A Technics SP-10R and SME M2 12" tonearm were mounted to the new Fern & Roby Richlite-and-walnut plinth ($22,500). A ModWright PH 9.0X phono stage ($4750) and Miyajima Carbon cartridge ($2999) completed the analog front end.
Digital gear included a Weiss Helios DAC ($21,995); a Network Acoustics Origin 5V PSU and DAC cable ($2100); a Muon Pro streaming system ($2620); an Eno2 streaming system ($1610); and…
For me, Volti Audio systems from Greg Roberts have become perennial standouts at audio shows. Their purity, vivid dynamics, and—perhaps most important—their rich, natural tone create an immersive presentation in which all types of music truly swing and sing.
This year’s AXPONA was no different. Roberts officially debuted his new 104dB/W/m, 20Hz–25kHz Vittora loudspeaker system, which includes two main Vittora loudspeakers, two ELF12 subs, two ELFamp amps, and one ELFpre ($50,000 for the lot).
The chain featured an Innuos ZENith music server ($6699) feeding a Mojo Audio…
In room 1521, I caught up with Wayne Colburn—longtime preamp wizard for Pass Labs (and Threshold Audio before that)—and Kent English, the company’s veteran head of sales. Colburn was debuting his new 85lb XS Pre 2 line-stage preamp ($55,000), which he called a step up from the XP-32.
Colburn doesn’t consider the XS Pre 2’s design “excessive,” despite its name. He noted that the preamp uses separate boxes for the left channel, right channel, and power-supply/display, and described it as “more resolving, with a lower noisefloor. It sets a new standard for us.”
The power…
At AXPONA 2025, Refined Audio’s Jon Ver Halen and Steve Dear, together with Vladimir Bazelkov of Audio Mirror, assembled a system that blended high-end analog and digital components.
Starting with the vinyl playback system: a Jan Allaerts MC1 Boron cartridge (approximately $4000) was mounted on the US premiere…
Fidelity Imports brought so many rooms to Chicago that Stereophile’s show reporters had to draw straws to divide them up. I landed in Fidelity Imports’ Room 1210, which held an AVM Rotation R 5.3 MK2 turntable ($8999) and three off-camera…
System One employed a Roon Nucleus One streamer ($499) and a TEAC UD-701N USB DAC/network player preamplifier ($4299) feeding a TEAC AP-701 stereo power amplifier ($3999). The amp drove Klipsch La Scala AL6 three-way, fully horn-loaded loudspeakers ($14,998/pair) via the Klipsch La…
The all-premiere system included the new Revox B77 MK III Stereo Tape Recorder ($19,950); a Revox B77 MK III Alice Cooper Limited Edition Tape Recorder ($9950); a limited-run Revox T77 Turntable Alice Cooper Edition ($5550); a Revox Studiomaster T700 Turntable Black Edition ($2364); a 180Wpc…
We began with “Louis Collins” from the formidable duo of Jerry Garcia and Dave Grisman. Colors were superb—a bit more vivid than in the Pass Labs room—with a most gorgeous midrange and a very fine top. The sound of Grisman’s mandolin was worth queuing up for. I thought the Lyrita recording…
The Diamond Series Synergy turntable—with an SME Series IV tonearm, Ortofon MC Windfeld Ti cartridge, built-in Nagra phono stage, and Crystal Cable wiring—is priced at $51,999. Its signal flowed into a B.audio B.dpr EX preamplifier ($24,400) and then to a pair of B.audio B.amp power amplifiers ($34,400/each), driving the Chario Academy Serendipity loudspeakers ($57,000/pair…
From the 1088 establishment of the University of Bologna, the oldest university in the Western world, to the invention of the radio by Guglielmo Marconi in the mid-1890s, Italy has been at the forefront of innovation and artistic pursuit. Modern Italy stands as a testament to its vibrant past.
"The Italian Renaissance, which began in Florence in the 1380s, marks the first moment when Europeans stepped away from the traditional and…