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SVS and the New Ultra Evolution Pinnacle

Ever since the announcement some two weeks ago, I've been eager to hear the SVS Ultra Evolution Pinnacle loudspeakers, which, at $2499 each—or, you guessed it, $4998/pair—are cheap in high-end terms but quite expensive for SVS. Coming from such a high-value company, I'm thinking, this could be a serious assault on audio's high-end. Stereophile has already lined up a review.

When I walked into SVS's two-channel room—they also had a home theater room, something you don’t see much of at AXPONA—the first thing I noticed is that in every chair taken was a younger human—under 40, let us…

Bel Canto, Pure Fidelity, YG

[Edited to add product information.]

When I walked into this room, just before closing time on Sunday, the show’s last day, they were spinning vinyl. Two things are notable about that fact, at least to me.

The first notable thing: I own the turntable, the Pure Fidelity Harmony ($11,390) in the quilted maple finish, which Ken Micallef reviewed. The cartridge was the Pure Fidelity Stratos, also well-known to me. The tonearm used on the Pure Fidelity was fancier than mine, the Origin Live–made Illustrious SE Stratos ($9095).

The second notable thing is that the…

YG Acoustics, Ayre Acoustics, Argento

YG Acoustics speakers were featured in several rooms at AXPONA 2024. The highlight for me was a room featuring the Carmel 3 speakers ($29,800 per pair), the entry point to the company's Reference range. These speakers are housed in aerospace aluminum cabinets finished in silver or black, embodying a minimalist, modern-sculpture aesthetic. The design is purposeful: Form follows function in this slender tower.

The Carmel 3 is a two-way that crosses over at 1750Hz. YG emphasizes phase alignment between the drivers across the crossover range. Core specifications include "usable output" from…

Magnepan and Rogue Audio

Rogue Audio's Nick Fitzsimmons and Bill Magerman ran a room that operated smoothly and sounded smooth. It featured a Technics SL-1210G turntable ($4299) with an Ortofon 2M Black LVB 250 cartridge ($1099), as well as a Hifi Rose RS150B Streamer ($4995), both front ends feeding a Rogue Audio RP-5 v2 preamplifier ($3995) and class-D–hybrid Rogue Audio DragoN monoblock amplifiers ($5995/each), which are capable of putting out 325/525Wpc into 8/4 ohms. Speakers were the Magnepan 2.7i panels ($5995/pair). Cables were by Cardas.

The upgraded Rogue Audio RP-5 v2 preamplifier features a new…

Revinylization #53: Craft Records releases Joe Henderson's <I>Power to the People</I>

In the late 1960s and the early years of the next decade, tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, like many of his contemporaries, was listening to such albums as Miles Davis's Filles de Kilimanjaro and Miles in the Sky and pondering what it meant for his music. During this period, for better or worse, the rhythms and aggressive approach of rock music, including the use of electric rather than acoustic instruments, were mixing with jazz and giving birth to fusion. In hindsight, it seems inevitable that these two vital genres, both of which prize improvisation—be it on electric guitar or tenor…

Fidelity Imports, Ruark, Q Acoustics, Gold Note, QED

On the 12th floor of the Schaumburg Renaissance hotel, visitors found a cluster of Fidelity Imports rooms that highlighted one strong foreign brand after another.

To my eye, the most unusual newcomers in the diverse collection were three Ruark products. Beyond a small single-cube wireless speaker (the R1 Mk4 Bluetooth Radio, $399), there was a hefty-looking unit that approached the size of a small desk. Dubbed the R810 High Fidelity Radiogram ($3999), its form calls to mind stereo consoles from the 1950s. Sitting on tall polished-chrome legs, the R810 gives off that popular…

Magico, Pilium, Antipodes, Vyda

Magico turns 20 this year, but founder and chief designer Alon Wolf isn’t the type for gauzy remembrances. In Magicoland, looking ahead beats looking back, so we’ll have to marvel some other time at how the Californian brand has shot to the top of the high-end heap.

At this year’s AXPONA, Magico introduced an upgraded S5 speaker—the S5 2024 ($74,500/pr)—but while it was present for close-up inspection, it wasn’t hooked up to anything. Wolf had decided that the standard hotel rooms he’d been able to rent weren’t large enough to do the new S5s justice sonically.

On paper, the…

Rhythm Distribution, Tannoy, Garrard, Goldmund, Lumin, AudioQuest, Nordost

Rhythm Distribution’s Craig Hoffman teamed up with Garrard, Goldmund, and Tannoy to unveil a beautiful-looking, primarily analog rig at AXPONA. Kat Ourlian—Global Head of Sales and Marketing for SME—was on hand to spin vinyl; she had Room 660 rocking from the first needle-drop with selections from Morphine, War, Jaco Pastorius (playing Charlie Parker’s “Donna Lee”), and Massive Attack (“Angel”).

What was she spinning vinyl on? It wasn't just any turntable. It was a Garrard 301 Advanced ($54,900)—an SME-rebuilt 301 that Garrard calls "the ultimate and most advanced Garrard…

Sierra Sound, Aesthetix Audio Corp, Analog Manufaktur Germany, Benz Micro Switzerland

First-time AXPONA exhibitor Sierra Sound was founded in 2020 as a distributor for strictly analog hi-fi equipment. Rather high minded, wouldn’t you say? Personally, I’m all in.

With their minds on a new music direction, Sierra Sound hosted Friday and Saturday "metal nights," but I was holed up in my room writing, with copious quantities of English breakfast tea and peanut butter. But I greatly enjoyed their room during daylight hours.

Sierra Sound boasted the world debut of the AMG Giro MK II Wood turntable. Also in room was the semi-new to the USA, ViV Lab tonearm; ViV Lab has…

Audio Note (UK)

I typically attend Audio Note (UK) rooms not just to listen, but to learn.

At Capital Audiofest, Audio Note (UK) owner Peter Qvortrup was reading a book about economics: Limitarinism: The Case Against Extreme Wealth, which calls for caps on the individual fortunes of the super wealthy. I bought it. At AXPONA, Qvortrup carried another massive tome everywhere he went.

Noting my curiosity in the Audio Note (UK) room, Qvortrup gave me an audio test CD, The Likhnitsky Files (Audio Note), by Anatoly Markovich Likhnitsky. After telling Peter how fond I was of John DeVore’s room playing…