I’m an old school, analog, tube-loving, horn-speaker–espousing kind of guy. I'm not against, but I'm largely uninterested in, most new technologies. But when I sit in front of a streaming, active, class-D powered, DSP-enabled Legacy system, I never fail to relax. To feel engaged, alive. And charmed. I don't want to get up. I don't want to leave. I don’t know why Legacy founder and president Bill Dudleston’s systems sound so good and make me feel so good, but they always do.…
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Legacy Audio of Springfield, Illinois featured not one but three systems at AXPONA including three show debuts.
Benjamin Britten: Violin Concerto, Chamber Works
Isabelle Faust, violin; Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Jakub Hrůa, cond.; Boris Faust, viola; Alexander Melnikov, piano
Harmonia Mundi HMM902668 (CD, reviewed as 24/96). 2024. Sebastian Braun, Julian Schwenker, prods.; Schwenker, Klemens Kamp, engs.
Performance *****
Sonics ****
Isabelle Faust, violin; Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Jakub Hrůa, cond.; Boris Faust, viola; Alexander Melnikov, piano
Harmonia Mundi HMM902668 (CD, reviewed as 24/96). 2024. Sebastian Braun, Julian Schwenker, prods.; Schwenker, Klemens Kamp, engs.
Performance *****
Sonics ****
I sat mesmerized when I first encountered a recording of Benjamin Britten's early Violin Concerto from 1939 (revised in 1958) at an audio show exhibit sponsored by High End by Oz. Ever since I heard those portions of Linus Roth's…
Affable speaker designer Andrew Jones held court in room 334, explaining the details behind his new SourcePoint 888 floorstanding speakers ($4999/pair), an AXPONA world premiere (review forthcoming). Unfortunately, he couldn’t play his speakers due to the hotel’s intermittent Wi-Fi, which plagued many rooms.
MoFi's System 1, in this hotel suite, included a HiFi Rose RS150B network streamer ($4995), HiFi Rose RA180 integrated amp ($6995), IsoTek V5 Titan line conditioner (in for review, $4995), Solidsteel HW-2L rack ($1699), and Cardas Clear Beyond speaker and signal cables.
…
Sinatra said it best: Regrets, I have a few.
On Sunday morning, the final day of the show, my main regret was that I hadn’t made it to the fourth-floor Alta/Infigo room a day or two earlier. If I had, I would have encouraged everyone to go listen. Are audio writers supposed to burn with evangelical zeal? Probably not. But the combo of the just-introduced Alta Aphrodite floorstanders (starting at $50,000/pair depending on paint job) and the recently overhauled Infigo Method 3 monoblocks ($55,000/pair) inspired a tendency to grab friends and strangers both by the collar and drag them to…
The following interview, with Fyne Audio Technical Director Dr. Paul Mills and Managing Director Andrzej Sosna, conducted by Stereophile Contributing Editor Ken Micallef, was posted previously embedded in a report on Harmonia Distribution's rooms at AXPONA. Here, we present it on its own so that more people will see it. The video is followed by a transcript of the interview.
Here is the transcript of the video interview, lightly edited for clarity.:
Ken Micallef: Greetings. I'm Ken Micallef for Stereophile Magazine. We are here at AXPONA today and for the next…
In the Nirvana C ballroom, Nguyen Phuong of Clarisys Audio USA played his range of Clarisys Audio Panels, of which the smaller Minuet panel had so impressed me at the recent Florida International Audio Expo.
The Clarisys range included the Clarisys Piccolo (TBA), Clarisys Minuet ($46,000/pair), Clarisys Studio Plus ($66,000/pair), Clarisys Auditorium ($180,000/pair), the debut Clarisys Auditorium Plus ($146,000/pair), and Active Crossover ACN400 ($22,500).
The speakers, made in Vietnam, "offer unique features such as double-sided bass ribbons, neodymium magnet structures…
Well Pleased AV’s Mark Sossa corralled me for an early-morning listen session. I'm glad he did.
Mark brought an Innous Statement Next Gen Music Server ($25,000), a Mearson DAC1 MKII ($8500), and an Innous Phoenix NET network switch ($4350) to complete the all-digital front end.
Vinni Rossi’s Brama Integrated Amp (rated at 200Wpc into 8 ohms, 400Wpc into 4 ohms, $47,995) drove the QLN Reference 9 Loudspeakers ($42,000) in a worldwide debut.
The Reference 9 Loudspeaker, QLN’s flagship, is a 3-way bass reflex speaker with a 6dB-slope crossover between midrange…
Ampsandsound's Justin Weber brought a big pile of black vinyl to Chicago, lining the small room's walls with album jackets. He had me at Sphongle, an electronic industrial act that churned out of the world-debut Ampsandsound Hudson 3-way speakers ($18,000/pair) like dirty psychedelic water erupting from a broken sewer pipe.
Messy and human, Shpongle's 2013 release, Museum of Consciousness, found much love from ampsandsound’s Weber-built system. The analog front end—an SME Model 20 MK2 turntable ($31,900) with an Ortofon Classic SPU GE MkII “nude” MC cart and Auralic Vega G2.2 DAC/Preamp…
In the Innovation room, operated by Joe Corona of Chicago-based dealer Saturday Audio Exchange, two systems played, both featuring new components.
System one included the debut of the NAD Masters M66 BluOS streaming DAC/preamplifier with Dirac Live bass control and room correction ($5499); the NAD Masters M23 stereo power amplifier; PSB's flagship Synchrony T800 3-way, bass-reflex speaker with three 8" woofers, a 5 1/4" midrange, and a 1” titanium dome tweeter ($11,998/pair); and a PSB SubSeries BP8 subwoofer ($1499/each).
System two featured the NAD Masters M10V2 BluOS…
I walked into the pitch-black room operated by the affable Klaus Bunge, manufacturer of the popular Odyssey amplifier. I stumbled into a seat.
After my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I noticed candles, a lot of them. 47 to be exact—I counted. Most were assembled in small groups on the floor, on ledges, in corners, behind lamps, peering like malevolent jack-o'-lanterns.
The back half of the room was devoured by a curtain of inky black linen. No light could escape or enter. Was this the prelude to some unholy pagan sacrifice out of a fever dream? Were we about to be bled…