AXPONA 2019

A room sponsored by multiple companies and overseen by Steven Norber of PranaFidelity immediately won me over with its gorgeous midrange. "So beautiful and warm and all-embracing," I wrote in my notes as I listened to a surprisingly good-sounding 1991 CD of David Wilcox on a substitute basic Pioneer Elite player used as a transport. I also loved the sound of an LP that melded the artistry of two greats, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington.

Norber surprised me by demonstrating how he could change the sound of the rolloff and midrange character of PranaFidelity's Vayu/fs two-way quasi-line-array loudspeaker ($8950/pair) by changing the materials of his resistor groups. Whatever he did, the warm core of this system's sound continued to win me over.

Heard or seen—hey, I was trying to pack in as many rooms as possible on the last day, and my note taking slipped a bit—PranaFidelity purna/ca preamp ($8500 or $9950 for balanced, both with phono), MG Audio Design prototype monoblocks (possibly $5000/pair), Kuzma Stabi R turntable with 4Point 9" tonearm and CAR 50 cartridge, Wyred 4 Sound DAC-2 modified by PranaFidelity, and Kubala-Sosna Realization cabling and XPander.