AXPONA 2026: Bring the Equipment and They Shall Come

Last year's big story was AXPONA 15^th anniversary! This year's "Headline News" is hands down AXPONA's earth shattering attendance! A remarkable accomplishment for any high-end show, North American or otherwise! (Hold the presses: Just as we went to press JD Events announced the sale of AXPONA to Henry Wu, owner of Sound and Fury LLC.) 2026 saw,; 1) A jaw dropping 15% increase in foot traffic; 2) A reported attendance figure of 12,546; and 3) A sizable increase in the number of Gen-Z'ers exploring the halls of the Rennaissance Schaumburg Hotel and Convention Center. Bes Niviera's (Music Direct) spots on local Chicago TV morning shows Without a doubt contributed to AXPONA's success. Foot traffic was way up from the opening bell on Friday; Saturday proved the mother of all attendance; Sunday saw still shockingly packed rooms. This year's show featured a mind boggling 235 listening rooms spread out over 12 floors representing 750 manufacturers, retailers, distributors and brands. There was live music galore including performances by up-and-coming jazz pianist Caellen Cordello on Friday night and Wireworld Cables sponsored American singer-songwriter Amber Rubath on Saturday night.

That was the good news. Now for the bad news. The increased foot traffic, unfortunately, only exacerbated the pre-existing elevator problem. That was despite the show organizers' best efforts (it was a good idea that just didn't pan out) reserving one bank of three elevators for floors 3 to 7 and the other bank of three elevators for floors 11 to 16. Wait time for the elevators—despite my best planning—was often as long as 15 minutes. Others shared experiencing even longer elevator wait times. So as always, the best strategy was to start on the 16^th floor of the tower and work your way down using the stairs to the rooms on the 3^rd floor.

That wasn't the end of the bad news. Some exhibitors faced another unexpected (and unwanted) hurdle upon arrival. The Renaissance Schaumburg had, for unknown reasons, completely or partially removed the rugs in their rooms. That made for—particularly for those exhibitors using the same room year in and year out—especially challenging acoustics. One long-time exhibitor shared they had to completely reposition their speakers [from last year] to optimize the sound.

Lastly, I don't want to come across as whiney but there were a few things at AXPONA that drove me bonkers. Number one were those people who, for some unexplained reason, felt the necessity to park themselves in front of the speakers and inspect the drivers while the music was playing. Did they see something the rest of us missed? Were they having an "Aha" moment? Another thing that drove me batty were people parked in the sweet spot, clearly not listening and just texting on their phones. Sadly, no different than those people taking up a piece of equipment at the gym and texting. Equally annoying but hardly new were those people chatting loudly while music was playing. Like they would tolerate that sort of behavior at home. Then there were those people who sat there and rustled papers. No doubt the same people who do that at concerts, too. Finally, there were those people who decided to splay their legs apart like they were on their living room couch watching Friday Night Fights with a Bud in their hand while occupying two front row seats in the listening room.

On the other hand, I encountered many incredibly nice and interesting audiophiles over the course of this year's AXPONA! For instance, one gentleman in the Bliss Audio room mentioned during the Gary Karr Kol Nidrei LP that he had performed this piece for his examinations. Respect. Another group consisted of audiophiles couldn't wait to share with me stories about their reel-to-reel tape decks and tapes. Not forgetting our annual audionirvana.org breakfast meet-up either! There was an undeniable sense of community spirit at AXPONA 2026.

Musical Choices

As always, I carried around in my now vintage Classic Records record bag a few familiar recordings currently making the rounds at home to better gauge each room's sound. They included;

Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D, Munch/Heifetz, RCA/Analogue Productions (45 rpm)
Billy Cobham: Spectrum, Atlantic/Analogue Productions (45 rpm)
Brian Auger and The Oblivion Express: Straight Ahead, all analog Soul Bank SBM020 reissue (33 rpm)
Ella Fitzgerald: Let No Man Write My Epitaph, Verve/Classic Records reissue (33 rpm)
Crystal Gayle and Tom Waits: One From The Heart (original release) (33 rpm)
Gary Karr: Kol Nidrei, Analogphonic reissue (33 rpm)
Holly Cole: Temptation, Alert Records, CD (red book)
Robert Hohner Percussion Ensemble: Different Strokes, DMP, CD (recorded in DSD)

Best of the Show Seminars/Talks

Some quick shout outs before getting to the sound of the rooms, exciting new equipment and what rooms got my blood boiling! AXPONA and several exhibitors organized quite a few interesting talks and seminars all three days of the show. My favorite talk was co-sponsored by VTL and Nordost and featured noted recording engineer Igor Fiorini (VDM Sound Group in Italy) discussing and playing live examples of the process he goes through when recording a piano. Some of things that Igor covered in his presentation included the choice of, number of (the audience listened to examples with number of microphones) and placement of the microphones, the sounds of different pianos (!) and how they have changed from decade-to-decade and some of the voodoo recording engineers go through to get the best sound. One interesting observation that he shared with the packed house was that, "touch goes better with digital, the sound of the playing with analog." Plenty of things that I—and sure the audience, too—weren't aware of!

Another seminar that caught my attention—this time while grabbing a quick bite in the marketplace—was presented by James Lindenschmidt, VP Acoustic Design, GIK Acoustics on room acoustics. James' information packed talk covered both the basics of room acoustics and examples of how to effectively use absorption, reflection and diffusion to address room acoustic problems and more advanced and involved room treatments. A presentation with something for everyone and hopefully James repeats his talk at next year's AXPONA high-end audio show!

Friday

The show kicked off with Audio Research's 9 AM preshow press event where the company debuted two new, all tube, audio components. The key here was a return to Audio Research's tube roots! These included ARC's new, single chassis, $48K, Reference 20 vacuum tube preamplifier (replaces the Ref. 10) and 80 wpc, $23K, Reference 80X stereo tube amplifier. Rounding out the rest of the system were Acora Acoustics's new, all marble, MRC5 speakers (the special edition Acora Acoustics MRC 5.2 D speakers with diamond tweeters were downstairs in the ballroom) and Ideon Audio's new $192 K Axiom DAC. The objective of the new products was according to ARC Sales Manager Alan Haggar, "Reasonable price range for the budding audiophile."

The listening portion of the press conference began with the 1993 Reference Recording release featuring The Turtle Creek Chorale, The Women's Chorus of Dallas and Tim Seelig performing John Rutter's Requiem: III. Pie Jesu. The system's low end was extremely impressive for tube electronics. Spatial recreation was also very good though the room limited the soundstaging and layering. The hosts followed up with several other tasty cuts including 1991 remix of Kraftwerk's "The Robots," The Doors "Riders on the Storm' in 192K, and pianist Arthur Pizaro performing Beehoven's Piano Sonata No, 8 in C minor, Op. 13 "Pathetique" Solo piano in 96K. The Kraftwerk cut stood out from the lot for its dynamics, bass and overall control.

And just like that, the hour had passed and it was time to move on. The game plan was big ballrooms first, then onto the tower starting with the 16^th floor. Or so I thought. As ex-heavyweight champ Mike Tyson once said, "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." I was expecting a leisurely stroll down the corridors on Friday and was totally unprepared for what awaited me. Namely the onslaught of the crowds... .

Command Performance AV

Joseph Audio Pearl Graphene Ultra speakers, $52K; Joseph Audio Pulsare Graphene speakers, $10K; Doshi Audio Evolution monoblock amplifiers, $48K; Doshi Audio Evolution stereo amplifier, $25K; Doshi Audio Evolution preamplifier, $24K; Doshi Audio Evolution phonostage, $24K; J. Sikora Supreme Max turntable, $49K, (first US demo) Sikora Aspire turntable with Aspire tonearm, $10.6K; J. Sikora KV 12 Max tonearm, $14.5K; Aidas Malachite Tru-Stone, $7K; Cardas Audio Clear Beyond cabling

The room and speakers were set-up a bit differently than at past AXPONA shows (in part due to address comments about the bass at last year's show). The new setup produced a much bigger and spacious sound on something like Mancini's The Pink Panther. The main limitation on day one was a little bit of dynamic constriction and politeness that disappeared by the end of the show. This was also the first live action for J. Sikora's new entry level at a North American show. No surprise. The sound had improved by Sunday at which time Nick, Jeff and Robert decided to insert the smaller Joseph Audio Pulsare Graphene speakers driven by Nick Doshi's stereo tube amplifier into the system. That change brought even bigger sound with more clarity and excitement.

YG Acoustics/Simaudio

(New) YG Titan speakers, $910K (nickel finish), $889K (passive), $1,000,000 (active); Moon by Simaudio 888 monoblock amplifiers, $60K each; Moon by Simaudio 850P preamplifier, $36K; Moon by Simaudio 810LP phono preamplifier, $13,500; Taiko Audio Olympus server, $95K; Taiko Audio Olympus I/O, $32K; AMG Forte w/Engraved finish, $38.5K; AMG Silverclear to arm cable, $3400; Benz Micro LP-S MC cartridge, $6000; AudioQuest Lone Ranger, Firebird and Bigfoot cabling

What a sight! Speakers the size of a Saturn V rocket powered by a bank of amplifiers putting out 888 wpc per pair.

This AXPONA 2026 show marked the North American debut of YG Audio's mega massive 1200 pound per side, Titan speakers displayed in a resplendent nickel finish. The Titans represent YG's first entry in a new ultimate speaker line above Reference. Chief among the design considerations is the use of a seven driver symmetrical array (phase aligned to emulate a true point source) and using a wave guide to combat diffraction effects. The speaker's baffles alone are four inches thick and the cabinets consist of five layers of aerospace grade Aluminum consisting of different alloys each with a with different stiffness. The crossover is fully external and the speakers can be run in a fully passive or active mode. Here, there were 1000 watts available for each driver and the bass was self-powered at the show. This speaker reach 16 Hz and is DSP controlled to gain match to amplifiers and solve room issues. Unfortunately, the turntable wasn't working when I visited so couldn't get a good read on the system.

AudioShield

Raidho TD3.10 speakers, $139K; EMM Labs MTRX1 V2 monoblock amplifiers, $115K; EMM Labs PREi preamplifier, $28.9K; EMM Labs DS-EQ V2 optical equalizer, $13.4K; EMM Labs DA2i stereo DA integrated converter, $35K; EMM Labs TXi transport, $13.5K; Pink Faun 216 Dual Ultra streamer, $85K; Technics turntable; DS Audio Grand Master Extreme cartridge, $25K; Assorted Kimber Kables including Palladian power cords, KS6068 speaker cables and Neo Ag interconnects

Next Level Hi-Fi

Borrensen C3 speakers, $40K; Aavik P-588 power amplifier, $30K, Aavik I-588 integrated amplifier, $50K; Aavik SD-588 streamer/DAC, $30K; Ansuz cabling

I always find the Borrensen speaker/Aavik electronics rooms fascinating. The systems are very clean, fast and hard hitting. At the same time, I pine for a bit more harmonic complexity, dimensionality and soul to the music. Oh yes, the speakers were—at least in this room—extremely suhweet spot sensitive.

Rhythm Distribution: Marten/Luxman

Marten Parker Quintet speakers, $49K; (New) Luxman L-100 Centennial integrated amplifier, $12K; (New) Luxman D-100 Centennial SACD/DAC player, $19K; Luxman NT-07 Streaming transport, $9K; Luxman E-07 phono amplifier, $8K; PD-191A turntable, $14.5K; Luxman LMC-5 MC cartridge, $3K; Jorma Unity cabling

First impressions proved misleading here. My initial reaction hearing an unfamiliar solo piano piece was that the sound was constricted, congested and veiled. Then I tracked down one of the room's hosts who allowed me to listen to my two CDs. First up was "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" from Holly Cole's Temptation album. Soundstaging, palpability and instrumental nuances instantly improved. At the same time, there was some loss of the breathiness of her voice as well as overall ambience. Next up was the Tom Jung/DMP recording Different Strokes starring the Robert Hohner Percussion Ensemble. Here too, the sound displayed more resolution, viscerality, dynamic attack and staging. Clearly not as cold sounding as the piano recording.

Rhythm Distribution: Goldmund/Marten (Utopia Lounge)

Marten Coltrane Quintet Extreme speakers, $510k; (New) Goldmund Telos 8800 monoblock amplifiers, $790K; (New) Goldmund Mimesis Reference preamplifier, $159K; MSB Cascade DAC, $96K; Lumin U2X streaming transport, $10.5K; (New) Jorma Paragon (flagship line) and Origo cables

Oh my! How I would have liked to hear this system in a real room! (Sadly, rooms that could handle a system like this are as rare as hen's teeth.) Goldmund's Telos 8800 monoblocks are monstrous: 1400 wpc per channel into 8 ohms and 583 pounds per side. And the amplifier's were almost as big as the speakers they were driving and weighed more. Something that you don't see too often!

Acora speakers/VAC electronics/MIBS

Large System 1: (New) Acora Acoustics MRC 5.2D (diamond tweeter) speakers, Starting at $58K (new); VAC Master 300 iQ Mk II Musicbloc power amplifiers, $50K each; VAC Statement linestage, $94K; VAC Statement phonostage, $94K; Swedish Analog Technologies (SAT) record playing system (SAT CF-1-09 tonearm/Seismion Reactio2 SAT Isolation base), $384K; Lyra Atlas Lambda cartridge, $14.5K; Cardas Clear and Clear Beyond cabling

Smaller System 2: Acora Acoustics MRB speakers, from $10K; VAC Sigma 172 iQ integrated amplifier, from $15K; VPI Avenger Direct drive turntable with arm, $60K; Aurender A20 streaming DAC, $16.5K; Cardas cabling

Another room with heavy duty action going on here beginning with Acora Acoustic's new, top-of-the-MRC line, 5.2D speakers. Same room, wide speaker setup, and sonic attributes as last year's show. Except that the sound was better at this year's AXPONA . Yes, instruments on the outside edge/front of the soundstage still tended to sit in the speakers and their size was compressed. That aside, the system's character was more robust without the slight thinness of last year. Overall, the sound was musical, fast and clean. Not a shred of hangover or smearing going on here. Rock/fusion music like Brian Auger's "Straight Ahead" had great drive and the best recordings like Munch, the Boston Symphony and Heifetz performing Beethoven simply filled the room with sound. Still, I am curious how the speakers would sound just slightly toed in?

Lastly on the Swedish Analog Technologies news front. This highly regarded turntable and tonearm manufacturer will be introducing some new tonearm models soon including a special edition of my reference LM-12 tonearm. Oh goody.

Fidelity Imports

Perlisten S7t Black Edition speakers, $30K; Perlisten D8is In/On wall subwoofer, $22K each; Audia Flight Strumento No 8 Signature monoblock amplifiers, $50K each; Audia Flight No 1 Signature preamplifier, $50K, Matrix Audio MS-1 streamer, $10K

I always experience a gentle nostalgic twinge everytime I'm in the company of Audia Flight electronics. Ten years ago, I had the pleasure of reviewing Audia Flight's original 250-pound Strumento No. 4 stereo amplifier. Here was the very first solid-state amplifier that I could live with on a long-term basis. Perhaps it was the experience that sent me down the solid-state trail. (plus my cats loved—often forming a waiting line—to sleep on the extremely hot running amplifier!)

The Fidelity Imports room was analog-free so I had to make do with streaming. So after listening to the Kenny Garrett track, they graciously played that old Bela Fleck and Victor Wooten ‘90s audiophile and show favorite "Flight of the Cosmic Hippo" from the album of the same name. The recording as always exhibited a large soundstage with great width and depth. Victor Wooten's electric bass plunged the depths but his instrument didn't have its usual snap. Tonally, the system was a little to the warm and rich side of neutral. Overall, a fun room.

Wynn Audio

(New) Avalos Ola Speakers, $230K; Karan Acoustics POWERa mono amplifier, $139K; Karan Acoustics LINEa preamplifier, $54K; Karan Acoustics PHONOa phono preamplifier, $51K; Thiele TT-01 turntable with TA-01 Zero Tracking Error tonearm, $32.5K; Kalista Dream Play XC SACD/CD player (with streamer and volume control), $101K; Fone Acustica cables, Entreq Olympus Hero Groundbox, $24.5K

Wynn Wong, unfortunately, was out of the room when I dropped by. So, unfortunately, I couldn't get obtain any information on the speakers or hear any familiar music.

Luxury Audio Group

Estelon Extreme MkII speakers (with remote adjustments), $340K, Vitus Audio Signature monoblock amplifiers SM-103 (2 amps per speaker for biamping), Vitus Audio Signature linestage SL-103, Vitus Audio Signature DAC SD-025, Grand total: $248K; Taiko Olympus Music server/ streamer (plus Taiko router, fiber drive, etc.), $95K; Sonorus reel-to-reel tape deck, $35K; Audio Realignment Technologies (ART) EMI Absorbing Devices, $220K (est.), (New) Crystal Cable Infinite Dream and Art Series DaVinci cables, approximate total system price: $2.1 million dollars

Estelon Extremes and Vitus Audio electronics sounded extremely good this year. Perhaps even better than last year? Certainly, that was the case when it came to the lower frequencies. The sound was cleaner, more transparent and sharper. I suspect part of the sonic improvement was placing all the electronics on the Seismion Reactio 2 isolation platforms. One area where the system could have performed a little better—like many of the rooms at AXPONA —was spatiality. For instance, there was a little loss of the breathiness of Malia's voice and overall spatial recreation. But ever so musically engaging!

AXISS Audio/Gauder Acoustics/Accuphase

Gauder Akustik DARC-240 speakers, $190K; Accuphase A-100 (4), $25K; Accuphase C-3900S, $40K; Accuphase C-57, $14K; Transrotor Rondino Nero, $21K; Glanzlab MH-12 Katana tonearm, $40K; (New) Koetsu Onyx cartridge, $15K; Tara Labs Zero EV. Omega SP and Muse cabling, Telos power including (New) Foundation Ground Core

Another room where my first impression was tainted by the music being played. Then the room's hosts pulled up Yosi Horikawa's "Bubbles" and the sound became much cleaner, transparent and resolving. The soundstage filled the room; there was just a little solid-state taint here. But somehow my attention and eyes were drawn to the massive TARA Labs speaker cables.

Then we spun the new 45-rpm Acoustic Sounds/Atlantic 75 reissue of Billy Cobham's Spectrum on the Transrotor (Spectrum is one of the highlights of the Atlantic 75 series!). Now the system's effortless speed, resolution, punch and dynamics started to emerge. Cobham's cymbals, though, sounded a touch splashy on the system.

The "new" Koetsu Onyx Sapphire sounded very nice with looks to match. On display was a unique—one of four, in fact—Onyx Sapphire cartridge without the usual stone body striations. Consequently, the cartridge's inner guts were on full display.

American Sound (Main system)

Avantgarde Trio G3 Horns (passive), $135,000/pair; Avantgarde Twin Subs (built in 1000-watt amplifier) $75,000/pair; Air Tight ATM-3211 Mono tube power amplifiers (powering the horns), $ 99,975/pair; Air Tight ATC-7 tube preamplifier, $ 34,975; Air Tight ATE-3011 tube phono stage, $35K; Air Tight ATH-3e step up transformer, $4,575; Wadax Studio Player $41K; Wadax Clock, $28.5K; Wadax PSU, $30K; Wadax Akasa DC studio cables (x2) $6500 each; SME 60 turntable and arm, $85K; (New) Analog Relax EX-700 wood body cartridge, $8,600; Transparent Audio interconnect cables

On static display: Air Tight ATM-2211 Mono amps, ATM-300R, ATM-2+, ATM-1E, ATE-5, ATC6

The first thing that comes to my mind seeing the big Avantgarde horns is that Woody Allen line from Annie Hall where Annie asks Alvy to kill that bug in her bathroom that's, "big as a Buick."

This year I hit the Lotto and was finally able to wrangle that primo, middle seat. Even in this show room setup, there's plenty of depth on orchestral music. Air Tight electronics are not just easy on but soothing to the ears. That smoothness was there in spades with the now classic "Private Investigations" track from Dire Strait's Love Over Gold. There's no mistaking—whatever you think of the Avantgarde speakers—the speaker's sense of ease. The Avantgarde's display an unforced sense of ease on even the most demanding passages from Phil Collins/Miami Vice "In The Air Tonight." This results in the end in a very immersive experience. Not something that's often said about stereo systems. Overall, I just wished for a little more on the resolution and nuance front.

American Sound (smaller system)

Avantgarde Opus 1 speakers, $18,500/pair (new full active model); Grimm Mu2- DAC/Preamplifier/Streamer, $26K; Synthesis power cords: $880 (3 meters); Transparent Line conditioner, $4000; Static display: Avantgarde Zero Itron (in white), $33,000/pair

GTT Audio

(US premiere) Vivid Audio Giya G1 Spirit Cu, $114K; Audionet Schrodinger monoblock amplifiers, $71K/pair; Audionet Mach preamplifier, $37K; Audionet PAM G2 phonostage, $10K and Ampere power supply, $11K; Kronos Perpetual turntable, $70K; Kronos Discovery RS tonearm, $24K; My Sonic Lab Signature Platinum cartridge, $11K; Kronos P-SCPS power supply, $20K; All Kubala-Sosna Ovation cabling and (US premiere) Xpander 2

Bill Parrish of GTT Audio always brings his "A" game to audio shows and this year was no exception. Despite the hotel taking up the carpeting in his hotel room.

Bill is the consummate gentleman and more than happy to play any albums that I've brought along. Of the three LPs (Gary Karr's performing Max Bruch's Kol Nidrei, Tom Waits and Crystal Gayle's One From the Heart and Brian Auger's Straight Ahead), the one that best showcased the system was Gary Karr's Kol Nidrei. Terrific double bass control, detail and tone. There was absolutely no bloat to the double bass nor shifting of image. At the same time, Harmon Lewis' organ totally energized the recording space and added weight and elegance to the Bruch piece.

GTT Audio (smaller room)

Vivid Audio Kaya K-45 speakers, $23K; True Life Audio integrated amplifier, $62K; Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC, $15K

Joe Kubala of Kubala-Sosna played DJ in GTT's second, smaller room! The VIVID speaker genes were on display here and the system demonstrated good speed, resolution and delicacy. I just wished for a little more performer and instrumental palpability. Holly Cole's "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" (streamed here through the Mola-Mola) was very smooth and airy with good bass transients. The All-Star Percussion Ensemble was exciting, exceptionally fast and punchy.

Magico

(New) Magico S7 Mk. 2 speakers, $135K; Pilium Cronus monoblock amplifiers, $135K; Pilium Olympus preamplifier, $80K; DCS digital, Studer 810 reel-to-reel wired out to Doshi Audio EVO tape stage (setup by Nick Doshi)

Magico "downsized" the system but not the sound this year. (Last year Magico brought the monstrous M9 speakers.) On display at AXPONA were the latest version of Magico's S7 Mk. 2 driven by Pilium electronics from Greece. I wish, though, Magico had played some reel-to-reel tapes on the system.

ReVox

Aretai Contra 100S speakers with Walnut waveguide, $13K; ReVox StudioMaster M500 integrated amplifier, $4800; ReVox B77 MkIII reel-to-reel tape machine, $28K; ReVox T77 turntable, $8950; Ortofon Black S, $7K, Transparent and Cardas Cables, Puritan power conditioning

The hit of the ReVox room wasn't the equipment but the soon to be released (at the Vienna high-end show) live recording of Terry Evans and Hans Theesink's The Analog Reunion Vienna on 15-ips tape. Volker Lange of Revox recorded The Analog Reunion Vienna shortly before Evans' passing in 2017. The tape sounded wonderful with a lucious midrange and abundance of natural instrumental decay. The Analog Reunion Vienna brought back memories of that outstanding Horch House tape release of Hans Theesink and Terry's Evans' Delta Blues!

It's amazing how 15-ips tape makes even the simplest systems sound like a million dollars and for whatever the reason, this was the best the ReVox room has sounded at AXPONA . The system possessed a sense of ease, transparency and realness lacking at past Axponas. Real freedom and ease on this tape.

Monarch Audio Systems

Audio Physic Tempo SL Reference speakers, $9400; (New) B. audio Alpha One integrated streaming amplifier with phonostage, $20K; (New) SME Model 8 turntable with 9-inch Model 309 tonearm, $10.8K

Antal Audio Group

Borrensen Speakers; Electrocompaniet AW800 NEMO 2 amplifier (used in stereo), $24K; (New) Electrocompaniet 5 preamplifier, $25.5K; Electrocompaniet ECP2 Mk 2 phono amp, $3200; Electrocompaniet ECM1 Mk2 media center, $6000; Soulines TT42 turntable, $15K (special order); Ansuz cabling

Electrocompaniet showed at AXPONA for the first time in an exceptionally long time. The highlight of the room was the debut of Electrocompaniet's new Model 5 preamplifier. Ten years of R&D went into the fully discrete, dual mono design with independent Class-A power supplies for each channel Electrocompaniet 5 preamplifier.

Altec Lansing

Altec Lansing Ribbonacci Reference speakers, $119K/pair; Altec Lansing Ripole woofers with DSP amplifier, $7500 each; Infigo Audio Method 3 monoblock amplifiers, $60K/pair; Infigo Audio Method 7 preamplifier, $22K; Infigo Audio Method 4 DAC, $35K; Infigo Audio 1S-1Quadcore streamer, $6K; Altec Audio cabling

Saturday

VTL/Nordost/Stenheim

Stenheim Reference Ultime Two SX speakers, $199K; (US premiere) VTL Lohengrin Reference monoblock amplifiers, $100K/pair; VTL TL-7.5 Series III Reference linestage, $40K; VTL TP-8.6 Series II Signature phonostage, $17K; VPI Avenger Direct drive turntable, $40K; vdh Crimson and Lyra Etna cartridges; Nordost Odin gold and Nordost Odin 2 cabling and AC products

After a rocky start, VTL and colleagues had the analog part of their system hitting on all cylinders by Saturday afternoon. The system was fronted by VTL's 400 wpc Lohengrin tube amplifier that as designer Luke Manley shared, "are a fresh new sound for VTL." The Lohengrins are an eight tube version (JJ KT88s) of the bigger Siegfried amplifier and incorporate that amplifier's driver stage and fully regulated power supply and squeezed into a smaller package. The Lohengrin's sport new multi-layered primary and secondary windings and highly interwoven output transformers resulting in increased bandwidth and headroom.

Bea Manley is always amenable to playing vinyl so we started with that classic Ella Fitzgerald tune "Black Coffee" from Let No Man Write My Epitaph. And it was like she was there! Super transparent to the point of almost sensing the distance between Ella and her microphone. Her voice was silky smooth with a generous side order of ambience. Another great sounding album selected by Merideth Gabor of Nordost was Peter Gabriel's cover of David Bowie's "Heroes" from Scratch My Back. This track threw a simply enormous soundstage enveloping the entire listening area. With each image precisely located within that soundstage and superb resolution. I dug out my Classic Records reissue of Scratch My Back that hadn't played in decades after AXPONA and it's everything I heard at AXPONA!

Quintessence Audio Ltd/Knowledge Room

Wilson Audio XVX speakers, $464K/pair; Audio Research Ref 330 monoblock power amplifiers, $90K/pair; (New) Audio Research Ref 20 preamplifier, $48K; Ref 10 phono preamplifier, $42K; (New) Dohmann Helix One Mk III turntable with vacuum hold down, $150K; Wilson-Benesch Graviton Ti tonearm, $60K plus Wilson-Benesch Tessellate Diamond MC cartridge, $22.5K; Supratrac Nighthawk 12-inch tonearm, $21K; DS Audio Grand Master EX cartridge, $25K; TB-100 tube equalizer, $22K; DCS Varese Digital Music System, $354K; Innuous Nazare, $55K; Innuous Nazare Net, $25K; Innuous Flow, $35K; Transparent Magnus Opus cabling

This year was hands down the best sound Quintessence has ever obtained at AXPONA. By Sunday at least. Take for instance, Reference Recordings' legendary release Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique featuring Varujan Kojian conducting The Utah Symphony Orchestra. This recording is known for its solid bass and extreme dynamics and all were on full display here. Table designer Mark Dohmann graciously played Bruch's Kol Nidrei cut from the Gary Karr LP and "Straight Ahead" from Brian Auger's 1974 release Straight Ahead through the system (played back on his Helix One table with the Wilson-Benesch arm and cartridge combination. The soundstaging and rock solid imaging and the feeling of space and resolution were extraordinary. Tone—especially Karr's double bass—was warm, inviting and realistic. Overall, I left the room super impressed by the low end Wilson speaker/ARC 330M amplifier combo.

Quintessence Audio Ltd Perfection, Parlor Room

Sonus Faber Amati Supreme speakers, $78K; Dan D'Agostino Momentum Z amplifier, $125K; Momentum preamplifier, $55K; Momentum HD phono, $35K; Clearaudio Innovation turntable, $16K; Clearaudio Unity tonearm, $22K; Clearaudio Goldfinger V2.1 MC cartridge, $21K; Supratrac Blackbird 10.5-inch tonearm, $7500; Hana Umami Black MC cartridge, $11.5K; dCS Rossini Apex streaming DAC, $33K; dCS Master Clock, $11.5K; Innuous Zen NG, $14K; PhoenixNet, $5K; Transparent Audio cabling

Sonner Audio

(New) Sonner Audio Vivace speakers, $30K; Luxman M-10X amplifier, $20K; Luxman C-10X preamplifier, $20K; Luxman D-07X DAC, $9K; Luxman NT-07X streamer, $9K, Nordost cabling, Puritan power conditioning

Small room, unfortunately made it hard to hear anything.

PS Audio

Aspen FR20 speakers, $23K (other models shown throughout the show); Foundry, F12 subwoofers, $2750; PMG Signature 800 monoblock amplifiers, $30K/pair; PMG Signature preamplifier, $9K; PMG Signature 512 DAC with streamer, $9K; PMG Signature transport, $9K; AudioQuest cables, PS Audio PowerPlant, $10K

Turnbull Audio

Aequeo Ensium speakers, $55K; Vitus Audio R101 integrated amplifier, $28K as configured; Turnbull Audio Prestige cabling and Power Distributor

DeVORE Audio

O/Reference System speakers, $99K; Nagra Classic amplifier, $32K/per pair; Nagra II-S preamplifier with compact PSU, $27K; Phasemation EA-12000 Tube Phono preamplifier, Nagra Tube DAC, $32K; Nagra Compact streamer, $6K; Nagra Classic PSU, $19K; Yuki AP-01EM turntable, $32K; Glanz MH-1000S tonearm, $9000; Glanz-9BT tonearm, $5000; Phasemation PP-5000 MC cartridge with diamond cantilever, $16K; AudioQuest Thunderbird Zero cables

Gestalt Audio

(New) Wolf von Langa Organic field coil speakers, $40k/pair; SW1X Audio Amp IV integrated single-ended amplifier, $20.5K; SW1X LPU 4 phonostage, SUT II, $28K; PrimaryControl Kinea II turntable/FCL tonearm, $38k; Fuuga moving coil cartridge, $11K

Colin King, owner of Gestalt Audio in Nashville, assembled a system featuring components from the UK, Germany, Japan, and the Netherlands. That aside, it was chance for show attendees to hear the unique, Wolf von Langa, single driver, crossoverless, field-coil horn speakers. And it proved for an interesting listening experience. The system displayed an impressive midrange purity and unrestricted sense of speed on One from the Heart and Straight Ahead. Image height, though, was a little constricted and the sense of ambience could have been better.

Prodigio Audio

Prodigio Audio WR2 speakers, $39.5K; Atma-Sphere Class-D amplifiers, $6320; Atma-Sphere MP3 preamplifier, $6650; Apex Designz custom server, $6500; Bacch SP Stereo Purifier, starting at $22K; ViaBlue cabling

Sierra Sound/Aesthetix

Vandersteen Treo CT, $11K; Aesthetix Dione power amplifier, $8000; Aesthetix Pallene linestage, $7000; Aesthetix Rhea Signature phonostage, $12K; Optional phono module for Pallene, $1450; Turntable 1: AMG Giro MK II Wood turntable with AMG 9WT tonearm, $19K; AMG 12 V Linear power supply upgrade, $1200; ViV Laboratory Rigid Float Ha-9-inch tonearm, $4500; Benz Micro Zebra L wood body cartridge, $2500; Benz Micro ACE mono cartridge, $1200; Turntable 2: AMG Vella turntable with 12 JT Turbo tonearm, $27K; Sorane SA-1.2 tonearm silver finish, $2000; Benz Micro SLR Gullwing cartridge, $4200; Ortofon SPU Classic, $1415, Sierra Sound by Cardas phono cables, Cardas Clear Beyond cabling

Who planted that tonearm garden?!?! I want to buy the seeds!

Marketplace

It was then time for a quick lunch in the marketplace followed by a leisurely stroll through the myriads of booths. The Marketplace, as always, was an audiophile wonderland. Records. CDs. Tapes. Cables. Acoustic treatments. Record cleaning machines. Cable risers. And so much more. Two booths caught my attention including the Audio HIFI Solutions table with their cable management system (that holds multiple cables and then locks them down) and the WAM Engineering table with a multitude of cartridge setup tools developed by J.R. Bosclair.

Jaguar Audio

Estelon YB Mk II speakers, $28K; T+A A 3000 HV amplifier, $27K; T+A P 3100 HV preamplifier, $26K; Phasemation EA-2000 phono preamplifier, $40K; Klaudio Magnezar turntable (auto clamping mode), $68K; Klaudio Tangential tonearm; Phasemation PP-5000 cartridge, $16K; Kubala Sosna Realization cabling; Puritan power conditioning

Sunday

Treble Clef Audio

(New) Treble Clef Audio TCA-M Signature, Active speakers, $103K; TCA-S Active subsonic module, $23K (in single isobaric motor system as shown); Vinnie Rossi preamplifier, $39K; (Prototype) Vinnie Rossi Brama Phono preamplifier, $TBD; SME Mk2 Model 15 turntable and tonearm, Benz Micro cartridge; B. Audio DAC, Siltech Double Crown Series cabling

The new Treble Clef Audio speakers are a baffleless, coherent, point source design. Instruments had a pleasurable see through quality but overall the presentation was a bit uneven and non-linear. Nor was the system the last word in resolution. I also had a tough time finding a good center image even sitting in the sweet spot.

Speakers aside, Vinny Rossi had a prototype of his soon-to-be released phonostage on display.

Highwater Sound

Cesaro Horn Acoustic Opus SE Ltd., $65K; Alieno 100 SE 2A3 amplifier, $60K; Alieno Phono Extremo, $60K; TW Acustic LS-3 copper turntable, $25K; Raven 12.9-inch tonearm, $7500; Raven 12-inch tonearm, $7500; Glanz MH-1200S tonearm, $8975; DAVA Soul, Fuuga stereo and Miyajima Infinity Mono moving coil cartridges, Assorted accessories

Jeff Catalano's room wins the title of the room with most exotic high-end audio equipment and biggest LP selection in a landslide! Jeff's rooms are always an analog and musical mecca and a sanctuary away from home. The Cessaro/Alieno electronics proved a match made in heaven with a tonally natural and real sound.

Wattson Audio

Magico S2 speakers, $37,000; Wattson Madison Amplifier, $7000; Wattson Madison Streamer, $5500; Wattson Madison Power S, $2750.

Some surprisingly good sound for the money was found in the Wattson Audio room. There were several recent updates to the Wattson products headlined by the addition of the Lounge Edition with power supply and volume control. Also having a good showing were Magico's "diminutive" S2 speakers. For instance, Holly Cole's Temptation possessed a sense of airiness missing from oh so many rooms. The Wattson system also demonstrated a high performance floor (and resolution) with differences between recordings easily discerned.

The Audio Salon

Wilson Audio Sasha V speakers, $55K; Ypsilon Orion monoblock amplifiers, $58K; Ypsilon PST100 Mk2 SE Anniversary preamplifier, $72K; Ypsilon DAC 1000 (MF), $30K; Ypsilon VPS 100 Mk2 phono preamplifier, $26K; Ypsilon streamer, TBD; TechDAS Air Force 3 Premium S turntable, $44.5K; TechDAS Air Force 10 tonearm, $21K; TechDAS Dia cartridge, $21K, Ypsilon MC-L step up transformer, $6600; Stromtank S6000 Alpha, $91K and 2500, $33K; Transparent Audio cabling

The Audio Salon Proprietor Maier Shadi had a few surprises up his sleeve for show goers. Pre-eminent among them were several "regular" Supersense lacquers. Plus, an exceptionally rare, one of a kind, DMM lacquer of singer Sara K from Stockfish Records.

Swan Song

Rocket speaker; Monoblock amplifiers, preamplifier

One of the more interesting rooms. The Rocket's speaker cabinets are 3D printed and all the components are battery powered. Oh yes. The turntable began life as a VPI Scout and a Morch arm was added.

MBL

We'll have to do with pictures here as none of the company's representatives made themselves available for questions. Hopefully MBL will remedy that oversight at the next show.

Bliss Hifi

(New) Clarisys Audio Piccolo Mk2 speakers, $65K; Orpheus Lab Absolute A Four I200 Integrated amplifier, $24K; Orpheus Lab Absolute A Zero SACD player and DAC, $26K; Pure Fidelity Symphony turntable, $15k; Tri-Planar U12 tonearm, $11.5K; Grimm Audio PW1 phono preamplifier, $5600; Synergistic Research Quark streaming music server, $8K; Synergistic Research router UEF, $3K; Synergistic Research Ethernet switch Mk2, $2900. Synergistic Research Power and Ground conditioning and cabling.

The Piccolos—based on my show experiences—are currently my favorite Clarisys speaker. They're ‘stat fast and very uncolored. Despite being shoe-horned into a small room, the Swiss Orpheus Lab electronics really made the new Piccolo Mk2 speakers sing like a nightingale. While the Piccolos were airy sounding (missing in many rooms), they, like the early Apogee Stages have a truncated image height. On the other hand, image height here was far better than the first Apogee Stages (Jason and I spoke about the Stages image height at their release at the Chicago CES and that led to the riser being inserted to elevate the speakers). But that's where all similarities to the vintage Stages begin and end. We spun the Gary Karr, Brian Auger and Munch LPs and every album was musically satisfying. Soundstaging, bass quality and leading edge attack exceeded expectations in this tiny room. The sound was a touch soft but must take everything with a grain of salt given the room constraints.

Metaxas and Sins

(New) Emperor Omni Omnidirectional Full range Electrostatic speakers, $159K; Solitaire integrated amplifier, $41K; Perambulator turntable with external motor, $29K; Combulator tonearm, $9K; Tourbillon T-RX Mk II reel-to-reel tape deck; Soulution 5 series electronics.

Issues, unfortunately, struck both analog sources when I dropped by the room. Someone, unfortunately, asked distributor Jeff Garshon to play a tape with SSS that gunked up the tape heads. In addition, the turntable base was too small so Jeff couldn't properly position the motor/platter distance to obtain the correct speed.

Master Artist/Burmester

(New) Master Artist speakers, Masterpiece Statement speakers, $125K; (New) Burmester 259 mono power amplifier, $200K; Burmester 808 preamplifier, $85K; Burmester 111 Music Center/streamer, $65K; Burmester 175 turntable, $70K, Kimber NEO and top silver speaker cables, Burmester 948 Power Conditioner, $12K

Christian Rogers of Master Artist Audio in Tennessee came locked and loaded for bear with an entire suite of Burmester electronics including the hot new, massive Burmester 259 monoblock amplifiers and his latest Master Artist speakers. (unfortunately, Christian took ill and wasn't there when I stopped by his room.)

What could be possibly wrong when you walk in and hear one of my favorite artists Fink on the system performing his hit "Trouble's What You're In" recorded Live from Union Chapel 2011 ("Wheels Turn Below My Feet")? Heidi and I heard Fink in concert last February in New York and that song live is simply killer. Here, the sound was exceptionally smooth and effortless with a very solid foundation. Gonna love the decay of instruments on María Mena's "I Was Made for Loving You." Spaciousness, harmonics and very solid center imaging in abundance!

Master Artist Room 2

Master Artist MTM Fresco speakers, $25K; (New) Burmester 216 monoblock amplifiers, $60K; Burmester 088 preamplifier, $35K; Burmester 151 Mk2 streamer, $30K, Kimber NEO and top silver speaker cables,

Remarkably similar sound to their bigger room. Smooth, great instrumental palpability and a rock solid bass on the Holly Cole and Robert Hohner CDs.

Grandinote

Grandinote Mach 8 Evoluzione, $128K; Grandinote Solo integrated amplifier w/DAC, $28,600; Kimber Kable KS6065 speaker cables, Palladian PK10 power cable.

The Grandinote system sounded great at Capital AudioFest and once again five months later at AXPONA. So much so that, in fact, that I requested and currently in house for review their extremely hot running, 60 wpc Class-A Demone monoblock amplifiers. The Mach 8 speakers are certainly no mini-monitors but their size shouldn't turn anyone off either. Bela Fleck's "Flight of the Cosmic Hippo" never sounded this good at the ‘90s audio shows. The system also excelled on vocals such as on Dead Can Dance's "Yulanga" from Into the Labryrinth. The system was quite easy on the ears to with great midrange weight especially under show conditions. Plus this line array speaker produced a wonderful sense of image height and soundstage depth.

Show Wrap Up!

Best Sounding Analog Based Rooms

Quintessence Audio

VTL/Stenheim/Nordost

GTT Audio

Best Digital Based Sounding Rooms

Estelon Audio

Grandinote

Best New AXPONA Show Debuts

Acora Acoustics MRC 5.2D speakers

Audio Research Reference 20 preamplifier

Burmester 259 monoblock amplifiers