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Yamaha Brings Multiple Debuts to AXPONA

In what is a first for this reporter but surely not for the brand, Yamaha brought a number of choice components to Chicago, presented by Yamaha marketing manager Rebecca Lynn (above) and several employees from Yamaha Japan.

On static display, the 136-year old company introduced new products, including the YH-5000SE Open-back wired Orthodynamic® headphones ($4999), RN2000A Network Receiver ($3999), legacy A-S3200 and A-S2200 integrated amplifiers, new HA-L7A USB DAC headphone amplifier (price unavailable), and prototype NS-2000A floorstanding loudspeakers ($7998/pair).

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Mytek Meets Chicago

Michal Jurewicz, Mytek CEO and designer, of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, brought new and not-so-new equipment to AXPONA. The "Tall Wizard" had two rooms, one including the Mytek Empire Streamer (currently with Editor Jim Austin, for review, $25,000), new GaNFET-powered Empire monoblocks (400Wpc/800Wpc into 4 ohms; $20,000/pair), and his very own pair of 1990s-era JM Labs Point Source 5.1s standmount monitors with JM Labs PS 10 dual subwoofers. ArgentPur cabling was used throughout.

When Jurewicz fired up the Empire Streamer (above) and Empire monoblocks (below), playing Roxy Music's…

SVS and its Prime Wireless Pro Soundbase

Last year's AXPONA brought the debut of SVS' Prime Wireless Pro active speakers ($899/pair). In the fall, I spent a couple of months listening to them, and came away impressed. "No sub-$1000 all-in-one system can attain anything close to perfection, but night after night the Prime Pros surprised me," I wrote in my review, praising their sonic balance and satisfying low-frequency extension.

The Ohio company recently launched a product that approaches streamable music from the other direction: What if you already have a good pair of speakers . . . and are in the market for a versatile,…

SOTA debuts new Quasar Turntable

I have long found it kind of disappointing that just a handful of companies still manufacture turntables in the United States, but SOTA is a true survivor, having delivered their first turntables way back in 1979.

At AXPONA, SOTA co-owner Donna Bodinet (above) was displaying their new Quasar model (below), which moves the suspension-less Urban product series a few steps upmarket. At $2995 without arm, it employs a new three-phase AC synchronous motor controlled by the Condor PSU developed by SOTA in cooperation with Phoenix Engineering, Unusually, 78rpm speed is included in addition to…

Alex Sound Technology Shows Japanese SET (Takatsuki) and Digital (Sforzato), & German loudspeakers (Blumenhofer Acoustics)

As an enterprising Stereophile reporter, I do my homework. When I saw that Alex Sound Technology, of Windermere, Florida, was bringing the gorgeous Japanese Takatsuki 300B TA-S01 SET amplifier ($32,000, 8Wpc, new to the USA), along with new Japanese brand Sforzato (below), including their DST-050EX network transport ($4600), DSC-030EX Zero Link DAC ($9900), DSP-030EX Network Player ($9900), and PMC-015EX Master Clock ($4990), plus the Blumenhofer Acoustics Genuin FS 2 Mk2 horn-loaded loudspeakers ($22,850/pair), a bee flew into my Southern man's bonnet and I requested room coverage to major…

Analogue Productions Vinyl Reissues Just Keep On Coming

Acoustic Sounds' Chad Kassem has every reason to look as happy as he does here, because this really has become a new golden age for vinyl, with so many high-quality reissues of classic albums on vinyl that it's hard to know where to start. Acoustic Sounds has established itself as one of the top players in this field with their Analogue Productions reissues, with series after series especially to tempt the jazz lover.

One recent project is Kassem's reissues of titles from the Contemporary Records catalog, recordings from the 1950s and '60s which have been praised by audiophiles for…

Analog (and Plinius) Matters!

The Analog Matters room, presented by Big Ear Consulting LLC and original AXPONA cofounder Steve Davis, debuted a variety of components, including the return of (wait for it) Plinius!

Ralph Abram of Plinius Audio Sales and Repair, and Plinius's own Johnny Harrison, were spinning The Beatles' Abbey Road on an Acoustic Signature Typhoon turntable ($17,995, below) with an Acoustic Signature TA 500 tonearm ($7895), running a Grado Aeon 3 phono cartridge ($6000). The sound was generally sweet and detailed, but muffled, and frankly, not loud enough for this New Yawker (see below).

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Mimic Audio's room with Ampsandsound, Acora, SW1X, VAC, TW Acustic, Charisma, and Cardas

Two months ago, at the Tampa audio show, I got better acquainted with Acora Acoustics and its flagship loudspeaker, the VRC. They made some of the most impressive music at the expo—as they should for a price north of 200 grand.

For 15% of that fortune, could an Acora speaker further down the line, like the SRC-1 ($35,000/pair), keep pace? I found out in Mimic Audio's dealer room on the hotel's 12th floor, where a high-level UN meeting of sorts was going on, with brands from four countries.

Acora's generously-chamfered, two-way bass-reflex columns, in white granite, had…

New Canadian Speaker Company Audio Craftsmen Makes its Debut

It’s always fun to see a new company making their first presentation to the public, and AXPONA 2023 marks the debut of Toronto, Canada-based Audio Craftsmen. Headed up by Thom Pahmer (above), the company showed four models, ranging in price from the Laval stand mount at $2699/pair, up to the floor standing flagship Halifax at $10,999/pair.

The Audio Craftsmen Victoria (left) and Halifax (right)

The Audio Craftsmen Kingston Completing the range there's the $7999/pair floor-standing Kingston, and the $5999/pair Victoria which has an attractive dedicated built-in stand…

Estelon and Vitus Audio Lead the Way with a Million Dollar System

Photo by Michael Trei

There's nothing quite like starting off the show with a million dollar system. Holding court in the huge Schaumburg D partition of the Convention Center, the imposing Estelon Extreme Mk II bi-amped loudspeakers ($269,000/pair) received their juice from two Vitus Audio MP-S201 Mk I stereo amplifiers ($230,000/total) via Crystal Cable Art Series cabling ($330,000). But they were just the start of a system where each amplifier required three power cables, put out up to 500W/pc into 8 ohms and 1000W into 4, and weighed more than I can type without getting back spasms. (…