My only regret about visiting the Fine Sounds America room was that I went there at 10 in the morning. Considering how excellent the system sounded, this set the bar for the rest of the day almost impossibly high, and I like to ease into things. Despite the fact that I hadn’t had my morning coffee yet, I was instantly awake.

In the quiet inner sanctum of Ultra Fidelis’ two-room suite with Vandersteen, AudioQuest, AMG, Audio Research and more, I sat enthralled before one of the most musical systems I encountered at AXPONA.

A $20,000 system is probably no one’s idea of cheap, but it’s affordable-ish by AXPONA standards. And if the sound quality of such a setup is as good as it was in room 394, where Chicago dealer Saturday Audio Exchange had again partnered with Canadian marques Paradigm and Anthem, we’re getting into bargain territory.

During each AXPONA, the makers of head-fi products set up their booths in the ground-floor central ballroom of Schaumburg's enormous Renaissance hotel. The Ear Gear Experience, they call it. I always have a look and a listen, in part because the products there aren't crazy expensive: three and four figures, mostly.

An old Dutch saying holds that "good wine needs no wreath," meaning that real quality sells itself. That probably applies to Philharmonic Audio, too. The Maryland-based speaker manufacturer, led by veteran designer and viola maestro Dennis Murphy, has never put much stock in advertising and marketing.

Anyone who knows these brands senses the potential for great sound in this room. Great sound in and of itself, however, was not the system’s raison d’être.

Excellent, well-controlled bass was one of many strong suits in a room headlined by Vinnie Rossi BRAMA monoblock power amplifiers (gen2 - $59,995/pair) and BRAMA preamplifier (gen2 - $38,995) paired with YG Acoustics Hailey 3 loudspeakers ($63,400/pair).

Sometimes I wonder what the etiquette is at audio shows. I mean, nobody tells you anything. It’s fair to assume that playing windmill-style air guitar to songs by the Who is generally frowned upon, at least in public, but is it gauche to sway and groove in your chair when the music moves you?

Jorge Sadurni, whose impressive horn speakers I first encountered at AXPONA during its pre-Schaumberg years, introduced his Spherical Dual loudspeakers ($4600/pair with integrated stands—see driver in the photo.) Each Spherical Dual contains two high-damped cast-metal modules with 5" cone dynamic drivers.