Bel Canto, Pure Fidelity, YG
When I walked into this room, just before closing time on Sunday, the show’s last day, they were spinning vinyl. Two things are notable about that fact, at least to me.
Børresen / Audio Group Denmark from Next Level HiFi
It was hard to tell where distributor / dealer Next Level HiFi ended and Audio Group Denmark began. Or, vice-versa), it was equally hard to tell if more action was taking place in the room during the demo or in the hallway. Suffice to say, there was a lot of energy flowing, and all that talking made listening a challenge.
Cambridge Audio and Triangle
One question the Stereophile team asks in every AXPONA room we cover is, “Is any of the gear new?” The Cambridge Audio team wins a trophy this year—or would if there was a trophy. When I dropped in for a listen on the first day of the show, account manager Joseph Buechel told me that the Class AB CXA81 MkII integrated amplifier ($1199) was making its debut "today, right now."
DALI and NAD
The amiable and loquacious Jason Zidle is a product manager at Lenbrook, the Canadian company behind NAD and Bluesound. Lenbrook also imports Denmark’s storied DALI speakers. At the Renaissance hotel in Schaumburg, the star performers in the Lenbrook space are a handsome pair of just-launched DALI Epikore 11 floorstanders ($60,000/pair).
DeVore Fidelity
In the room operated by Brooklyn’s John DeVore, we time traveled to the 1940s and 50s as he spun pristine shellac 78s on an EMT turntable, playing through the world premieres of both his O/bronze Loudspeakers (30,000/pair) and the 7Wpc Komuro Amplifier Company K300S direct-coupled SET 300B stereo amplifier ($20,000).
Dynaudio, Octave, Moon, Grimm, Brinkmann, and Torus
It was great to hear monoblocks I'd just reviewed—the new, German-made Octave MRE 220 SE mono amplifiers ($28,500/pair) with their Super Black Box PSU upgrade modules ($7000/pair)—in the context of a different system.
Estelon, Crystal Cable, and Vitus Audio Knock our Socks Off
Distributor Aldo Filippeli of the Luxury Audio Group sure knows how to get the press’s attention. Schedule a room in the Convention Center that he can set up beforehand, invite the press to hour-long sessions before the show begins, and ensure that we come away fulfilled. When Alexander Vitus Mogensen, CEO of Vitus Audio, quipped, “This is the best sounding room at the show right now!” he was telling the truth. In all honesty, if it doesn’t turn out to be one of the top five best sounding rooms at AXPONA 2024, if not the best, I’ll be surprised.
Fidelity Imports, Perlisten, Primare, QED, Titan Audio
Steve Jain’s Fidelity Imports turned heads at AXPONA with a kaleidoscope of digital and analog sound, a few of which were home-theater focused. They filled no fewer than six rooms, each showcasing an array of products, new and less new, from all corners of the world.
Fidelity Imports, Ruark, Q Acoustics, Gold Note, QED
On the 12th floor of the Schaumburg Renaissance hotel, visitors found a cluster of Fidelity Imports rooms that highlighted one strong foreign brand after another.
Fidelity Imports, the Listening Room, Diptyque, Audia Flight, Titan, and QED
High-flying Fidelity Imports occupied seven rooms at AXPONA 2024—probably a show record. Since starting the company in 2018, industry veteran Steve Jain has signed up a bevy of brands from Italy, France, England, Japan, and beyond.