordinary demo. From the sweet spot in the nearfield, depth was fabulous and the midrange gorgeous. Dynamics were huge, and the tonalities of the violin lower in the range startlingly real. Cellos were to die for, the bass impact superb. I couldn't get over how big and luscious the images were. Wave over wave washed over me, the colors so deeply saturated and alive as to provide vital oxygen. Imagine my astonishment to learn, as I type this sentence, that I heard neither the LP nor the 24-bit/176.4kHz file; rather, it was a wired 16-bit/44.1kHz stream from Qobuz. That's amazing!

“French horns sound marvelous,” I scribbled. “The tubas sound so big and real. If Benjamin Britten hadn't written The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, this piece, on this sound system, could suffice as a guide to instrumental color.” Now I realize why so many rooms were playing Danse Macabre.

The sound was fantastic. I sat through the whole thing, hoping it would never end, before reveling in a track from Louis & Duke: The Great Summit—The Complete Sessions. I may have missed some rooms on my long list as a result. But every time I think of this room and re-experience how I felt as that glorious expanse of sound, masterfully captured by Keith O. Johnson, cleansed my being, my only regret is that I could not stay longer.

Doing the honors, besides the monoblocks: Audio Research Ref 10 preamp ($42,000) and Ref 10 phono preamp (also $42,000); Sonus faber Stradivari speakers ($50,000/pair); dCS Vivaldi Apex streaming DAC ($46,500) / clock ($22,950) / Upsampler ($30,500) stack; Kubala-Sosna Realization cables ($164,300); and Critical Mass MAXXUM-Ultra equipment racks and isolation ($50,500). Saved for future listens, of which I trust there will be many: Clearaudio Master Jubilee turntable with new Unity tonearm ($60,000) and Goldfinger Statement MC cartridge ($17,500) plus 9" Universal tonearm ($6200); Innuos Zenith NG ($18,900) with PhoenixNET ($4349).