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Bigger than a basketball court but slightly smaller than a football field. Roughly one-half of the exhibit hall was designated the "Record Fair," while the other half of the Marketplace was the Ear Gear Expo. Inside this massive room sat 80 tables/booths filled to the brim with audiophile goodies ranging from software to cables to... Read More »

By now the reality of covering 162 rooms (with 60 new exhibitors) and 80 booths was over. Any hope of seeing the whole show—other than sprinting from room to room and taking pictures—was also dashed and it was time to implement Plan B. So plan B—namely cover what I could—was put into motion. Of course,... Read More »

For 2018, AXPONA moved to a bigger, shinier, swankier venue, showed up with real attitude and renewed swagger, and hosted noticeably bigger crowds. The Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel and Convention Center, a ginormous, and ginormously over-the-top Bauhaus-influenced conference center, blessed with the amenities and exhibition capacity to handle a show the size of AXPONA, replaces the... Read More »

All photos by Dave Clark, words by Carol Clark... more on AXPONA 2018. Also, just a note. Not all rooms provide equipment lists, so many times I have to go by what is on the door sign. If you notice an error we are happy to correct it. Thank you! Sennheiser headphones in the EXPO... Read More »

All photos by Dave Clark, words by Carol Clark... more on AXPONA 2018. Also, just a note. Not all rooms provide equipment lists, so many times I have to go by what is on the door sign. If you notice an error we are happy to correct it. Thank you! The Audio Company had an... Read More »

All photos by Dave Clark, words by Carol Clark... more on AXPONA 2018. Also, just a note. Not all rooms provide equipment lists, so many times I have to go by what is on the door sign. If you notice an error we are happy to correct it. Thank you! Vanatoo loudspeakers. Dan Wright of... Read More »

AXPONA 2018 was an absolute delight. More head count. More smiling faces. More listening rooms. Friendly hosts. Friendly patrons. It wasn't the shoulder to shoulder crush of people and the waterfall of merchandise like the CES of 10 to 15 years ago, but the good vibes and positive energy was everywhere. This was the first... Read More »

All photos by Dave Clark, words by Carol Clark... more on AXPONA 2018. Clarus Cable system. McIntosh in the house! Clarus Cables. Burwell & Sons Loudspeakers, Rogers High Fidelity. Very nice. A museum of electrical things in the High Fidelity Cables room. Van der Graaf generator. Electricity was in the air. High Fidelity Cables system.... Read More »

All photos by Dave Clark, words by Carol Clark... more on AXPONA 2018. Sue Toscano has an endless supply of energy, I was hoping it would rub off! Gayle Sanders with his new Eikon loudspeaker, room correction, amplifier, DAC, all-in-one system debuted at AXPONA. System total $24,5000. The sound was quite remarkable. While Gayle is a... Read More »

This is the first year Dave and I have attended AXPONA. I quickly learned, it's not just another show. With over 160 rooms, there was a lot of ground to cover. It reminded me of the days of CES, lots of walking and not enough time for listening. There were new products to see, and... Read More »

Observation 1 Okay we all get it—the bigger the better. The more rooms the better for profits and attracting attendees, but let's be realistic, it does not work for pretty much anyone other than the hotel and perhaps the promoter. The recent AXPONA had at my count 165 exhibit rooms (spread over 9 floors and... Read More »

This is Part 2 of my Axpona 2018 Show report...  lots of pics! Sennheiser HE-1 Headphone System $60K, but yeah, it sounded great! Gayle Sanders Legacy Audio Scaena Constellation Audio and Martin Logan I loved this system last year, and it was equally enjoyable this year.  Ruel: Self-powered Line Array. Very cool! How could they... Read More »

1st Floor Entrance of the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel The late, great show-master of early TV, Ed Sullivan, would say, "That was a Really Big Shew!" And yes, ladies and germs, AXPONA 2018 was certainly all that, and a bottle of spring water. After a successful multi-year run at the Westin in Rosemont, Il, this year,... Read More »

I’ve been totally overwhelmed by the size of the show, and trying to cover all the rooms. Industry turnout today Friday was, as my Absolute Sound buddy Andre commented, "like RMAF, pre-renovation, only with far more consumer turnout." According to Liz Miller of JD Events, there were 162 rooms at AXPONA 2018. Consumer attendance on... Read More »

David W. Robinson, Happy Valley, OR, 2015 (photograph by John Robinson) "For photography is a way to capture the moment – not just any moment, but the important one, this one moment out of all time when your subject is revealed to the fullest – that moment of perfection which comes once and is not... Read More »

David W. Robinson, Icicle Creek, Leavenworth, WA, 2012 (photograph by Lila Ritsema) "Anything that excites me for any reason, I will photograph; not searching for unusual subject matter, but making the commonplace unusual." Edward Weston To say again:  As I mentioned back in November in Issue 94 when I published the front-end about my trip... Read More »

David W. Robinson, RMAF 2015 (photograph by Jeff Day) As I mentioned back in November in Issue 94 when I published the front-end about my trip to visit Chad Kassem's Blues Masters concert in Salina, KS, my attention would not be concentrating on yet another dull event report. The world doesn't need any more of... Read More »

What the NAMM show means to high-end audio and why go? Starting out 2018 at the CES [Cookie Marenco is President of Blue Coast Records and Downloads NOW!] Cookie Marenco of Blue Coast Records For an audio engineer or someone in the music industry, January was and is a month filled with conventions you don't... Read More »

We were on our way to Las Vegas, to the CES show. The desert night was chilly and the road was dark with no movement outside except the occasional fencepost whipping by. My attorney held up a huge orange pill. "You should try this," he said, "It's the same pill that killed Elvis." It must... Read More »