PART TWO OF THE HIFI PIG COVERAGE OF THE AXPONA 2024 HIFI SHOW

In our second report from AXPONA 2024, Lin and Stu take you through the hotel bedrooms of the show, from floor 16 down to 11.

An absolutely huge show, AXPONA has several ‘bedroom’ floors, some of which are smaller rooms and others pretty large suites.

Floor 16

SPL

I think I’ve only experienced SPL on static stands in the past but in a room and set up as you would have it at home this kit really does look brilliant – one of the best designs I’ve seen for HiFi in ages and with the Sonus faber speakers sounded excellent.

PUREAUDIOPROJECT

PureAudioProject showed their open baffle loudspeakers with Pass Labs, Mojo Audio, and Silversmith Audio. Ze’ev that runs the PureAudioProject has done a fantastic job of getting this brand onto the world stage and their open baffle concept does deliver on sound quality. That full-range driver assisted by the OB bass gives the advantages of a widebander (point source and staging) without the disadvantaged of cone break-up at lower frequencies. These are a fairly specialised loudspeaker concept, but one that should find favour with dedicated audiophiles and other music lovers looking for great sound in their home.

NEXT LEVEL HIFI/AUDIO GROUP DENMARK

Audio Group Denmark and their Chicago dealer Next Level had two rooms featuring Aavik, Ansuz, Axxess and Borresen gear, the first system with the X3 speakers, which we reviewed last year.

Audio Group Denmark’s Morten was manning this room when I went in and the AXXESS kit allied with the X3 loudspeakers provides a reasonably priced access (pun intended) to the Audio Group Denmark ecostytem.

I’d only seen the X3s in black before but they look excellent and classy in the white.

And the second system with the X2 loudspeakers offers up much of the previous system with a more compact speaker that is more suitable for smaller spaces or those that cannot afford the X3s.

You have to take your hat off to the guys at AGD as they have managed to create a series of products that allow almost everyone to enjoy their sound however deep, or otherwise, their pockets.

The AXXESS Forte is a great unit that is basically a “just add speakers” system, though here it is seen with the brand’s switch and power distribution unit.

AMERICAN SOUND

I make no excuses about loving German brand Avantgarde Acoustics and was quite smitten by the new G3 Mezzo being run by the new flagship Phasemation MA-5000 monoblock amplifiers. The G3 Mezzo are the top of the range and intended for those who cannot accommodate the magnificent Trio system…and their associated bass horns.

The Mezzos have horn loaded bass with two downward firing 12″ drivers intended to be lighter and more agile than the 15″ used before.

Overall, beautifully integrated loudspeakers that are kind of now on my wishlist… and presented brilliantly by Angie and her team at American Sound.

VON SCHWEIKERT AUDIO, LAMPIZATOR AND HEAR THIS

LampizatOr Poseidon DAC paired with Westminster Labs amps and Von Schweikert speakers. All of these are brands we have followed for a good while now and ones we have admired at shows for years, though we do own a Lampizator DAC that we use in our main system.

The Westminster Labs amps used here were new to me, though carry on the brand’s solid approach to design and engineering. The Von Schweikert speakers (using Accuton drivers) are fast and deep sounding without being overblown in what was quite a small room for them.

VIVID AUDIO, KUBALA SOSNA, MOLA MOLA AND GTT AUDIO

The main system used a Grimm MU1 and a and a Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC, Audionet Stern and Heisenberg amplification, and Vivid Audio Gaia G1 Spirit speakers.

This is a spendy system and I did hear a comment about the speakers looking outlandish…but they are designed on properly solid principles by Laurence Dickie and his team. Personally, I enjoyed this system for the short time we were in the room, but could have done with hearing something with a bit more bass heft that pushed the speakers a little.

With a smaller system in the back room of Mola Mola electronics and Vivid Kaya K-45 speakers which wasn’t playing when I went in the room.

AXISS AUDIO, TRANSROTOR, GAUDER AKUSTIK, INNUOS, SOULUTION, TARA LABS

This first room featured the new Soulution 3 series of electronics.

AXISS AUDIO, TRANSROTOR, GAUDER AKUSTIK, INNUOS, SOULUTION, TARA LABS, DCS

BOB CARVER AUDIO

Bob Carver Audio had their RAM 285 tube amp (under 4,500 US$) along with Magnepan LRS+ speakers, Dangerous Music Convert 2 DAC, an ELAC sub and Sublime K235 crossover. One of the more modest systems at the show at under $12,000.

Now, this may have been a modestly prices system and I was worried about how the Maggies would perform bass-wise in the room, but adding the sub (well-integrated) really did elevate the sound to being one I could very well live with. I think there is a bt of a “box-collecting” fetish with audiophiles but this system goes to show that you can enjoy what is quite esoteric audio in a relatively compact and home-friendly format.

One of my favourite rooms.

AMERICAN SOUND

RETHM are an Indian brand distributed in N America and Canada by American Sound and the SAADHANA speakers didn’t disappoint being driven by Phasemation MA-1500 monos.

The speakers use a wideband driver at the top, and in the bottom enclosure you have a pair of actively driven (400W Hypex modules) 8″ bass drivers set up in isobaric configuration.

Floor 15

STILLPOINTS

Stillpoints with Rockport, Bricasti, Purist Audio Design, Shunyata and Viola.

CONSTELLATION AUDIO AND MARTEN

We were treated to the Marten Parker Duo DE standmount speakers ($17500) when we visited, with Jorma cables, Constellation Pictor pre amp, Constellation Taurus mono amplifiers, Aurender N20 Streaming server and Esoteric KX3 CD/DAC.

For Stu, this was again one of the sounds of the show and kind of goes to show that you don’t have to have massive speakers to impress. This system was a fabulous pairing of electronics and speakers that was well thought out for the space it was being asked to play in.

KUBALA SOSNA

Another room from GTT Audio, this one Kubala Sosna Elation! and Realization cables and Xpander power distribution, with a Grimm MU1 streamer and Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC, TLA TSI-300 amplifier and Vivid Audio Giya G3S2… you were looking at around $140,000 BEFORE adding in the cables.

YG ACOUSTICS

This was a really nice sounding system, YG Acoustics Sonia 3.2, partnered with the new £75,000 a pair Linn Klimax Solo 800 Monoblock Amplifiers …..we enjoyed YG in several rooms at the show, but this was especially pleasant. Wired with Cardas cables.

ATC

ATC had two systems and were proudly displaying the brand new 50th anniversary limited edition active standmounts, the ATC SCM20ASL, only 150 pairs are available and they come in a gorgeous dark blue piano gloss finish, with matching blue leather baffles and silver anodised metal-ware.

The new model integrates a 2-way active system, previously only available in a floor standing model, into a smaller stand-mount cabinet. The SCM20ASL Limited Edition features ATC’s proprietary 150mm/6”
‘Super Linear’ Mid/Bass driver paired with a 25mm/1” ‘S-Spec’ dual-suspension tweeter. The bass
driver operates in a 20-litre sealed cabinet and power is provided by on-board class A/B MOSFET
power amplifiers, capable of delivering 200W and 50W continuous power to the bass and HF drivers
respectively. The loudspeaker crossovers are active, analogue 2nd order Linkwitz-Riley and an all-
pass filter is included to optimise the phase response through the crossover region.

To support the SCM20ASL Limited Edition, a limited run of 20 of ATC’s new 12” active subwoofer,
the C4 Sub Mk2 Limited Edition, has been produced. These limited edition subs feature a matching
gloss blue cabinet, leather upholstered baffle and silver anodised amp hardware. Available in May 2024
they will retail at SCM20ASL Limited Edition (pair) £10,500 and C4 Sub Mk2 Limited Edition (ea) £7495.

We liked the combination very much indeed!

GRIMM AUDIO

Grimm were featuring their new MU2 streaming DAC/preamp, with Zellaton Motion EVO loudspeakers, making their worldwide demo debut. A Soulution 511 power amplifier, cabling from Schnerzinger and a Harmonic Resolution Systems EXR audio stand completed the system.

MBL

In a well-sized and well-set-up room MBL showed their new C41 Network Player ($11,100) with their $64k each 9011 monoblocks and the $91k a pair Radialstrahler loudspeaker 101 E MKII loudspeakers.

PHILLIPS DESIGN

Quirky speakers but a packed room we couldn’t really get into for a proper listen.

MOREL

Morel makes speakers and drivers and the rep was keen to say that the benefit here is that if they want to create a new loudspeaker they can specify to their team what drivers they would like for those speakers.

MYTEK AND CONSONUS

Consonus is a new HiFi brand from New Jersey, they showed their striking-looking Consonus Tide Speaker System in partnership with Mytek’s electronics.

The Consonus Tide is a four-way, fully active design with outboard amplification, combining dipole MF and HF planar ribbons with an open baffle woofer and a sealed subwoofer.

This was a VERY good-sounding room and whilst the speakers are quirky we both thought that they made an excellent partnership with the Mytek electronics.

In addition to the excellent sound of the room, it was also very nicely dressed and set up.

BENDING WAVE USA

High-End distributor Bending Wave were in the Club Lounge room…a really lovely space to exhibit, but I imagine challenging to set up. They used Riviera Labs amps and pre with Wadax Level 4 Reference electronics and the Goebel High-End Divin Noblesse loudspeakers. This is what you imagine when you think ‘Ultra High End Audio’.

This system blew Stu away with its power and finesse, which comes at a price. If you can afford the price of entry then get on the blower to Bending Wave and audition this system. Yes, it’s big and visually challenging depending on your viewpoint, but you can’t help but look (and listen) and go WOW!

WOLF AUDIO SYSTEMS

A very interesting system with a Viva Audio Solista amplifier and the cast aluminium Sadurni Acoustics Spherical Series loudspeakers. With VPi, T+A, and a DS Audio optical cart and energiser:equaliser.

I (Stu) sat over to the right of the room for the demonstration but enjoyed this system’s way of being point-source with very nicely integrated bass, which is, of course, a separate unit. The speakers are $4600 a pair and the sub is $1500 which I think offers a very real-world price for the sound I experienced in the room. I’d love to review these speakers at some point I the near future.

PERFECT TECHNOLOGIES AND YPSILON

Interesting looking speakers but there was a lot of talking and some challenging organ music going on when we went in there.

Outside the room I overheard someone say to their friend that they should go in this room and experience “The sound of the show”. Whether it was the challenging music or what I didn’t think the system reached that pinnacle, though they are certainly interesting and I’d like to have the opportunity to sit and listen to some music I am more familiar with through them.

ARTISAN FIDELITY

So the Tidal Piano G3 Midnight Black speakers ($64k a pair) and the Tidal electronics including their $30k Intra amp were stunning, but there was a show stopper in here and it was in the form of the beautiful Garrard 401 Statement SE Macassar Ebony turntable with LDA power supply (list price about $40k)….I mean, LOOK at it!

Tonearm was an 11″ Schroeder CB-1L, VDH Grand Cru cart, and Signal Projects wires and power distribution.

MAGICO

The new Magico S5 2024 was on show plus the A5 in the next room with dCS and Pilium, Magico were also, unsurprisingly, the speaker of choice in many other rooms too.

Floor 14

AUDIO NOTE UK

Peter Qvotrup was in the Audio Note UK room and what an interesting character he is – the day before we sat down to breakfast with him and discussed world economics…what else would three audio lovers at an audio show discuss?

Anyway, the system Audio Note was showing off at AXPONA 2024 was particularly on-point with me wanting to stay for much longer than I had the time. The speakers (AN-E/SPx) are over $60K and use field coil drivers, and it was a nose-to-tail Audio Note UK system using Conquest Silver Signature monos to drive those speakers to proper listening levels.

Thoroughly enjoyable!

YAMAHA

PADUCAH HOME THEATRE

I was particularly drawn, despite the huge Klipsch loudspeakers and Union Research electronics, to the English Acoustics amp you see in the pics in a mint green colour.

Union Research seems to be one of those brands that has somehow remained under the radar for the last decade or so, and I just don’t get it. I commented to the rep in the room that one of my biggest audio mistakes was selling the Union Research CDP many years ago.

INNUOS

Innuos were using their Pulsar Network Music Player, PhoenixNET Network Switch and, of course, the Innuos Sense app in a system that included Rockport Atria II speakers, Lampizator Horizon DAC, Solution 511 Stereo amplifier and 325 preamplifier, Stromtank mains distribution and Transparent cables with a TAOC rack.

I’ve heard the demonstration Innuos do with the Phoenix NET in and out of the system a few times and the difference it makes is immediate and positive. More information on the prototype pictured will be released shortly so keep an eye out on HiFi PiG News for more information as and when we get it.

ENDOW AUDIO AND ORCHARD AUDIO

This was a very interesting room and surprisingly affordable set up.

The speakers are the Endow Audio Bravura 7.2 at $4900 (though there was a show price of $3900), the amp is the Orchard Audio Duo B7 at $1875, and the DAC is the Pecan Pi at $799.

The speakers were a new one on me and a very interesting concept. Bravura 7.2 speakers are equipped with nine 1.5” midrange drivers arranged in a ring array design (seepics) and at the centre of the ring there is a 22mm tweeter. A 7” wooferis found in the box along with a 7” passive radiator port that delivers bass down to 41 Hz. A very interesting concept and one I enjoyed a great deal.

ENDOW AUDIO AND BLACK ICE AUDIO

The Bravura 12.2 speakers ($12900) use a similar (but bigger) array at the top of a larger box than the 7.2s talked about above. They are equipped with nine 1.5” midrange drivers arranged in a ring array design and at the centre of the ring there is a 22mm tweeter. Below this two 12” woofers in a sealed box go down to a claimed 25 Hz.

Electronics in this system were by Black Ice, specifically the Black Ice Fusion F18A amp ($3875) and the Fusion DAC/TRANSPORT ($3250).

TREEHAUS AUDIO

Treehaus Audiolab was founded in 2017 in Connecticut, USA and they brought their A/Machines 300B Single-Ended Triode amplifiers and Phantom of Luxury field-coil loudspeakers in a new Elm Cookies finish to AXPONA 2024.

One of the more interesting loudspeakers I’ve encountered in all my time and certainly a talking point.

LINKWITZ AUDIO

The Linkwitz LK521.4 ($23900) speakers that come with the required 10-Channel amplification system and cables are a very interesting speaker designed and created by the now (sadly) departed Siegfried Linkwitz. You can buy the speakers on their own for (from) $13900. The design is open-baffle dipole that uses Active Line Crossovers provided by the company.

Very enjoyable indeed!

PLAYBACK DISTRIBUTION

Vienna Acoustics and Advance Paris

WELL PLEASED AUDIO

Well Please Audio Distribution’s room was a very, very cool room. At the heart of the system playing was the Vinnie Rossi Brama integrated amplifier that delivers 400 Watts RMS of power per channel into 4 ohms and is stable down to 2 ohms. Vinnie says that the Brama’s high-current, Class AB lateral MOSFET output stage will drive even the most demanding loudspeakers. At the heart of the Brama Integrated Amplifier is a 300B preamplifier stage, featuring a matched pair of Western Electric WE300B triodes that operate in pure class A, is fully balanced and has dual mono architecture from input to output. It’s a beautiful and surprisingly compact beast, though it will set you back a smidge less than $50K at retail.

The speakers are the QLN Reference 9 at $42K that use a slanted cabinet for time alignment, a 7″ Kevlar midrange driver, 9″ thin carbon sandwich woofer, and a 25mm wide-surround tweeter.

The DAC is the fully balanced Merason DAC1 Mk2 that has one USB, one RCA, one Toslink, and one AES input. The MK II DAC increases the price of the Merason unit from around $6K to around $8.5K – just shy of 8000 Euros in the EU.

PLAYBACK DISTRIBUTION

In this Playback Distribution room they focused on the more accessible end of the price range, with PMC’s entry level prodigy 1 and 5 standmount and floorstanders, paired with Advance Paris electronics.

Proof that you don’t need to break the bank to get high level sound.

If you want to find out more about the PMC prodigy, then have a watch of the video we recorded with Elliot and Oliver at their High End Munich launch, last year.

KRELL INDUSTRIES

SVS

GRYPHON AUDIO DESIGNS

FIDELITY IMPORTS

This was a great sounding system with loads of power, I felt. However, time really was getting on by this point and I couldn’t stay as long as I would have liked. Great to see British brands Lowther and Titan represented at this show but Fidelity imports along with Triode and QED.

That little amplifier, the Triode Luminous 84, uses EL84 power tunes and costs in Europe less than 2500 euros. It is made in Japan and gives out 11W a channel, more than ample to drive the Lowthers to high volumes. It’s a Class AB design and runs push-pull.

Floor 12

GESHELLI LABS

Geshelli Labs had 4 rooms at AXPONA 2024 and though pretty much unknown in Europe seem to have a great presence in the States. The rooms are cooly lit and dressed and the staff knowledgeable about their products.

The interesting story in one room and which accounts for the perspex cases, is that the amps they were going to be using failed somehow and so a new one had to be built with only a week to go to the show. Personally, I really love the whole perspex design where you can see all the electronics inside.

MIMIC AUDIO

Mimic Audio were showing off a system fronted by Wolf von Langa speakers that were being powered by a Viva Audio amplifier from Italy.

DARTZEEL AND STENHEIM

What a cool concept; A saxophonist playing over tunes played on the system. An experience rather than an opportunity to listen to the system but I have to say that it integrated very well and I kind of doubted myself at times whether it was the system or the live musician playing the saxophone.

FIDELITY IMPORTS

Perlisten, Primare, QED and Titan Audio were represented in this room and whilst this may be on more affordable end of the audiophile spectrum it certainly delivered in sound. Scandinavian brand Primare is a firm favourite with us and what I thought interesting was the comment that the brand doesn’t try to distinguish between two-channel playback and AV playback. This is a forward-thinking philosophy that makes their products even more appealing to bigger markets.

The Perlisten S5M speakers were a great partnership with their fast and tight sound, aided by a BIG pair of subs that filled the room without over pressurising it.

Again, great to see Titan cables and power distribution represented in this room!

FIDELITY IMPORTS

Fidelity Imports went higher-end in this room with a pair of Opera Callas Diva loudspeakers ($11999 a pair) fronting electronics from Soulnote with much higher price tags with the SoulNote A3 integrated amplifier and D3 DAC costing $24999 each, and the Z3 transport costing $14999 with an extra $4999 being added by the X3 clock. QED provided the cables and Titan Audio power cords.

FIDELITY IMPORTS

Perlisten s7T, Audia Flight, QED, Titan Audio were represented in this room and it was another very good-sounding Fidelity Imports room.

The full system was Perlisten S7T ($29990 a pair), Audia Flight FLS1 pre ($7499), a pair of Audia Flight FLS8 monoblocks at $20K a pair with an Audio Flight FLS20 SACD player ($18999) spinning the discs. Titan did the power cords and QED the rest of the cabling.

FIDELITY IMPORTS

A few favourites in the next Fidelity Imports room in the shape of Q Acoustics, Gold Note, Ruark, QED, Titan Audio. Expect to see a review of the latest Titan Audio power block pretty soon on HiFi PiG.

FIDELITY IMPORTS

Diptyque, Audia Flight, QED, Titan Audio were to be found in the next Fidelity Imports room and I though this one to be excellent. I’m a fan of the French Diptyque audio loudspeakers and we do own a pair of their DP77s. These are the DP 115s available in June of this year. My impression is that they still offer the same kind of speed and imaging as their earlier siblings but now with even better bass response, though i’d like to be able to do a direct A/B comparison at home. I also very much like the newer and sleeker design.

FIDELITY IMPORTS

Acoustic Energy, Soulnote, Michell Audio, QED, Titan Audio sounded excellent and it’s great to see UK turntable legend Michel well represented with their Gyro SE.

Full system was: Acoustic Energy Corinium speakers at $7499 a pair, SoulNote A2 integrated at $7999, SoulNote E1 phono at $4999 and the Michell Gyro SE at what seems a reasonable $6499, though the cartridge would be an additional cost. Again power cords were by Titan Audio and other cables by QED.

WELLS AUDIO

PLAYBACK DISTRIBUTION

Amphion and Esoteric were represented by Playback Distribution in this room. And I have to say that at $24K the Krypton 3X floorstanders are one of my favourite speakers and I feel they offer very good value for money…although I also love their bigger siblings when I’ve heard them with Auden Distribution in the UK.

Electronics are unmistakably Esoteric and specifically the F-02 streamer ($18K) and N-01XD-SE ($22K) streamer.

Cables are by French brand Esprit (very nice folk that we meet all over the world) – specifically their Volta power strip at $999, Celesta interconnects (0.6m $999), Celesta Mains Power cable (1.5m $679) and Celesta Speaker cables (3m $1899).

PLAYBACK DISTRIBUTION

PMC, Esoteric Grandioso, Esprit, and Quadraspire were in the Playback Distribution room and the PMC Fenestria loudspeakers were sounding particularly on point with the Esoteric front end and amplifiers.

Again, this room was wired with Esprit cables from France.

HARMONIA DISTRIBUTION

Fyne Audio and Prima Luna were in this particular well-dressed room and excellent-sounding room presented by Harmonia Distribution. I do love the FYNE range of loudspeakers and almost ordered one of their big vintage 15s when I heard them at a demonstration.

CABASSE

A pair of the Pearl speakers will cost you less than 7500 euros but the rep doing the presentation that many folk will buy just one of these speakers. It’s very much a lifestyle product but it does sound excellent, drawing many of its design cues from the French brand’s Sphere loudspeakers which rank in the top three of my all time faves! Pearl uses a 25cm woofer with a massive 30mm excursion possible. It’s a triaxial design and so you get (essentially) the woofer, the mid, and the tweeters all in one unit to give a point source effect. They are controlled by a cool StreamCONTROL app, but also come with a programmable remote and allow for connection by Ethernet/WiFi, Bluetooth, SPDIF Optical, RCA analogue, and even for USB for music on external hard drives. Now whilst many dyed in the wool audiophiles may shun such concepts, I firmly believe that the future of audio (quality mass market) lies in this kind of product.

HARMONIA DISTRIBUTION

Fyne Audio, Cardas and Pathos were very well represented by Harmonia Distribution in this room

Yep, that will do nicely, thank you very much. Not immediately evident but sat on top of the Fyne loudspeakers is the new (ish) SuperTrax supertweeter. The SuperTrax is a time-aligned, omnidirectional super tweeter that Fyne says “ensures that the energy reflected within a space harmonizes with the direct sound, enhancing the perceived spaciousness and airiness of any audio setup.” And this very much echoes my experience with the superteweters I’ve tried at home. The SyperTrax is very much guided by the aesthetic of the Fyne Vintage Series and looks perfectly at home atop the Vinatage 15s (or perhaps 12s).

A great sounding and very relaxing room that kind of just did for me..and just look at those Vintage 5 standmounters!

PAD HIFI – TAD LABS

Saturday moring we were treated to a private listen in the two TAD Labs rooms, in the first room we heard the $65,000 floorstanding TAD GE1-WN with the TAD C600 preamp and PSU ($32k), D1000TX SACD/DAC ($21k) and M700S power amps ($65k per pair), with TAD speaker and XLR cables.

I don’t think that TAD and their quality need much introduction and anyone who knows professional audio (studios) will be well aware of their heritage. I thoroughly enjoyed this demonstration with everything being just right but maybe a bit much in the bass department for this particular room.

PAD HIFI – TAD LABS

In the second room we had the more compact standmounts, the TAD CE1TX in Olive Wood at $35,000. these were paired with the TAD C1000 pre ($24,950), DA1000TX MKII DAC ($15,900) and M1000 stereo power amp ($19,500). Speaker and XLR cables were all TAD.

Now, for me, this room was pretty much perfect for the size and dimensions of the room. The slightly overdone bass we heard in the last room was tamed and for me, the CE1TX represented a much better option for this environment. However, give me a bigger room and the GE1-WN mentioned above would be on a short list of final speakers.

Both rooms were a great experience and it’s clear that the guys at PAD HiFi (who come from a pro audio background) are clearly passionate about the brand and their products.

Floor 11

RBH SOUND

THEORETICA APPLIED PHYSICS

This a processing unit and it is very clever, indeed. Sadly I didn’t get to sit in the hot seat (I have had the opportunity at other shows) but the guy in there for this dem was clearly as impressed as I was when I enjoyed the experience. The concept is to produce a 3-dimensional stereo image specifically for the person in the hot seat and the unit includes the necessary processor and a DAC.

BRODMANN ACOUSTICS

Based in Vienna, Brodmann are a brand I’ve been aware of and heard many times. They offer up a natural and look incredible. They are paired here with Aries Cerat electronics from Cyprus.

FINE SOUNDS AMERICA

We had been lucky enough to visit the House of Sound in New York a few days before AXPONA 2024 and what an experience it was – we’ll be writing about it in due course. If you aren’t aware The House of Sound is a showcase property in New York dedicated to all things McIntosh, Sonus faber, and Michi (the high-end brand of Rotel). If you ever get the chance to visit this showcase then jump at the chance because it is something genuinely not to be missed…and you get to be shown pretty much this very system right at the start of your tour.

The speakers shown are the Sonus faber Olympica Nova V that cost around 16K Euros a pair. Michi prea and amplifier are at the heart of the system but the keener eyed amongst you will notice that the very affordable Pro-Ject products on the second shelf down.

GRANDINOTE

CONCIERGE AUDIO

Now these speakers caught my attention immediately as they were both different finishes, but that finish was really different and really beautiful.

The brand is Concierge Audio (new to me) and they tout themselves as offering “The World’s finest wireless loudspeakers”. The speakers are fully customisable and require no other electronics at all. As I’ve mentioned with other products (Cabasse Pearl) this may not be the traditional audiophile’s idea of what a HiFi system should be, but it does offer a realistic offering for many people who don’t want to be burdened by a whole load of boxes. With this system you get everything in one box: amplification, DSP, streaming, and speakers. They are made in the US and cost from $75K.

I really enjoyed the whole Concierge Audio experience and can see the brand being very popular both in the US and, especially, Asia. I also love the dragon finish, but if you visit the company’s website you will appreciate the breadth of what is available, though prices do rise!

MARTIN LOGAN

Martin Logan needs no introduction but this was another very good-sounding room.

KIMBER KABLE, WATTGATE, WBT, ZU AUDIO

A very cool demonstration of Kimber Kables in this room, though it was a very quick switch between the cables being used. Essentially, the system in front of you was identical and the guy had a remote to switch just between the cables being used.

Sit and listen through a few times and the differences were pretty obvious!

KANTO AUDIO

Kanto make very cool and very affordable loudspeakers and I use a small pair of their speakers on my desktop and feel no urge to change them any time soon.

We got a demo between the TUK with its ribbon tweeter and the new speaker (available soon) in orange. They are very similar but I actually prefer the speaker with the ribbon. To give you an idea of price, the TUKs are less than 1000 euros and include class D amps, inputs that include Bluetooth® 4.2 with Qualcomm® aptX™ HD and AAC Codecs, USB DAC, dedicated Phono Pre-amp RCA Input, RCA Input
and Optical (TOSLINK). They also have outputs for headphones, subwoofer, and a USB Charge 5V 2A. This is very much real-world HiFi and it really does sound very good indeed fr the money KANTO are asking!

TIEN AUDIO AND KECES AUDIO

Tien is based in Taiwan and I thought that their TT5 turntable and Viroa tonearm were very interesting designs, though their website doesn’t give any prices or much information.

Keces Audio is also Taiwan-based and manufactured there too.

MONACOUSTIC AND AXISS AUDIO

The Mon Acoustics speakers have an air of YG Acoustics about them, if in shape of the cabinets alone. The speakers are the PlatiMon Virtual Coaxial Two and cost $15K in the blue colour but you can save $400 and have them in black. This seemed like a lot of speaker for the money and I did enjoy them a good deal at AXPONA 2024. PlatiMon Two is a versatile loudspeaker and I was shown around the back at the different configurations you could have for the speaker just by changing over a few wires. You can also toggle the tweeter on and off and fine tune its output via a nine position adjustment switch. The cabinets are made of Aluminium and they are 91dB sensitive.

I thought this was an excellent sounding product in the space, though the Accuphase electronics can’t have done anything but help.

AXISS AUDIO

Accuphase, Sonus faber, TAOC, Clearaudio, Trasparent and Innuos were well represented in this room.

AXISS AUDIO

Air Tight, Beaudioful, Reed, Franco Serblin, LA Sound represented at AXPONA 2024 by AXISS AUDIO.

The Muse 3C turntable by Lithuanian bran Reed is a cracker that I’ve had the opportunity to experience a good few times over the years. You can use it as an idler drive like a Garrard or switch it to belt drive in an operation you do yourself and that will take you five minutes. You can also add two tonearms to the Muse 3C. Price is around 21500 euros, but the arms will cost you extra. But it is with the arms that Reed get really interesting and they are well worth exploring and when we showed images of them on our social media channels even folk that weren’t audio people commented on how well engineered and built they appeared.

TECHNICS

I am genuinely really pleased to see Technics and other big names from the past (Yamaha) making a comeback and demonstrating that HiFi need not be all about esoteric kit that both costs a fortune (though some of the Technics Reference-Class products are spendy) and can be temperamental in setting up. Technics seem to be on a bit of a roll at the minute and needless to say, their turntables are still massive in the DJ world as well as in the home…I have four at home ranging from the bomb-proof 1200 MKII through to the 1200G which is our daily reference turntable, via a pair of Mk7s I use for DJing at home.

EAHIBRID

EaHibrid battery linear power supply with Java HiFi, Lu Kang Audio Spoey speakers, Jolida tube amp and Ranko Acoustics cables made up the system in this room and I thought it was a great sounding system.

Jolida were one of the first Asian brands that I remember coming to the fore ten or so years ago and it’s interesting to see them thriving. The amp driving the Spoey loudspeakers is the JD Serenade EL34-based amp giving 30W a channel.

Good to see the Java HiFi amp on the shelf but given what a beautiful bit of kit it is I’d have expected to see it on full display.

ELAC

I believe the electronics in the ELAC room are from the brand’s Alchemy range but if truth be known it was the teeny-tiny speakers that caught my attention as they were making a big sound at AXPONA 2024. The BS312.2 is being billed as a Classic Of Tomorrow and stands just 21cm high. It uses ELAC’s own JET6 tweeter, AS-XR woofer and offers bi-amping and bi-wiring capability. It’s a two-way bass reflex design and goes down to a claimed 42Hz.

I enjoyed these a lot.

SWAN SONG AUDIO

This was a really interesting room hosted by Tony Crocker who was incredibly passionate about his products and product philosophy. The system you see (horns and floor units) uses 3D printing where possible to minimise their impact on the environment.

SwanSong’s press information tells us that the “What IF?” room concept began in 2022 with the idea of it being and audio “Future-ama” that would use 3D printing, lasers, fibre optics, and microprocessors with algorithmic intelligence. That’s quite the concept and whilst Tony says that it’s not quite there yet, it gives a glimpse of what is possible as the chosen technologies develop further. The speakers (the horns and the units on the floor) take 2400 hours to print, use 500 screws and will take you 12 or 13 hours to assemble…even if you have done it before. Tony introduced the assembled folk to the system and you are drawn into the cleverness and thought that has gone into this system. I’m not going to go into the whole system now as I have a strong suspicion that we will be speaking in-depth with Mr Crocker at some point in the future.

But the speakers are not the end of it and Tony was keen to show me some headphones that I think it’s fair to say look like they come off a Sci-Fi movie set from the 50s – and I mean that in a “damn these look cool” kind of way. The headphones are designed to create a full 2-channel listening experience in a headphone. I’d expected prices for these exotics to be pretty astronomical but it seems that they are around the $2K mark which in the world of headphones these days is not even stratospheric pricing.

BENCHMARK MEDIA AND PORZILLI AUDIO

I wasn’t really expecting much when I went I this room and kind of expected a “yeh, solid enough’, but I was pleasantly surprised with the matching of Syracuse-based Benchmark electronics with the (to me unknown, but Lin heard them last year at AXPONA) Porzilli Audio loudspeakers. To say The Note line-array speakers are interesting is a bit of an understatement given that they are 83 inches high but only 2 inches wide, though they do need a sub to be a full-range solution.

Now read part 1 of our coverage here…

Or, if you have read part 1…now read part 3 for the lower floors of the hotel part of the show.

Linette and Stuart Smith

Click here for all of our AXPONA 2024 Coverage!