# Sticky  Audio Expo North America (AXPONA) 2015 Show Report



## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

*Audio Expo North America (AXPONA) 2015 Show Report*











​
*Reporting from the beautiful Westin O'Hare in Rosemont, Illinois for HomeTheaterShack.com, equipment reviewers Dennis Young (Tesseract) - right - and Wayne Myers (AudiocRaver) - left - are on the scene bringing you highlights from the show.​*

*HTS Writer and Reviewer Todd Anderson joined us for the day Saturday and part of Sunday. Watch for news writeups of some of his impressions.*​

*Links to room reports:*
*ATC*
*Cabasse*
*Channel D*
*Dynaudio, Dynaudio*
*Emerald Physics / Underwood Hifi*
*Emotiva*
*Focal*
*Gibson*
*HHR Exotic Loudspeakers, HHR Exotic Loudspeakers*
*IsoAcoustics*
*JTR Loudspeakers*
*Kaiser Classic Loudspeakers*
*Kingsound*
*Madisound / Linkwitz Lab*
*Magico*
*MartinLogan*
*MBL, MBL*
*Odyssey Audio*
*PureAudioProject*
*Quad*
*Raidho Acoustics*
*Sadurni Acoustics*
*Saturday Audio Exchange*
*Seaton Sound*
*Silnote Audio / B&W*
*Sonus Faber*
*Sound Classic*
*Sound Anchors*
*Soundfield Audio*
*Ultrasonic*
*Van Alstine, Van Alstine*
*Vapor Audio*
*Volti Audio*

*Final Thoughts*


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

Starting off the show by getting my ears in tune with *Volti Audio* Vittora loudspeakers, ELF cabinets and Border Patrol electronics.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

The *Magico* room, Radiohead on the big Magico MPro limited edition speakers, $130,000 per pair, only 50 pairs made, all of them already sold.

The 3-way design is massive and beautiful. Very impressive imaging, and definition is impecable, delicate. It seems like every sound has inner secrets being revealed by the MPros.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

*HHR Exotic* Speakers, the smaller TLS-5 at $6,500 per pair, and the big TLS-1 at $15,000 per pair, and both do an "erase the end of the room" trick, really opening up the space, completely invisible in the room. Imaging is broad but completely natural. You can walk anywhere in the room and get a great, natural soundstage.

Piano and sax have wonderful tonalities.

Designer Dale Harder and wife Yin are not afraid to get their hands dirty designing and producing these speakers. They look and sound wonderful. Great speakers for a room full of music lovers.




















Dale has been working on the driver design for over 40 years, going back to the original patents and having made over 60 design improvements upon it over the years.

Prototypes for the first Walsh-style subwoofer are in the works.


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

The *Emotiva* room has many amplifiers on display, here is one of my favorites!











A 7.2 Emotiva XMC-1/XPA-1/XPA-5 based system with Dirac room correction made the loudspeakers sound better than I have ever heard from Polk Audio.

The XMC-1 allows importation of REW filters!









Wayne's Comments:

Lots to see in the Emotive room, including new headphone amp/DAC models. Loved the look and massive construction of the big monoblock!

I am also a fan of their Airmotiv pro powered monitor line.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

The *Kaiser Classic* speakers, from their Kawero line, start at $60,000 per pair. The pair I am listening to is priced at $70,000 for their finish.

The sound is very coherent, and very smooth with the RAAL tweeter. It is a three-way design. Piano and male vocals are presented with excellent imaging and clarity. Guitar definition and detail is superb, both electric and acoustic. Cymbals and female vocal details are delightful.











The longer I listen, the more impressed I am by these speakers. Very nice. Their coherence and completely natural clarity really grab you, track after track.


*Dennis' impressions:*

Oh... boy! Probably the most natural presentation, yet. This system wants for nothing. I could own this and be done.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

My question to *Gibson*'s director of Market Deveopment, Nils Karsten, was, "What would possess a guitar manufacturer to produce powered studio monitors?" The intent was to provide the artist, producer, and engineer a small, portable reference monitor that allows the tracking, mixing, and mastering environment to be translated to the audiophile listening experience.

Three two-way, class-D powered models all contain custom drivers with discrete amplification for each driver. Woofer sizes are 4, 6, and 8 inches. Tweeters are 1 inch diamond-like carbon-coated titanium designs, with HF extension to 47 kHz. Prices are $599, $799, and $999 each.

The woofers are a very rigid design. They put out an impressive amount ot tight, well-defined bass for their size. Highs are crisp, and can be tailored to user taste. The sound is accurate and clean.

Finishes are wood venier with 7-layer polyester overcoats for rigidity. They are beautiful like the Gibson Les Paul guitars they are named after. They are being introduced on the 100-year anniversary of Les Paul's birth.


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

The *Sound Classic* display featured a pair of Altec Lansing 821A "Iconic" loudspeakers from Les Paul's studio!

Music played through a Pioneer reel to reel, Marantz Seven and McIntosh 225 sounded huge and warm. Vintage sound at it's finest!


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

The *Saturday Audio Exchange* (Room 332) featured about $30k of McIntosh electronics, running J Rivers and feeding sweet, sweet sounds to the Golden Ear Triton One speakers. Strummed stringed instruments and female vocals were used with several songs to show off the uncanny realism of the Ones.

Percussion packed a wallop. The power reserves of the Mac amps seemed limitless, while the Ones just soaked that power up, returning startling SPL when called upon.









Best room I've been to, thus far. Ending the audition with Steely Dan and The Alan Parsons Project, I sat listening, thinking to myself, "Yes, please!".


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

The *Cabasse* La Sphere is about as exotic in appearance as high-end speakers come. They are priced at $180,000 per pair, and the 4-way design comes with an active crossover unit

The La Sphere woofer is 22-inch, and all four drivers are concentric, so imaging is nothing short of amazing. I have noted with other speakers that tight, coherent imaging makes possible the recognition of separate sounds that are mashed together by other speakers. The La Sphere provides an image coherence that is so easy for the ears and psycho-acoustical brain to process that new layers and levels of detail suddenly are easily apparent, making you wonder where they have been hiding. Their voicing seems a little reserved, but with a few minutes of settle-in time I was comfortable with it.

I played all my test tracks through the system. Although they sound good from off-center, the benefit of finding the proper center listening spot is readily apparent. I moved the front-center chair two feet forward and found that the imaging became even more natural and the soundstage more convincingly real.

I especially enjoyed the cello and piano of Messaien's Quartet for the End of Time. They seemed chillingly real in the room.

The all-Esoteric front end and amplification driving the La Sphere pair is impressive as well.

Being able to experience a system like this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, one I am delighted to have partaken of.

































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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

The *Quad* room, was pretty interesting, three different turntables, all with the same tonearms and cartridges. A mixture of MoFi analog and digital was played, but conversation in the room made the display little more than background music. As I occupied the main listening chair, a guy sat down next to me and started singing along with the song (a Hall & Oates number). The Quads were very seductive from what little I could hear, but I had to move on. Much to see and so little time.


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

Does anything else for the money rock out as loud as a *Soundfield Audio* loudspeaker? Not that I am aware of. The D1 dipoles with active bass, tops powered by the Belles VT-01 valve pre amp and MB60 Class A monoblocs that were just loafing along at around 5 watts or so, Days of the New "Shelf in the Room" played at near concert level with no sense of strain. 

Equally adept with small scale acoustic instruments and female vocals as they are with big band music, Gordon Goodwin's "Big Phat Band", the D1 pair delivered that signature "live" feel that Soundfield Audio is known for.


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

I popped into the *Underwood HiFi* room just as a customer wanted to test the *Emerald Physics* CS2.3 MK2. Megadeth was the weapon chosen. Spacious, rich sound filled the room, the dipole speakers portraying a huge, lifelike soundstage. Loud, yet effortless I really enjoyed the presentation. Others cried "Uncle!" and the volume was reduced. I checked around the room, there were no serious injuries, heh.

Bass, massaged by the DSPeaker Anti-Mode 2.0 Dual Core, was as full and smooth as one could want, reminding me of my last encounter with EP at the 2014 RMAF. Different rooms, but the same sound, speaks to the value the Anti-Mode adds.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

Klaus Bunge of *Odyssey Audio* will not try to tell you his speakers are perfect. He really does not say much at all, just lets you hear for yourself. His $6,900 package, including the Candela Preamplifier - normally $1600 - and a pair of Khartago Monos - $1995/pr - and his Kismet Beryllium Reference Loudspeakers - $4200/pair - all for $6,900 - is without a doubt the deal of AXPONA, sounding as good as, or better than, systems at 3x and 4x the price.

The Kismets are lively, engaging, fun, articulate, they image sharply, project a wonderful soundstage, are accurate, able to sock you with.deep, tight bass... They do so much so well at such a reasonable price point, you almost can not walk out of the room without thinking seriously about placing an order.

They are set up properly and accompanied by GIK room treatments which complement and protect their wonderful sound.

I often have reservations about hard dome tweeters, but the Kismet beryllium dome tweeters are well behaved, can soar when called upon and soothe the soul when the music demands it.

Definitely the value system of AXPONA 2015





























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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

*MBL* room - Holographic sound with a deep soundstage, with great dynamic capability in the highs and midrange regions, anyway. Styx "Come Sail Away" a notoriously obnoxious song in the treble region, was played from reel to reel, the highs bsolutely strain-free. Mid bass was a little light, deep bass was almost completely absent. The amps are enormous and extremely capable, I wonder if the lower registers are limited by the speakers or personal choice?

Near perfect imaging within the spacious soundstage, performers spread out nicely with realistic amounts of air separating them, and recessed three feet or more behind the front plane of the $42k MBL 111 F loudspeakers.


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

In the Washington Room, *Jolida*, with more *MBL*, this time, the model116 F speaker. 

A lesser speaker than the 111F, but to my ears, better integrated within the room. Lower frequencies were well represented, while still maintaining that same seductive, holographic omni-directional sound. I really liked this room a lot.

































Wayne's Comments:

This room was one of my early visits. While some omnidirectional speaker designs have softer imaging, the MBL design puts out very tight imaging within a very engaging soundstage. The whole end of the room comes alive.


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

Burton Room, Staccato Horn System by *Sadurni Acoustics* made the very familiar to almost everyone, Nirvana "Come As You Are", sound better than I have ever experienced. 108 dB sensitivity, but no hiss from the Merrill Audio Veritas amps.

The very broad band diffusers are also available from exhibitor, *Blue Smoke Entertainment System*, and certainly had much to do with the lively, yet smooth, sounds. Helmholtz resonators vacuumed modal room resonances away, leaving only first arrival sound from the loudspeakers.



























I don't think that tuning the system
with Room EQ Wizard hurt the sound one bit, either.


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

Ducked into the *Channel D* exhibit for a quick listen. Systems like the Joseph Audio Pulsar w/Bag End 12" subwoofers are the reason why I am a huge mini monitor/subwoofer type of guy.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

I am always - ALWAYS - impressed by *Dynaudio*'s offerings. Here is the Focus 600 XD, priced at $13,500 per pair. We listened to 24/96 audio over the supplied wireless LAN, a closed network The 3-way design features DSP and a 150-watt digital amplifier for each driver. I liked the small LED level indicatoor on the corner of each cabinet.

The cabinets are venier matched by pair 

I was impressed by the openness of the sound, the sheer emptiness between the sounds and notes.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

The *Kingsound* Prince III full-range electrostatics are so delightfully clear and transparent, so easy to listen to. They cost $10,000/pair and deliver the deep thumps of a standup bass flawlessly.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

The *Raidho Acoustics* X3, at $30,000/pair, makes use of a Controlled Airflow system rather than closing or porting their cabinets. The result is very articulate, responsive, clean bass without resonance.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

Behold the *Dynaudio* Confidence Platinum C4, at $24,000/pair, two levels below the top of the line from Dynaudio.

I like the symmetrical design, and in typical Dynaudio form, the C4 images flawlessly and effortlessly If they could speak, I think they would say, "We are not really here."

Radiohead's _National Anthem_ never sounded so good. I had one of those "I'm in love" moments.


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

I have to admit, I've never been a big *Focal* fan. The convex hard dome tweeter is mostly to blame, it is a bit too hot for my taste. I also understand that this is a matter of preference and that many are enamored by this same tweeter.

While not completely eliminating this personal HF bugbear, the implementation of the Aria 948 in this system ameliorated much of the tizziness I perceive from the inverted dome. A pleasant surprise, in an affordable Focal, at that. I'd like to add that midrange clarity is through the roof, I found the heart of the music to be communicated very well, and this quality kept me planted in the listening chair for more than a little while.

REL S3 sub pair brought the bottom end up, nicely.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

*PureAudioProject*'s Trio15TB is an open-baffle design, another speaker type my interest has grown in lately.

They cost $3,500/pr, and, as open-baffle speaters tend to do, make you wonder how we got started closing speakers into sealed or ported enclosures.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

The *Silnote Audio* hand-crafted cables in this system are feeding a wonderful-sounding 20-year-old pair of *B&W* 802 Nautilus speakers.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

Frank *Van Alstine's* power amps make use of separate power supply regulators, not just on each channel, but on the different amplification stages of each channel, preserving and protecting the microdynamics and energy of the music.


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

The *HHR Exotic* Speakers TLS-1 use a full range Walsh driver for omni-directionality, Purity Audio Design supplies the juice. HHR Exotic Speakers makes almost everything, drivers, 3" thick cabinets and metal frames.

At first, I was not a big fan of the mids, particularly female vocals, but so seductive was the omni sound, I persevered. Then, Patricia Barber's MFSL Cafe Blue "Too Rich For My Blood" put my initial impression to rest. Listening further to a few more tracks, I found that the HHR TLS-1 are just super revealing, exposing less than stellar recordings. A very nice and extremely fun system. A top 5 room in my book.


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

"Point to the where you think the sound is coming from!" is the demo here in the *Madison Fielding* room.











It is not coming from the standmounts, but from the potted plants!











This cabinet is offered as an alternative.











A separate subwoofer is also available.











These potted plants pack a wallop! Playing massed Japanese drums or quickly keyed blues organ music, they filled the room with sound and fun. I would love to have these on my patio. Maybe someday.


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

An *Ultrasonic* LP cleaner, does 8 records at one time. Speeds up record cleaning! And is said to get to the bottom of the groove with no chemicals.



















V8 or beer powered?


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

*Sound Anchors* stands and racks are dead solid.











This stand weighs 130lbs!











Computer mount, equipment stand and HDTV mount.


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## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

Thanks, guys, for the reports and pictures. Those of us who cannot attend really do enjoy and appreciate them.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

*MartinLogan*'s new Neolith model, $80,000 per pair, an all passive design, was simply awesome. The imposing speakers are simply nonexistent except for some of the clearest, most effortless sound at the show. The huge electrostatic panels produce impecable imaging.

The all McIntosh front end was drool-worthy as well.


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

Live Neil Young sounds very... live through the $70,000 *Sonus Faber* Lillium loudspeakers... easily one of the top 5 rooms, in my opinion. 

Without truncation, a life-sized soundstage, realistic amounts of air separating life-sized performers. The upper mids/low highs were just a tad bright for my taste, but this was easy to forgive, the Lillium and Audio Research gear effortlessly filled the large room, captivating me with... forgive me... such a life-like presentation. 

This could be my new favorite dome and cone speaker. I'm sure the Audio Research equipment had much to do with this fantastic experience. I have to move on, and am leaving this room, regretfully.


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

The *JTR Speakers* room featured a bare bones minimalist system, which happens to be my favorite type of machine to listen to music through.



















Oppo universal player, SpeakerPower amplifier and the latest addition to the JTR family, the *Noesis 210RT*. Owner *Jeff Permanian* played what I thought was a frequency sweep from high to low, which literally beat the room, my pants legs and myself, up. Then music began, because this wasn't a sweep, but a song, "Woofer Cooker" off the Boston Acoustics Bass Test CD.











No subwoofers need apply. The proprietary waveguide maintains pattern control almost all the way down to the room's Schroeder Frequency, ignoring walls and ceiling, directing sound straight to the listener. Couple that with limitless dynamic capability, the Noesis 210 RT delivers a satisfying 2 channel experience.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

*IsoAcoustics*

The speaker isolation stands from IsoAcoustics were demonstrated under a pair of speakers side by side with an identical speaker pair mounted on wooden blocks.

Switching between the two, the soundstage went from cluttered and chaotic with the wooden blocks to coherent and clear with the isolators. The difference was dramatic.

While solid anchoring of a speaker cabinet always seems the ideal course, there are situaions where that may not be practical, and an isolator like this might be a solution to consider.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

*ATC*

ATC has been a .major player in the studio monitor world for many years. Recently, they have introduced a number of home audio speaker models.

The SCM40, at $7,000/pair, was not set up for the best soundstage and imaging, but moving forward from the listeninng position, I was able to find a spot where they improved markedly.

ATC drivers, all made in-house, use short-coil, long-gap technology, which keeps 3rd harmonic distortion to a miniimum.

I heard clear, crisp definition, especially through the mid and higher ranges, and felt the ATC dome tweeter was one of a few at AXPONA 2015 that I really enjoyed.listening through.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

*Madisound*

The *Linkwitz* LX mini, which is offered by Madisound in kit form, almost looks like a plumbing accident, but the simple, open purity of its sound is a thing of wonder. It is hard to believe the tiny two-way-on-a-pvc-stump can produce such big, open, point-source sound.

The kit includes a miniDSP processor for crossover and EQ. Think of it as a DIY stealth speaker, nearly invisible yet capable of absolute killer sound.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

*Seaton Sound*

As reported by HTS writer and reviewer Todd Anderson, the cinema system by Seaton Sound was a must-behold showstopper. Mark Seaton always puts together a great demo, but he outdid himself at AXPONA this year.

The big demo room, 32 x 60 x 13 feet, contained 8 Submersive subwoofers with 2 ,000 Watts of power each, delivering the most natural and awe-inspiring movie sub-bass I have ever witnessed. The same had to be said for the setup in general, with its Seymour AV 115" wide 4k Screen / Sony VPL-VW1100ES 4k Projector combo ($32,000 value for the two).

The $35,000 audio system, with total power capability of 24,000 Watts, sounded tremendous with concert videos and with clips from Ender's Game, Interstellar, and Tron Legacy. It was hands down the "Fun" room of the show, demonstrating impact sound with audiophile sound sensibilities in quantity AND quality.

Mark pretty much summed up the show: "Because we can." What a great time to be alive!


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

*Vapor Audio* is another loudspeaker company that I have learned to assume will please my sensibilities. Their new Perfect Storm, their $28,000/pair flagship, might be said to be "Practically Perfect in Every Way."

There were some well-performing speakers at AXPONA 2011, and some strong impressions were left upon my mind, but the Perfect Storms stand out as having one of the best integrated sounds of the show, very refined. I told designer Ryan Scott how beautifully they handled cymbals, preserving the complex tonal character and dynamic realism. His response: "Stored energy," referring to their ultra-quick RAAL tweeter. Perfect Storm's cymbals were gorgeous, second to none in the building.

Drums and percussion leapt from them. Plucked strings and drum beats had a succinct impact I have heard in very few speakers.

Vapor's models consistently perform as well as models twice and more the price by other manufacturers.












































*Dennis' Impressions*

I visited the Vapor room, super duper curious about their latest flagship, the Perfect Storm. My first audition left me a bit cold. Large images located on a life-sized soundstage with great depth, but the highs were just a touch ragged. Having heard at least 5 different Vapor efforts in many different rooms, and owning one of those pairs as my reference loudspeakers, I know the signature Vapor Audio sound very well, so I chalked it up to lack of break-in and less than optimal placement. I returned the following Saturday, a hectic show day, letting a jazz musician friend that was accompanying me that day have a listen, but not taking much time for myself, as I intended to give the guys time to tweak the set up.

Sunday, AXPONA was generally slower, but did little to thin out the show crowd in this room. Sitting off axis one seat from the front center seat, I was able to discern that the high frequency bug bear had been smoothed out. Intent on getting that listening chair, I hovered like a hawk until the center seat was vacated. "Large images located on a life-sized soundstage with great depth", AND the HF smoothness that I have come to associate with Vapor, were all in check. One of the very best sounds of the show, one of my top 5 rooms.

Later, speaking to designer Pete Schumacher and designer/owner Ryan Scott, I found that Vapor Audio was the first to get and use the 2" Accuton driver, which had only arrived right before the show and was not quite voiced into the system. A running crossover change was made to the new driver, a change that help set the gel on a fantastic, over the top, relatively affordable state-of-the-art system.

Check out this milled aluminum four shelf cantilever rack, created by Vapor Audio cabinet maker Ed Rosenquist. It is height adjustable, staggered to keep components cool and looks strong enough to hold the beefiest gear.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

*Van Alstine*


One of the design features that makes Frank Van Alstine's power amps special is the use of separate power regulators, not just for each amplification channel, but for each stage of amplification. Frank explained how this keeps crosstalk to extremely low levels, and helps preserve microdynamics and the energy of the music.


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

AudiocRaver said:


> Mark pretty much summed up the show: "Because we can." What a great time to be alive!


So true, Wayne. You really hit the nail on the head with some of the comments you made earlier in the day. All of this tech is amazing.

Great show report...really have enjoyed looking through all of the hard work you and Dennis have laid-out here. :T


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

Our report is complete. A Table of Links to the Room Reports has been added in the first post.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

*FINAL THOUGHTS:*

Another great show. I left thinking about the state of the art and the kinds of advancement we are able to see at a show like this. Audiophile advancements come in many forms.

*Great sounding value systems.* My favorite 2-channel value system was in the Odyssey room, with GIK treatments, where audiophile quality could be had at a very reasonable price. A preamp, two monoblocks, and a fine pair of speakers, all for under $7,000, is nothing to scoff at.

*Bigger and badder flagships.* The MartinLogan Neolith was outstanding in its delivery of open, relaxed, natural sound. It would have shown better in a bigger room, but the two big curved panels delivered impressively clear sound of the type one would expect from a leader like MartinLogan. For the two-channel listener who has everything, including a large dedicated room, the big new hybrid electrostatics, along with the blue glow of the all-Macintosh front end and amplification, would be both a statement and a listening delight.

Vapor Audio also premiered a flagship, their Perfect Storm. And perfect was the word that kept coming to mind as I listened to the percussion and complex cymbals with unified impact and realism seldom heard from loudspeakers.

*Technology integration* that sounds fantastic. Dynaudio's second generation of WIFI-distributed tower speakers, including per-driver digital amplification and phase correction, makes setting up a system a breeze. Fewer pieces of gear, fewer wires, more flexibility, and amazing sound... sure seems like progress to me.

*Stretching the limits of audibility.* Some will claim that the limits of audibility are already exceeded by technology. While I would never presume to one who might stretch those limits, I have little doubt that listeners will appear who will, perhaps in coming generations who grow up with high-resolution audio playing crib-side.

*More is better.* A 27,000 watt movie surround system might seem like overkill, especially with 16,000 of those watts dedicated to subwoofers, but if inspiring awe is your goal, the Seaton Sound cinema demonstration was right on the mark.

Bigger, smoother, tighter, faster, cheaper, more beautiful, more natural, in a smaller package, easier to install, in a form that overcomes previous setup challenges, examples of all of these forms of progress were in glorious evidence in rooms throughout the show. In some cases you almost know by the company name that you will love what you hear, in other cases you walk into a room at random and get your socks blown off by a product or innovation you never heard of before. What a delightful way to spend a weekend.

"Because we can," as Mark Seaton put it, summing up the size and power of his massive cinema system, a show like AXPONA is largely about showing what we can do. The state of the art in audio recording and reproduction continues to move ahead at a steady pace. _Onward and upward!_


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

*This thread is now open for comments and discussion.*

What were your favorite rooms?

Were there any disappointments?

What would you like to see next year?


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## Savjac (Apr 17, 2008)

Unfortunately I have 3 favorite rooms and it is hard to pick the very best. In the case of this system, the Sonus Faber "Stradivari", it had an incredible, soon to be discovered advantage. This system is not even close to the most expensive speaker, running at about $40,000. I thought I was hearing a little bit of heaven on earth. So beautiful, delicate yet powerful, invisible and as close to what I feel is real as I have ever heard at a show in the room pictured below. Yet what a treat I was in for when I was directed to the room next door which had the same equipment on display with one HUGE difference, namely room treatment. This treatment of absorbers and diffusers took a brilliant speaker to one that sits on the next level. I was ready to put my house up for collateral to obtain the whole system and room treatment. Brilliant I say.


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## Savjac (Apr 17, 2008)

I must admit, I have a strange belief that if a manufacturer is at the show, they should bring their "A" game. By that I mean, everything should be as good as can be from the recording right on down to the transducer. As such, I have never understood why some very capable groups will display their wares with less than the very best, especially when it comes to the source. I cannot remember how many demos started with MP3's or just plain less than top notch recordings. This seemed to happen in the Emotiva room and I cannot imagine why. The music was Hotel California from a known bad recording as such, the sound in the room was not as good as it could be. I own Emotiva stuff and I love it and do not wish to part with it, it just always works. The crew used Polk Audio speakers, their own equipment including the hottest new processor on the market. I still love them and will not be swayed by one show. The are upright folks making some stunning equipment that can and oft times do touch the highest end.


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## Savjac (Apr 17, 2008)

I have always liked British Speakers, they get the mid range right, it seems imbedded in their genes. Thus my affinity for B&W and Quad speakers. And not to be outdone by those companies, one of the more reasonably priced speakers that do the mid range so ravishingly well while at the same time disappearing from the room, is Harbeth. What an excellent product. This would be my favorite almost real world speaker system.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

Savjac said:


> Unfortunately I have 3 favorite rooms and it is hard to pick the very best. In the case of this system, the Sonus Faber "Stradivari"has a show advantage. This is not even close to the most expensive speaker at $40,000, I thought I was hearing a little bit of heaven on earth. So beautiful, delicate yet powerful, invisible and as close to what I feel is real as I have ever heard at a show in the room pictured below. Yet was a treat I was in for when I was directed to the room next door which had the same equipment on display with one HUGE difference, namely room treatment that took a brilliant speaker to one that sits on the next level. I was ready to put my house up for collateral to obtain the whole system and room treatment. Brilliant I say.


Unfortunately I missed that room. I know Dennis liked it, too. It is already on my RMAF list to see in October.



Savjac said:


> I must admit, I have a strange belief that if a manufacturer is at the show, they should bring their "A" game. By that I mean, everything should be as good as can be from the recording right on down to the transducer. As such, I have never understood why some very capable groups will display their wares with less than the very best, especially when it comes to the source. I cannot remember how many demos started with MP3's or just plain less than top notch recordings. This seemed to happen in the Emotiva room and I cannot imagine why. The music was Hotel California from a known bad recording as such, the sound in the room was not as good as it could be. I own Emotiva stuff and I love it and do not wish to part with it, it just always works. The crew used Polk Audio speakers, their own equipment including the hottest new processor on the market. I still love them and will not be swayed by one show. The are upright folks making some stunning equipment that can and oft times do touch the highest end.


"A" game, I could not agree more. My three areas of occasional disappointment were:

Poorly recorded source material. Tracks should be chosen that give something specific to listen for, good imaging, dynamic impact, inner detail, etc, not just some "old favorite" track.
Poor speaker setup. A number of rooms had me moving - forward, usually - to find the true sweet spot for soundstage and imaging. One room had been set up seemingly with no thought for them whatsoever. It took an effort to focus on other qualities, which were actually quite good.
Talking in the room. One pair of speakers I really wanted to hear was drowned out by talking in the room, so I left and never made it back. Once the rep himself asked if it was OK for him to continue his conversation. What was I to say? 



Savjac said:


> I have always liked British Speakers, they get the mid range right, it seems imbedded in their genes. Thus my affinity for B&W and Quad speakers. And not to be outdone by those companies, one of the more reasonably priced speakers that do the mid range so ravishingly well while at the same time disappearing from the room, is Harbeth. What an excellent product. This would be my favorite almost real world speaker system.


It looks like a speaker I saw a year ago, although I cannot find a writeup about it. I was totally surprised, too, by this humble little speaker, which _appeared_ to be set up all wrong in the room and sounded GREAT!


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## Savjac (Apr 17, 2008)

To get off the best of show for a bit, I want to mention the Cabasse speakers, namely the system called "La Sphere" or as I seemed to think, a work of art to be sure. I did not ask the price but I knew I could not afford them. These speakers had a certain something that sounded quite good but in a limited frequency range. I did not hear much in the way of sound stage going on but maybe the players on the recorded media were afraid to get burned by all that equipment between the speakers. I need good sound staging so these speakers were not my cup of giant eyeballs.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

Savjac said:


> To get off the best of show for a bit, I want to mention the Cabasse speakers, namely the system called "La Sphere" or as I seemed to think, a work of art to be sure. I did not ask the price but I knew I could not afford them. These speakers had a certain something that sounded quite good but in a limited frequency range. I did not hear much in the way of sound stage going on but maybe the players on the recorded media were afraid to get burned by all that equipment between the speakers. I need good sound staging so these speakers were not my cup of giant eyeballs.


I heard good imaging from the La Sphere, lots of detail in it. The voicing / tonal balance was a strange choice. The soundstage, as you mention, was pretty non-remarkable, but setup and room might make a world of difference. And the visual aesthetic speaks for itself (_someone_ obviously liked it). The price was $180,000 per pair. Probably not how I would spend my next paycheck, heh heh. But I can see it having its adherents.


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## Savjac (Apr 17, 2008)

AudiocRaver said:


> I heard good imaging from the La Sphere, lots of detail in it. The voicing / tonal balance was a strange choice. The soundstage, as you mention, was pretty non-remarkable, but setup and room might make a world of difference. And the visual aesthetic speaks for itself (_someone_ obviously liked it). The price was $180,000 per pair. Probably not how I would spend my next paycheck, heh heh. But I can see it having its adherents.


Thank You for another opinion on these speakers. I would bet that we heard different recordings, but I am sure you are right, I did not have the best seat I am sure. Maybe if we pooled out funds, we could buy one speaker :T


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## Savjac (Apr 17, 2008)

On to my second most favorite speaker and another one that sits just outside of my financial reach, but maybe used might be ok if I sell more blood every month. 
Quad was more or less the original electrostatic speaker, designed by Peter Walker before many of us were born. (Not me of course). I have been a fan of these speakers since the I first heard them in the late 70's. Fast, clear, clean with spacial soundstaging I had not heard before. At this show, they were in a simple set up in the Mobile Fidelity room and were fed sweet vinyl sounds that MoFi is famous for. MoFi did bring their "A" game to this demonstration and I smiled most heartily.

Amplification by Balanced Audio Technologies


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

Savjac said:


> Thank You for another opinion on these speakers. I would bet that we heard different recordings...


We did. I was able to play my own tracks.



> ...but I am sure you are right, I did not have the best seat I am sure.


Off-center seating made it difficult to hear the imaging capability.



> Maybe if we pooled out funds, we could buy one speaker :T


Pass.


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## Savjac (Apr 17, 2008)

No he is not doing anything but picking a tune from the computer....really

The little KEF speakers really played above their size, very well done Kef.


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## Savjac (Apr 17, 2008)

Back to one of my favorites sub titled, the room with no speakers.

MBL consistently amazes me and this model is no exception. The speakers disappear into the room and leaves only performers on a stage. These little guys run full range and pelt out the jams, top to bottom with very little lacking. The MBL speakers that are one step up from these do a bit better, but frankly I would be happy with these. Not to be outdone, the electronics powering the speakers was stunningly well done.


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## Savjac (Apr 17, 2008)

A kind of a cheater favorite in that while listening I was floored by the amount of bottom end coming out of these big guys only to find that the big black box in back was a hidden subwoofer. Yikes.
Never the less, these Magicos were very will done and provided a very pleasing sound, yet not the best of show.


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## Savjac (Apr 17, 2008)

I really liked the sound of these ZU Audio speakers, not too hot, not too cold, for me just right. They are really the antithesis of what I thought I would hear based on their construction. King Crimson was bloody exciting here.


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## Savjac (Apr 17, 2008)

With only 25 hours on the speakers, these Wilson Audio babies powered by Doshi equipment were really good. I found a bit of hardness in the vocal range but I think the newness as well as room issues were the big factors here. A must hear if you ever get the chance.


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## Savjac (Apr 17, 2008)

The slightly larger Wilson Audio speakers powered by the ex Krell head, Dan Daugustino electronics proved to be a force to be reckoned with. Well done boys.


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## Savjac (Apr 17, 2008)

..and of course, last but by no means least, one of the finest presentations in the hotel. Martin Logan and Macintosh togeter again. These companies danced so well as to be able to name this room, one of the best three of the show.


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

Thanks for the pics, Savjac! I enjoyed meeting you and talking a bit about the show, thanks for the tips on top rooms to visit.

I have some miscellaneous pics to share. I talked to Legacy Audio's Bill Dudleston for a while, he showed me the inner workings of the V loudspeaker and Wavelet processor. I was especially enamored with the Silhouette upper echelon hifi on wall loudspeakers. And check out the beautiful AERIS.


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