AXPONA 2023

Sort By: Post DateTitle Publish Date
AXPONA 2023
Ayre Acoustics Debuts New VX-8 Stereo Power Amplifier
Ken Micallef  |  Apr 21, 2023  |  1 comments
Colorado's Ayre Acoustics jammed a big system into a small room at APXONA, wall-to-wall attendees barely leaving space for Ayre's president, designer, and Chief Ayre-Head Ariel Brown to press the flesh and discuss the gear.
Continue Reading »
AXPONA 2023
Bluebird Music Limited Brings SME, Fezz, AVM, Weiss, Canton to Chicago
Ken Micallef  |  Apr 16, 2023  |  0 comments
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; Stereophile review by Michael Trei forthcoming).
Continue Reading »
AXPONA 2023
Callas and SotM Surprise at AXPONA
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Apr 20, 2023  |  2 comments
As much as I was aware of the dizzying array of diminutive, Korean-made SOtM (Soul Of the Music) components, each identified by a different difficult-to-type assortment of upper and lower case letters plus numbers and dashes, I did not expect them to sound as good as they did. Allied to K Sound Lab's Callas Nostalgia Jr. loudspeakers ($26,990/pair), manufactured by a 25-year old company that is reportedly well known in Korea, the system displayed lovely colors, a rounded midrange, and enviable clarity on a file of "I am at Ease in the Arms of a Woman."
Continue Reading »
AXPONA 2023
Cambridge Audio: Great British Sound
Ken Micallef  |  Apr 16, 2023  |  3 comments
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.
Continue Reading »
AXPONA 2023
Devialet launches the Mania Bluetooth Speaker
Rogier van Bakel  |  Apr 16, 2023  |  4 comments
Picture this: the Devialet Phantom, reviewed by Jim Austin here, is suddenly sphere-shaped rather than pill-shaped. Now imagine shrinking it down to the girth of a fat grapefruit (or the size of a Cabasse iO3 speaker)—so, a little under 7" in diameter. The Phantom's push-push configuration remains the same, so you'll see the opposing drivers subjected to violent-looking excursions, tortured by brutal bass notes.

That's the gist of the Mania, a pocket-sized, battery-operated Devialet speaker (well, pocket-sized if you don't mind wearing cargo pants).

Continue Reading »
AXPONA 2023
Doshi Audio, Joseph Audio, J Sikora, Berkeley Audio Design, Cardas
Michael Trei  |  Apr 16, 2023  |  0 comments
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.
Continue Reading »
AXPONA 2023
Dynaudio and Octave Triumph over Acoustics at AXPONA
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Apr 24, 2023  |  0 comments
Air-walled exhibition rooms are one of the biggest challenges at audio shows. With no solid surfaces, many exhibitors in the large rooms on the first and second floors of the Schaumburg Convention Center had no choice but to struggle to put their best face forward.

Dynaudio and Octave probably had it better than most because, at the end of a row in Utopia D, presumably two of their walls were solid. Their sound on their biggest system certain was solid and all-of-one piece, yet extremely smooth. It had lots of life and flow, especially if you listened to LP and sat in the first row where the sound was at its tube splendor wettest and the low bass clearest.

Continue Reading »
AXPONA 2023
Estelon and Vitus Audio Lead the Way with a Million Dollar System
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Apr 15, 2023  |  5 comments
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. (Okay: Each weighs 125kg. I don't dare convert that to lb.)
Continue Reading »
AXPONA 2023
Fidelity Imports and Diptyque planar speakers with Audia Flight, Aurender
Rogier van Bakel  |  Apr 17, 2023  |  1 comments
Two months ago, at the audio expo in Tampa, I stumbled upon a pair of most intriguing French speakers. The $8000/pair Diptyque 107 is a medium-sized planar magnetic whose designers, Gilles Douziech and Eric Poix, make no secret of their love for Magnepan. All the same, the duo has sought to improve on that company's famed panel technology, mostly by addressing a perennial shortcoming of such dipoles: their lack of deep bass.
Continue Reading »
AXPONA 2023
Focal's Dolby Atmos Demo
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Apr 24, 2023  |  2 comments
Some believe that Dolby Atmos, Apple's spatial audio variant, and other immersive technologies are the wave of the future. While the best way to determine what the future will bring is to live long enough to render the future the present, Jim Austin and I independently dipped into Focal Naim's impressive self-contained 7.2.4. Dolby Atmos Theva exhibit, staged within their larger exhibit space, to get a taste of what's available right now.
Continue Reading »
AXPONA 2023
From Cali to Chitown: Zesto Audio & Reference Analog Debut the Eros Monoblocks at AXPONA
Ken Micallef  |  Apr 18, 2023  |  0 comments
As I think I wrote somewhere, it's one thing to hear equipment at a show, another thing to hear it at home. I meant to imply that, of course, at home is the only way to truly hear a piece, in your reference system.

But at AXPONA, where George Counnas (center) and Carolyn Counnas (right) debuted their new Zesto Audio Eros 500 Select KT-150 equipped, class-A monoblocks, with Zesto Audio's Leto Ultra II preamp, which I reviewed in January 2021, I was flummoxed at the beauty of sound, extravagance of liquidity and detail, and nearly spiritual physicality the system endowed to a variety of music.

Continue Reading »
AXPONA 2023
Grandinote's Gargantuan Soundstage
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Apr 24, 2023  |  0 comments
Grandinote owner/designer Massimiliano Magri (above) joined his North American distributor Reinhard Goerner at AXPONA for the premiere of the Grandinote Premier Mach 8XL loudspeaker ($30,800–$33,000/pair, depending upon finish). According to Grandinote's endearingly "English as a second language" website, the Mach 8XL's eight full-range drivers utilize a special treatment behind the drivers' membranes that prevents cone break-up. The drivers roll-off above 13kHz, allowing a super tweeter that handles harmonics above 7kHz to come to the fore. Rather than employing a crossover—the Mach 8XL has none—drivers are modified to create "a solution in the middle between bass reflex and transmission line."
Continue Reading »
AXPONA 2023
Grimm Audio brings an improved version of its LS1 active speakers to the US
Rogier van Bakel  |  Apr 17, 2023  |  1 comments
If you're like me and the topic turns to active speakers, you'll probably think of affordable products. Maybe the mighty $649 Vanatoo Transparent One Encore comes to mind, or the sub-$1000 powerhouse that is a pair of SVS Prime Pro wireless speakers. The KEF LS50W is a strong contender even at $2800, and if your budget allows, you might consider Buchardt A5s ($3900/pair).
Continue Reading »
AXPONA 2023
Hear This with WestminsterLab and Von Schweikert Audio
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Apr 20, 2023  |  1 comments
Several surprises awaited in the AXPONA room sponsored by Gary Leeds's Hear This, North American distributor of WestminsterLab, and Von Schweikert Audio in association with Lampizator, NA and Small Green Computer. (Bonus points if you can read that out loud on one breath.) First was the "hard launch" of equipment from WestminsterLab: the Rei monoblock ($32,900/pair), which despite the title is not recommended for summer hikes in Yosemite, and Quest balanced preamplifier with full carbon-fiber component shielding upgrade ($25,100, or $22,900 in basic configuration). Next were the speakers—not the usual behemoths usually transported to shows by Von Schweikert Audio, but rather their smaller Endeavor SE ($27,000/pair plus eight Critical Mass Systems footers that cost $650 each).
Continue Reading »
AXPONA 2023
High Water Sound's Sounds of Joy with TW Acustic Raven and Cessaro Horn Acoustics
Ken Micallef  |  Apr 16, 2023  |  1 comments
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.
Continue Reading »

Pages

X