Another first: AXPONA marked the show premiere of the full Vandersteen System 9 ($152,898/system—…
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Vandersteen lovers, of which there are many, may stare in disbelief at these words, but AXPONA 2019 marks the first time that I truly got why so many people rave about Vandersteen's sound. At least I think I did. Even if I didn't fully get what other people get, I got enough to say, "Oh yeah, uh huh, that Vandersteen midrange is surely something worth writing home about." In fact, based on what I heard, I see why some people would prefer to cart up the whole thing and let it do the speaking.
Canada's Wynn Audio sure mixed it up, to good effect, in a system that included two premieres: Crystal Cable's Future Dream 15th Anniversary limited-edition series, which combines proprietary monocrystal silver and silver-gold alloy in a four-coaxial-conductor construction insulated by Dupont Kapton and Teflon, and the Entreq Silver Tellus Infinity ground box ($2400 each), a passive device that, using a different technology to Nordost's QKore grounding units, claims to remove ground noise from components.
Amidst umpteen systems that ran aground in the bass department, this setup excelled…
Saturday is always the most crowded and intense day of any show. Ensuring that we were fully up to its demands (pictured L to R), PS Audio's Paul McGowan, Stereophile and AnalogPlanet's Michael Fremer, Stereophile's Jason Victor Serinus, Joseph Audio's Jeff Joseph, and PS Audio's Terri McGowan discovered themselves in a common sweat, occupying every elliptical trainer in the Renaissance Schaumberg's spacious gym.
"What the heck?" Behind the Master Class Area was a giant tan-colored hooded construction, looking like a giant Zamboni machine and labeled "Wynn Audio," with a viewing window at the front.
Sticking my head under the enclosure, all was revealed. A pair of the Crystal Cable Arabesque Minissimo Diamond minimonitors ($19,995/pair with stands) that I reviewed in October 2016 was being driven by Crystal's 180Wpc CCi integrated amplifier, with source a Kalista DreamPlay One CD player ($43,000), all connected with Crystal's 15th anniversary Future Dream cables, which combine…
"OMG, it's music" is the first thing I wrote down in this room. "So much of what I've missed at this show is here." On master recordist Peter McGrath's live 24/88.2 MQA recording of pianist Benjamin Grosvenor playing the Sarabande from Bach's French Suite No.5, I heard the natural ring of his piano's top notes resounding and decaying in an uncannily realistic depiction of a large, open venue. Given that plans to attend Grosvenor's performance at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on Saturday night were scrapped due to the musician's strike, this was certainly the next best thing.
After that,…
In room 504 at the 2019 AXPONA, Minnesota-based Bel Canto partnered with Danish company Audiovector to present a really good-sounding system with a small footprint.
The core of the system is the new e1X DAC/Control Preamplifier ($6500), which takes in data via ethernet, USB, or any of the other common digital inputs, handling data via TOSLINK, AES, or S/PDIF at up to 24/192; via ethernet the e1X can do up to 24/384. DSD is supported, up to DSD128, delivered to the DAC via DoP. The e1X arrives Roon ready and supports full decoding of MQA. There's a headphone amp.
The DAC/Preamp…
It was hard to get a good photo of the Aavik/B?rresen/Ansuz system from Next Level HiFi of Wayne, IL, distributed by Gated HiFi, because the premiere Børresen 05 loudspeakers with D-TC Resonance Control ($120,000/pair) were spaced so far apart. But that spacing certainly didn't stop the system from wowing listeners with its extremely strong bass, which on genuinely danceable party music was vibrating in my gut and propelling the 05s' drivers back and forth. The exhibitors in the conference room underneath may have been cringing, but I ate up my opportunity to receive my first sonic massage of…
Given that I had recently gushed over the pairing, at one of Definitive Audio of Seattle's Music Matters events, of Wilson Audio's Alexx speakers ($109,000/pair), Sub Sonic Subwoofers (two, at $37,500/each), and Watch Controllers (two, at $4000/each); D'Agostino Relentless monoblocks ($250,000/pair) and Progression monoblocks ($38,000/pair), plus Momentum phono stage ($28,000); a dCS and Clearaudio front end; and lots and lots of Transparent Reference XL cabling plus an HRS VXR-19213V-80 rack with two M3x base audio stands ($57,960 total), I didn't know if I would hear much of a difference…
Loudspeakers by Danish manufacturer Dynaudio were featured in two rooms; both demonstrated exactly how clearly, and authoritatively precise, their speakers could sound when driven by amplifiers from the German manufacturer Octave. In Dynaudio's big demonstration room I heard the $5000/pair Evoke 50 loudspeakers (the floorstanders in the photo above) being driven by an Octave V80SE integrated amplifier ($10,500), itself fed by a dCS Bartok DAC ($13,500), with all Nordost cables. Every musical selection made me think, very consciously, that this is the kind of sound 90% of the audiophiles on…
Across the hallway, Paragon Sight and Sound set up a more "modest," albeit hardly chump-change, system that included Wilson Alexia 2 speakers ($59,900 with this special red finish), brand-new tubed Rogers KWM 88 Corona integrated amplifier ($14,000) plus PA2 phono stage ($7300), dCS Bartok DAC ($13,500), Clearaudio Ovation turntable with 9" arm and custom finish ($11,000) and Clearaudio Jubilee cartridge, Transparent Reference and Reference XL cabling, a Transparent Reference Power Isolator ($5995), and Harmonic Resolution System RXR 4V with R3x base audio rack ($9330). Listening to a cut…