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. (…
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Schofield, formerly of Krell, produced a bevy of smart gear (smart as in cool and hip, not Internet of Things smart) to bear on the AXPONA audience. Terry Medalen's Primare electronics from Sweden, including the Primare PRE 35 preamplifier ($5000, reviewed by Sasha Matson in April 2023), Primare A35.8 Amp, 150Wpc into 8 ohms, ($5500, reviewed by Kal Rubinson in November 2022), and Primare DD 35 Transport ($3800) relaxed my internal grouchy beast with their smooth sound and refined sonic beauty. A 432Evo Reference Music Server ($3500, below) served digits.
AntiCables including…
Jeffrey Catalano of Lower Manhattan lives in an ancient building near the South Street Seaport where ghosts of seaman and slaves mingle with investment bankers and tourists. Catalano's High Water Sound is the place where every New York City area audiophile dreams of being invited, cause it's here where this mad audio wizard (and former jazz drummer (1957 Ludwigs) and jazz LP collector, like moi) cooks up the magnificent sounds that appear, like magic, at every show where High Water Sound presents. Year after year, show after show, as consistent as Big Ben.
AXPONA 2023 was another…
I admit, I have my preferred rooms, my biases, at shows. Hey, I'm only human! One such joint is the Volti Audio, Border Patrol, Triode Wire Labs room commandeered, respectively, by Greg Roberts (right), Gary Dewes (left), and Triode Pete Grzybowski (center). I favorably reviewed one of Gary's SET Border Patrol amps, and use Greg and Pete's components in my system. So, when I hit their AXPONA room and saw a bust of Beethoven staring glumly at the rig, I asked "Who's the new guy?"
Greg responded, "I dreamt last night that a dude came in this very room and wounded me! (Greg took on…
Cambridge Audio CEO Stuart George arrived at AXPONA for the debut of the Cambridge Audio MXN10 streamer ($499). The faithful British brand's two hotel rooms were fairly jumping with interested "punters," I think that's a malleable Brit term one could use to describe audiophiles eager to hear more of this legacy brand that has for decades offered incredible value.
CA reps Matt Reilly and Charles Henderson took me through the paces of the MXN10 streamer, which they include in the "small box small format" category. Noting that "The Revolution Will be Streamed" on the Cambridge Audio…
Jay Rein (right) and Chad Stelly (left) of Bluebird Music Limited presented multiple debuts and US firsts at AXPONA, including a chance to meet SME CEO Stuart McNeilis (center), on hand for the first American spin of his newish SME Model 60 turntable ($71,900, below; Stereophile review by Michael Trei forthcoming).
It's always fun to meet gentlemen you've only known through emails, and with McNeilis, frankly, a true thrill and honor, turntable fiend that I am. McNeilis is walking analog history.
Along with the SME Model 60 turntable, the Bluebird show included…
Washington DC area distributor Notable Audio showcased products from Joseph Audio, Doshi Audio, J Sikora, Berkeley Audio Design, and Cardas Audio at AXPONA. Notable's Jeff Fox had put together an impressive system, with a mix of brands we have seen used together at many prior shows to great effect, only this time he used the best of everything to create a system that really sung.
On the analog side, the massive J Sikora Reference turntable ($47,000) was combined with their KV-MAX 9" tonearm ($11,750), and a Lyra Atlas SL Lambda cartridge ($12,995) amplified by the Doshi Audio…
Founded by Nelson Pass in 1974, Threshold is one of those companies audiophiles tend to take for granted. Best known for the much-imitated Stasis (sliding bias) amplifier designs, Threshold became one of the industry leaders during the early 1980s. Since then, they've been upstaged somewhat by such rivals as Krell and Mark Levinson, and the public's impression of the company's stability wasn't helped by the departure of several of its principals, including Nelson Pass (footnote 1). Although Threshold experienced success with some of their products in its lower-priced Forté line (notably the…
This was confirmed with some simple measurements: in the balanced mode, the voltage at the speaker terminals was down about 9dB at 25Hz compared to 1kHz; in the unbalanced mode, there was no significant difference. Checking with Tom Norton, who had already done the full set of measurements on another sample of the T-200, revealed the reason: in the balanced mode, the T-200 has a measured input impedance of under 1000 ohms—much lower than the typical 30–50k ohms—and the Sonic Frontiers SFL-2 was simply unable to drive such a low input impedance properly. (The T-200's unbalanced input…
Sidebar 1: System
I had the Threshold T-200 in my system, on and off, for more than eight months. For me, this is an unusually long evaluation period, necessitated by a variety of interruptions, including doing Home Theater reviews (for the Stereophile Guide to Home Theater, natch), and some Follow-Ups on other equipment. During this time, components in my system kept changing, with consequent need to "recalibrate" my ears. Unlike most amps I've had experience with, the T-200 didn't seem to require a break-in period—perhaps because the review sample had been listened to extensively at the…