AXPONA 2022

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AXPONA 2022
JS Audio's Original WAMMs at AXPONA
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Apr 29, 2022  |  6 comments
There was one room at AXPONA where I was too in awe to take notes. In shock is more like it. The brothers who own JS Audio have acquired and restored the very first pair of WAMM loudspeakers that the late Dave Wilson began to manufacture in 1981. It seems that after living with the model for a few months, Dave's other half in the truest sense, his beloved wife and life partner Sheryl Lee preferred a different cabinet color for their living room and encouraged him to move this pair along. (If I've got that wrong, please forgive me.)
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AXPONA 2022
Krell's New Amplifier with the Estelon Forza
Rogier van Bakel  |  Apr 22, 2022  |  1 comments
The night before AXPONA's official kickoff, Krell's director of product development, Dave Goodman, was still assembling the latest offering from Connecticut's solid-state powerhouse: the yet-to-be-released KSA i400. (With that model name, no prizes for guessing the number of watts per channel.) The Krell and its associated components were set up in a large, cube-like room—on paper, far from ideal acoustically. But what resulted on Friday morning sounded powerful and impressive. I don't mean to say that anything was excessively muscular. Effortless, poised, and relaxed though? You'd best believe it.
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AXPONA 2022
Kyomi Audio's MBL Rooms
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Apr 26, 2022  |  1 comments
Warm, coherent, magical—all those descriptors came to mind as I listened to a system that, for me, defined the essence of the high-end experience. In the first of Kyomi Audio of Chicago's two stellar-sounding rooms, MBL's Jeremy Bryan ensured that MBL's imposing 101 E MKII full-range Radiastrahler omnidirectional loudspeaker system ($84,500/pair) would perform their fabled disappearing act.
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AXPONA 2022
Kyomi Audio, Ideon, Audio Skies, JMF, Stealth, Vivid, and Finite Elemente
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Apr 28, 2022  |  0 comments
I wasn't the only reviewer who sought Nirvana in the large 16th floor Aster Presidential Suite jointly sponsored by retailer Kyomi Audio of Chicago, Audio Skies distribution, and Stealth Audio Cables. On Sunday morning, less than eight hours after many members of the press hung out in the room until 2AM, several returned for yet another fix.
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AXPONA 2022
Legacy Audio Loudspeakers at AXPONA
Ken Micallef  |  Apr 23, 2022  |  0 comments
Bill Duddleston brought not one, but four of his Legacy Audio systems to Axpona, where he mixed and matched components, but each system was largely unique, especially in the loudspeaker complement.
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AXPONA 2022
Lenbrook: DALI, NAD, Bluesound
Julie Mullins  |  Apr 30, 2022  |  2 comments
Lenbrook of Canada has several modern hi-fi brands under its "umbrella," and I had the chance to check out some of the latest wares from DALI, NAD, and Bluesound in room 729 at AXPONA.
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AXPONA 2022
Linear Tube Audio, DeVore Fidelity, Spatial Audio, LampizatOr, HoloAudio/KitsunéHiFi, Cardas, Anticables
Ken Micallef  |  Apr 24, 2022  |  0 comments
A consistent player both at shows and in the hi-fi world, Linear Tube Audio's Nicholas Tolson brought smart, sparse rigs to two AXPONA rooms that played great music.
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AXPONA 2022
Luxman America & Magico
Ken Micallef  |  Apr 23, 2022  |  0 comments
Peter Mackay of Magico Loudspeakers (pictured above) and Jeffrey Sigmund and John Pravel of Luxman America brought a fantastic-sounding system to the Prosperity room. Exceptional scale, resolution, depth, dynamics, precision, and juicy tone could all be heard—audio prosperity of the highest order.
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AXPONA 2022
Magnepan's giant-killer upgrade, the $995/pair LRS+
Rogier van Bakel  |  Apr 23, 2022  |  1 comments
After a few hours of listening to speakers that cost well into the five and six figures, how much enthusiasm could I muster for a pair that retails for just $995? As it turns out, a lot. I'd heard the $750/pair Magnepan LRS a few years ago and marveled at how low the admission price to true high-end sonics can be. They sounded fast, surefooted, and transparent. Magnepan's new LRS+ speakers offer more of the same but at an elevated level and a slightly elevated price. Wendell Diller, a.k.a. Mr. Magnepan, calls them "higher-resolution" speakers.
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AXPONA 2022
Malbork Audio with Moon Audio W-5 and Sonos Port (!)
Julie Mullins  |  Apr 27, 2022  |  21 comments
From a new company came a new loudspeaker design that was four years in the making—thanks in part to the pandemic. But COVID downtime gave Malbork Audio founder and designer Daniel Fajkis (above) one advantage: more time to refine his inaugural Malbork Warsaw loudspeaker design through more math and engineering and simulations, Fajkis told me.
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AXPONA 2022
Marten, European Audio Team (E.A.T), Ayre Acoustics, Audio Physic, Ferrum, Shion, Atlas Cables, Jorma
Ken Micallef  |  Apr 26, 2022  |  1 comments
I've been a fan of European Audio Team electronics since I reviewed the fantastic E.A.T. E-Glo I integrated amplifier in the December 2020 issue of Stereophile. Unfortunately, that mighty tube treat wasn't present at AXPONA, but Vana Ltd. importer, CTO Roy Feldstein, told me to chill. He had more E.A.T tricks up his sleeve.
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AXPONA 2022
MoFi Distribution, HiFi Rose, Piega, Cardas, IsoTek
Julie Mullins  |  Apr 25, 2022  |  1 comments
As MoFi Distribution is based in the Chicagoland area, it's no surprise they go all out at their hometown AXPONA. They packed the house with exhibits in four rooms featuring plenty of debuts, so I'll divvy my coverage into a couple of parts.

But first, some big news. Illustrious loudspeaker designer Andrew Jones, known for his work for Pioneer, ELAC, and other companies, has joined with MoFi Distribution. Word is, Andrew will be designing a speaker to round out MoFi's own system lineup.

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AXPONA 2022News
MoFi Distribution, Part 3: Piega Ace Wireless and Premium Wireless speakers
Julie Mullins  |  May 01, 2022  |  0 comments

In addition to exhibiting a plethora of "classic" hi-fi gear, MoFi Distribution introduced a modern lifestyle system in Suite 340: the new Piega Ace Wireless series.

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AXPONA 2022New ProductsNews
MoFi Distribution, Part 4: Wharfedale, BAT, MoFi x Fender
Julie Mullins  |  May 01, 2022  |  First Published: May 02, 2022  |  1 comments

The MoFi Distribution classic gear fun continued in Suite 346, with two pairs of Wharfedale Heritage Linton speakers ($1799/pair), stacked, with the one on top inverted so that the two tweeters were in the middle. One Wharfedale Linton stand ($399/pair) supported each side's stack.

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AXPONA 2022
More Magico/Luxman
Rogier van Bakel  |  Apr 24, 2022  |  0 comments
For two years now, pandemic-related supply-chain issues have racked (but not wrecked) the high-end industry. Things still aren't back to normal, and sometimes planned product launches have to be pushed back. Today, when I visited the room featuring Magico loudpeakers and Luxman electronics—see KM's report here—I found out we'll have to wait just a little longer for the next Magico speaker, but I can't imagine that anyone was disappointed when the company's Peter Mackay brought the M6s ($185,000/pair) to AXPONA. A known quantity they may be—the product was introduced five years ago—but I was whistling Eric Clapton's "Hello Old Friend" as soon as I saw them.
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