Jason Victor Serinus

In two adjacent rooms on the 14th floor of the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel, Innuos launched its latest Stream1 and Stream3 devices. Conceived as “the gateway to high-performance music,” the Stream series works with the Innuos Sense app. The app’s latest additions include a portal to the IDAGIO classical-music streaming service, Spotify Connect, Qobuz Connect, and more.

It was during a visit to my music room by five members of the small Off-Islanders Audio Society that the magic of the dCS Varèse Music System ($267,500 as reviewed; $305,000 with CD/SACD transport) became clear.

One member had requested the 24/192 version of "Splendido Sundance" from Saturday Night in San Francisco (24/192 FLAC, Columbia-Legacy/Qobuz), performed by Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, and Paco de Lucía and recorded live in the Warfield Theatre on December 6, 1980. I'd attended the unveiling of the LP remastering of this recording, presented by the album's co-executive producer, Abey Fon, in the Audio Reference room at High End Munich 2024. The system, which was first class, included a VPI Titan turntable, D'Agostino Relentless preamplifier and Relentless 800 mono amplifiers, a VTL TP-6.5 Series II Signature phono preamplifier, Wilson Audio XVX loudspeakers, Nordost cabling, a Stromtank power generator, and an unheard three-piece dCS Vivaldi APEX music system.

It was good to catch up with Eelco Grimm and John-Paul Lizars before sitting down to hear the Grimm Audio LS1c two-way active speaker system with SB1 motion-feedback subwoofer ($38,000–$44,150/pair, depending on finish and tariffs).

I’d heard Lithuania’s Silent Pound speakers paired with New Zealand’s Perreaux amplification at several audio shows in Warsaw. This year at AXPONA, the two companies brought that same transcontinental partnership to Illinois. It was my first encounter with Silent Pound’s flagship Challenger II floorstanders ($32,500–$36,150/pair, depending on finish), and they didn’t disappoint. The system also included Perreaux’s 300ix integrated amplifier ($9995), fronted by an Aurender A15 server/streamer/DAC ($8400). Cabling from Life Audio and Titan Audio, plus a Solid Tech Radius Solo 3 rack, completed the setup.

Aldo Filippelli of Luxury Audio Group brought essentially the same system he showed at the Florida Audio Expo, where Mark Henninger and Julie Mullins filed a comprehensive video report. Familiar or not, the performance was still superb.

At an early-morning breakfast, Michael Børresen, co-founder and chief designer of Audio Group Denmark, unveiled the Børresen M2 loudspeakers ($190,000/pair) and their companion Bass Modules (price to be announced). Also shown for the first time in North America was the Aavik R-880 phono preamplifier ($70,000), designed to work with DS Audio optical cartridges. The R-880 enables users to adjust high cut, low cut, and absolute phase on the fly.

Arturo Manzano, long a fan of Koetsu phono cartridges, has reassembled Koetsu’s original team of artisans to return the legendary brand to the international market.