JOIN US FOR THE HiFi PiG AXPONA 2025 REPORT PART 2

Welcome to Part 2 of the big HiFi PiG AXPONA 2025 report, where Oscar and Kelly cover floors 16 down to 12 of the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel, Chicago, USA.

We hope you enjoyed the first part of our AXPONA 2025 report, now join us for Part 2….

Please note, all content and photos are the copyright of HiFi PiG Magazine/Big Pig Media LLP and must not be copied or reproduced in any way without the prior, written consent of the editor.

FLOOR 16

SPL

SPL had a room with a pair of Sonus Faber Olympica Nova V speakers, Phonos phono stage, Director MK2 pre-amp with DAC, a single s1200 stereo power amplifier and a pair of m1000 mono blocks – turntable wise they had the Pro-Ject Signature 12.2, with a The Classic Reference on static display at the side of the room.

Pure Audio Project

In this room you had the brand-new Pure Audio Project Duet 15 Horn1 speakers paired with an LAiV Harmony DAC, Axiom II Walker pre-amp, Aurender N100C streamer and First Watt SIT 4 amplifier.

Next Level HiFi

Next up were 3 different Next Level HiFi rooms, in the first we had the Audio Group Denmark Axxess L1 standmount speakers paired with matching stands, Axxess Forte 1 streaming amplifier, Axxess power distributor SE, Ansuz PowerSwitch X-TC3 and full Axxess cabling + isolation feet. Compared to a lot of rooms, this was a relatively “affordable” system and it sounded excellent, this is the size of speaker that is ideal for a small to medium size room.

Next Level HiFi

In the next room you had the Borresen C1 speakers with matching stands, an Aavik U-188 streaming amplifier, Ansuz A3 ethernet switch, A3 power distributor, and Ansuz A3 cabling with S2T Darkz isolating feet.  These have a bit more clarity, openness, and impact to their sound over their more budget siblings in the previous room.

Next Level HiFi

In their last room they had the Borresen T1 SSE, a whole different beast to the previous two speakers with only the tweeter being the same as the C1. These have an iron-free titanium mid-bass driver and were being driving by an Aavik I-288 integrated amplifier, Aavik SD-288 streamer, Ansuz S3 ethernet switch, Ansuz D3 power distributor, Ansuz D3 cabling and T2S Darkz isolation feet.

Totem Acoustics

Totem had two systems setup, one had their Element Metal V2 speakers paired with Aragon Iridium mono blocks, Aragon Tungsten pre-amp, Lumin streamer, Torus Power conditioner and Cardas cabling.

The other was their new model, the Totem Tribe Tower Thunderbird, paired with a Lumin streamer, Aragon Tungsten pre-amp, Aragon Titanium stereo power amplifier and Torus mains conditioner. From such a small form factor and very home friendly design you get huge sound and excellent top-to-bottom extension. These are one of those speakers that sounds bigger than it looks, the bass is incredibly well controlled and it digs down to 27-28Hz without breaking a sweat. They have wide dispersion and impressive detail retrieval, with a very lifelike sound – impressive.

Totem’s founder Vince Bruzzese was kind enough to give me a CD when in the room, it’s his nephews record – Mike Bruzzese – Even When Dreaming. He’s a very talented jazz guitarist and I’ll be giving it a listen on my home system soon.

American Sound

In this room you had Angie Lisi’s American Sound who distribute a range of high end brands in the USA and Canada. In this room they had Avantgarde Mezzo horn speakers playing, paired with Phasemation MA-2000 valve mono blocks, a Wadax Studio Player, MSB The Cascade DAC, Grimm MU2 streamer, Perpetuum Ebner PE7070 turntable and Phasemation CM-1500 pre-amp – this system was using Transparent cabling. They had another smaller room with the Avantgarde Zero 1 XD active speakers, Perpetuum Ebner PE 1010 MKII turntable, Phasemation EA-350 phono stage and Grimm MU2. They had some other kit on display around the room, including Systhesis amplifiers.

GTT Audio

GTT Audio had the impressive Vivid Audio Giya G1 Spirit speakers paired with Audionet Schrodinger mono blocks, MACH pre-amplifier, Pam G2 phono stage, Ampere phono stage, Kronos Perpetual turntable with Discovery RS tonearm and SCPS-P power supply, My Sonic Lab Sig Platinum cartridge, Roon Nucleaus Titan server, Auralic Aries 2.2 streamer, Master Fidelity NADAC D DAC with NADAC C external clock and Dejitterit Switch X ethernet switch and WiFi X WiFi router. They were using Kubala Sonsa Realization cabling throughout. They also had a smaller system in the next room with the Vivid Audio Kaya K-45 speakers powered by the TLA TSI-300 signature amplifier and Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC. I have heard the big Giya G1 before an they are fantastic speakers however; in this room they were playing some very sedate jazz that really wasn’t showing off what these speakers can deliver.

Axiss

In this Axiss room you had the Gauder Akustik Capello 100 DV speakers paired with a Soulution 312 stereo power amplifier, 360 DAC, 350 phono stage, 326 pre-amp, Transrotor Bellini turntable with TRA studio tonearm, KM-1 power supply and AirTight PC-1 Supreme MC cartridge, Bluesound Node as a roon endpoint and TARA Labs cabling throughout the system.

Linn

Linn had their Selekt DSM as the amplifier / Source and this was paired with their 150 loudspeakers using Transparent cables. At the side of the room, they had a rack with lots of bits from Linn’s history and to the other side of the room they had a Linn Sondek LP12-50 turntable which was running into their Selekt DSM demo system.

Axiss

In here we had the crazy Transrotor Artus FMD turntable, TRA-9 Chrome tonearm, TRA-9 Ruthenium tonearm, DS Audio Grand Master EX optical cartridge, Transrotor MC Tamino cartridge, Soulution 727 pre-amp, 757 De-Emphasis pre-amp, 760 DAC and 2 x 717 reference power amps. This was running into a pair of Gauder Akustik DARC 250 Reference speakers, they had a Roon titan music server for digital duties and were running TARA Labs cabling and Telos mains conditioning and distribution.

Next Level HiFi

In this room by Next Level HiFi we had the Focal Diablo Utopia Evo paired with the Naim Uniti Nova PE, Ansuz A3/D3 power conditioner/mains distribution block. I do love the finish of these speakers, they sounded great too.

American Sound

In this American Sound room we had a selection of Jeff Rowland components at the side of the room, the main demo system consisted of a pair of Rethm Maarga active loudspeakers with an Aurender A1000 streamer and Jeff Rowland Capri V2 pre-amplifier.

Next Level HiFi

The Focal Diva Utopia were playing in this room by Next Level HiFi, these are fully wireless active speakers however they can be linked to each other via an ethernet cable. They were using Ansuz cabling in this room and these really do showcase how good an all-in-one active streaming HiFi speaker can sound.

FLOOR 15

Stillpoints

In the Stillpoints room you had two Stillpoints equipment racks and multiple Stillpoints isolation products, a Viola Audio Labs Sonata pre-amp, Viola Cadence amplifier, Rockport Atria II speakers on Stillpoints Ultra 10’s, Bricasti M1 SE Mdx DAC with network card, Tien TT5 turntable with Viroa tonearm and Phasemation PP200 cartridge, Analog High Fidelity phono/tape head pre-amp, Revox PR99 MKIII rebuit with upgraded output stage, Telos line conditioners and cabling from Madison Audio Labs.

GTT

In this GTT room you had the Vivid Audio Giya G3s2 playing with a pair of Mola Mola Perca amplifiers (in vertical Bi-Amp mode), Mola Mola Makua pre-amp, Grimm MU1 streaming server, Dejitterit Switch X network switch and WiFi X router. They were using a Kubala Sosna Xpander mains distribution block and Kubala Sosna cabling throughout.

Keces

Keces are, in my opinion, an highly underrated company. Here they had a display model of their upcoming Euphony streaming DAC which should be released next month at High End Munich. In their demo system they had a pair of Magico A3 speakers running out of a pair of S300+ power amplifiers in mono mode, S4 pre-amp (which has a built in DS optical phono stage), Tien Audio TT5 turntable, DS Audio optical cartridge and a Keces Ebravo streamer running into a Keces S3 DAC/Headphone amp. They were using their P6, P14 and IQRP-3600 mains devices, this was a great sounding room and I really do enjoy the S4 and S300+ combo which I use as a reference at home.

ATC

ATC unveiled their brand new SCM20ASL stand-mount active speakers, these are based on their 50th Anniversary “limited edition” design and are perfect for modestly sized rooms. They feature a sealed design for accurate bass with on-board class-A/B MOSFET amplifiers capable of 200w continuous to the bass driver and 50w continuous to the tweeter. They were running these via an ATC SCA2 pre-amp using an Innuos ZENith NextGen MK3 server with PhoenixUSB lite, Innuos PhoenixNET network switch and Playback Designs MPD8AI-DAC. These sounded seriously good, with that typical clean and linear ATC sound which can pack a punch when needed.

In their second room they had their SCM50SAL active speakers paired with a C4 sub MK2, ATC CDA2 MK2 pre-amp/DAC/CD paired with an Innuos Pulsar + PhoenixUSB Lite and Innuos PhoenixNET network switch.

Grimm

Grimm had their LS1e speakers on demo with a Dr. Feickert Volare turntable running into a Grimm PW1 phono stage, and an MU1 server. They also had their MU2 on display at the side of the room, this was an enjoyable sounding room and the LS1e speakers sounded very natural and controlled.

Bliss HiFi

Bliss HiFi had a pair of Vivid Audio Kaya 90 speakers paired with a pair of Perlisten D12s subs, T+A R2500 R streaming receiver, Pure Fidelity Harmony turntable with Tri-Planar U2 SE tonearm and Pure Fidelity Stratos MC cartridge. Digital wise they were using a Synergistic Research router and ethernet switch, they were also using Synergistic Research mains conditioning and grounding, as well as cabling, with a SolidSteel HF-4 rack.

MBL

MBL had two rooms next to each other, the first had their 101 E MKII speakers powered by a pair of their 9011 mono amplifiers and their brand new C41 network player. I have been impressed by these speakers before, and was impressed here again, they have such an open and ethereal sound that really does fill the room so very easily, they were using WireWorld cabling throughout this system.

In their second room they had the smaller 126 speakers being driven by their C21 stereo amplifier and new C41 network player, whilst these don’t have the scale of their bigger sibling, they still have that signature MBL sound that is quite impressive, they were also using WireWorld cabling in this room.

Morel

Morel were using a Hegel H600 as their amplification of choice, paired with the Fiio S15 streamer, they also had an Aurender A1000 in the rack, these were running into a pair of the Morel Sopran 634 speakers via Nordost cabling. These speakers sounded really bold, with a tight and punchy sound that digs deep into the bass with great accuracy and tonality. These stood out as excellent sounding speakers, they also have lovely build quality.

Pass labs

Pass Labs are very well known for their amplifiers, they had a wide range of their electronics on display around the room. In their demo system they had a pair of the Pure Audio Project Duet15 Voxativ AC-PiFe speakers driven by Pass XA60.8 mono blocks, HiFi Rose streamer and the Pass Xs Pre 2 pre-amplifier.

Magico

Magic make some huge speakers, outside of the demo room they had a static display of a couple of models alongside the shell of one of their cabinets to show off how they are built. In the demo room were the huge M9 speakers with Magic MXO active crossover paired with 2 x Dan D’Agostino Epic 1600 mono blocks and 2 x Relentless mono blocks, Dan D’Agostino Relentless pre-amp, Antipodes Oladra music server, Wadax Atlantis server, Wadax Reference Transport, Wadax Atlantis DAC, Telos grounding and power station and Vyda Labs cabling. This was a huge system, with sound to match.

Silent Pound

Stu recently reviewed the Silent Pound Challenger, and I’ve listened to them on a few occasions. They are a fantastic speaker, combining open baffle bass with an enclosed mid/high section in a constant directivity speaker design. Sitting in the sweet spot gives you such a brilliant presentation that is both dynamic yet well balanced, with tons of energy on tap when required. These were paired with an AXPONA orange Perreaux 300ix integrated amplifier, Life Audio speaker cables and Titan Audio power cables and mains distribution. They were using an Aurender A15 server/streamer/DAC along with a Solid Tech stand.

Perfect8 Technologies

Perfect8 Technologies had their CUBE-T speakers on demo, these have a unique design and use force cancelling drivers in a glass cabinet. They were using a Ypsilon Phaethon integrated amplifier paired with a Thrax Maximinus MK2S DAC.

Heaven 11

Heaven 11 make little integrated amplifiers; in this room they had their Billie MK3 playing (the model with Hypex amplifier in it). These are modular and you can buy them with either a Hypex or an ICE class-D output stage, you can also choose between a single or dual chip DAC, and single or dual-mono headphone amp too. These modular amplifiers use a valve input stage with Class-D output for speakers, they look cool and are incredibly versatile. The amp on demo was driving a pair of Pure Audio Project Trio10 HeilAMT speakers and was producing a clear yet smooth sound.

M101

M101 were offering demos of their cables where you could bring your own cable and put it up against theirs. They were using their Flare power, speaker, and LAN cables with IO power isolator. They had a PS Audio Stellar Strata amplifier running into a pair of Paradigm Persona 3F speakers, they had Townshend Seismic pods and Seismic podiums as isolation.

FLOOR 14

Kii

Kii had their fantastic Kii Seven’s playing in this room, they sound so good for their size and I really do like their ease of use (active streaming speakers). They also had their larger Three BXT model in the room and were switching between them throughout the show.

Vandersteen

Here you had the Vandersteen Quatro CT Evo speakers on demo with a Vandersteen M5HPA mono blocks, L5-ACC audio control centre, Audio Research Reference Phono 3SE phono stage, AMG Viella Forte turntable with 12J Turbo tonearm and Lyra Atlas Lambda MC cartridge. Digital wise they had an Aurender N30SA server/streamer, Aurender MC10 master clock and Audio Research DAC9, they were using AudioQuest cabling throughout.

Well Pleased

In the Well Pleased room you could find the QLN Reference 9 speakers paired with the Merason The Mountain DAC, Vinnie Rossi BRAMA integrated amplifier, and Innuos Zenith NextGen / PhoenixNet and Phoenix USB streaming server setup.

Rockport / Vinnie Rossi

In the next room you had the Rockport Lynx speakers driven by the Vinnie Rossi Brama Gen2 pre-amp and mono blocks, Innuos ZENith Next-Gen streamer, Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC, Stillpoints Aperture II wall treatments and AudioQuest Dragon, Firebird and Thunderbird cabling.

Treehaus

Treehaus audio speakers certainly stand out, with live-edge open-baffle speakers which use field coil drivers – the model on demo were the Phantom Of Luxury and they come with a valve rectified power supply. These were paired with the Treehaus Audiolab LCR phono stage, Treehaus Audiolab Pre-amp, Treehaus Audiolab 300B-2 SET amplifier and Treehaus MC step-up transformer, they were using an SME Model 12 MK2 turntable with SME Series V tonearm, DaVa Soul Field Coil cartridge, Puritan PSM156 mains conditioner, Souldnote D-2 DAC, and Iconoclast cabling.

Linkwitz

In the Linkwitz room you had their quite odd-looking speakers which have a rotatable top section to help get them sounding right in your listening space. They were using a T+A DAC/pre-amp running into their own amp/crossover solution. They were using a Grimm MU2 server and had an SMSL PL200T CD player too.

Magico / CH Precision / Watson Audio

CH Precision had a pair of Magico S3 speakers in their demo room and were using their new sister brands amplification and streamer when I went in the room. CH Precision have partnered with Wattson Audio and they are offering some more affordable products, which include a streamer (Madison LE) and a power amplifier (Madison) – both small form factor. These are being released very soon with more details to come; from such a small package this little streamer / amplifier combo handled the S5’s with great agility and power.

They did have their larger products in the system too, and were swapping between the two systems throughout the show. The larger system had their I1 integrated amplifier, D1.5 CD/SACD/MQA transport, Dr. Feickert Analog – Woodpecker with Acoustical Systems 10” tonearm and Archon cartridge, and Nordost cabling throughout.

Jolida

Jolida are a brand I am familiar with, yet haven’t had a good chance to listen to any of their kit for an extended period. They make a range of electronics from valve amplifiers to CD players. They had a pair of speakers in the room – the BulBul 01 which look a little like a very famous BBC speaker – they are different though and have a larger cabinet, which is sealed and they are rated at 4Ohms.

Innuos

Innuos had two brand new products which were unveiled at AXPONA, the new Stream Series. In the first room they had their new Stream3 – their new top-performance streamer/server with a modular design that will support their upcoming DAC boards for an elegant all-in-one solution. The demo system in this room consisted of the ZENith Next-Gen with PhoenixUSB board, PhoenixNET network switch and PhoenixUSB reclocker – these were running in to a DCS Bartok DAC, Dan D’Agostino Pendulum integrated amplifier powering a pair of Wilson Audio Sabrina X speakers via Transparent cabling. They did have the Stream3 running with a PhoenixDAC board into the above too and did demos switching between the units.

The other new product is the Stream1, a smaller streamer/server at a slightly more affordable price, it also has some modulatrity built in with optional linear power supply upgrade and output modules (standard DAC board, Performance DAC board, SPDIF Board or Phoenix USB board). It supports M.2 NVME drives for easily upgradable storage too.

Audio Note UK

I recently visited Audio Note UK’s factory as it’s quite close to where I live, and it was a pleasure to see them here at AXPONA, on the other side of the globe. Peter was running the system when I went in, and he played quite a complex dance track that gave the system a good workout, and it sounded fantastic. They were running a Meishu Konzertmeister 300B integrated amplifier, CDT Four CD transport, their new DAC 5.1x Ladder DAC (prototype, I saw an earlier one during my visit), TT Two turntable, Arm Three/II tonearm, IO I MC cartridge, AN-S5 step-up transformer, AN-E/SPx Ltd Field Coil speakers and all Audio Note UK cabling.

Musical Artisans

In this room you had the Kharma Elegance dB7 speakers paired with a CH Precision I1 integrated amplifier and Reed Muse 1C turntable.

FLOOR 12

Neil Blanchard Designs/Geshelli

Neil Blanchard Designs paired with Geshelli in this room, NBD offer flat-pack speaker kits that use a transmission line design. They seem to offer great value for money if you fancy building your own speakers, and they were using the Geshelli Giuseppe pre-amp, Dayzee DAC and Z-Blok mono block amplifiers.

Geshelli Labs

Geshelli Labs had multiple rooms grouped together, some with their headphone amplifier and desktop DAC combo’s, others with their larger stereo components including mono blocks, pre-amps, and DACS.

Fidelity Imports

In the first of many Fidelity imports rooms we had the Q Acoustics Q5020 speakers with a pair of Q Acoustics Subs, Aurender streamer, Geshelli TORC DAC, Unico Primo integrated valve amplifier and QED cabling throughout. They had some other Unico products on static display at the side of the room as well as a tower of subs.

Fidelity Imports

In this room we had the Wilson Benesch Discovery 3zero stand mount speakers paired with a Perlisten R210s subwoofer, AVM PAS 5.3 streaming pre-amp, Rotation R 5.3 MKII turntable, MA 30.3 mono block amplifiers and PC 5.3 mains conditioner. Another lovely sounding system with Wilson Benesch speakers.

Fidelity Imports

This was a full Ruark room, with some of their lifestyle speakers on display alongside their R610 which was driving a pair of their Sabre-R speakers. A really nice sounding room for the money, and one that is visually appealing too (not your typical black boxes).

Fidelity Imports

In here we had a Perlisten and Primare setup, which consisted of the Perlisten R5t speakers and R8s subwoofers, Primare Prisma streaming pre-amplifier and A35.2 mono blocks. Perlisten / Primare kit is always a highlight for me personally, they just work incredibly well together with snappy transients and excellent depth.

Diptyque / Viablue

Viablue cabling was on display and demo in this room, paired with Diptyque DP 160 MKII speakers, AVM CS 8.3 all-in-one CD receiver and streaming amplifier, they also had an AVM mains conditioner in the system.

Perlisten

Well, they were playing Make Us Stronger in this Perlisten room to show off the bass capabilities of this system, and to be honest I don’t blame them – it was impressive with huge presence and control. They were using an Aurender streamer, Audiaflight pre-amp, Perlisten DSP and a pair of Audiaflight mono blocks. Speaker wise they had the Perlisten S7t paired with a world debut of the D8is subwoofer – this uses 8 x 8” woofers, 3000w of amplification and weighs around 80KG, it was however extremely well integrated with the speakers, offering clean and deep bass.

Fidelity Imports

In this room we had the Unison Research S6 Black Edition valve integrated amplifier paired with the Opera Quinta V.2 speakers, and a small Aurender N100C server/streamer – a simple and elegant system. Around the edge of the room were some other Unison Research products on static display.+

Fidelity Imports

Michell were the focus of this room with their brand-new Apollo and Muse phono stage and power supply, these were being used with a Gyro SE turntable (with T8 tonearm and CUSIS S MC cartridge), Q Acoustics Concept 300 speakers, Sub 120 and Primare I35 Prisma streaming integrated amplifier. Michell make some truly lovely turntables and electronics, and this room showed they sound as good as they look.

Rhythm

Room 1230 had another North American debut for Goldmund, with their Telos 2800 monoblocks, paired with a Mimesis Signature pre-amplifier and Eidos streamer. They were using the Marten Mingus Quintet 2 Statement speaker, Garrard 301 Advanced turntable and with new SME VA tonearm, Goldmund Mimesis PH3.8 Next Gen phono pre-amp and Jorma power reference unit and Statement cabling.

In room 1229 you could find Engstrom premiering their Eric Encore monoblocks with the Monica MK3 pre-amp and M-Phono MK2. They were using the Marten Parker Trio Diamond speakers, a Garrard 301 Classic turntable, Luxman NT-07 streamer, DA-07X DAC and Jorma Origo cabling.

Room 1223 had the Luxman L-507X integrated amplifier, NT-07 streamer, DA-07 DAC, PD-151 MKII turntable, Marten Oscar Duo speakers and Jorma Duality cabling throughout.

Playback

In the first of a few Playback Distribution rooms we had a full Esoteric Grandioso system including the K1X SE SACD transport, N1T network transport, G1X master clock, C1X pre-amp, M1X mono block amplifiers, PS1 power supply, and a pair of Esprit Amelia speakers with Esprit cabling all round.

Playback – PMC

In the next room we had the new PMC Prophecy 7 (US debut) paired with an MJ Acoustics Pro50 MK4 sub, Advance Paris A12 Classic integrated amplifier, MyConnect 250 amplifier, X-CD9 and WTX-StreamTubes network streamer – they were using Esprit mains conditioning and Advance Paris speaker can interconnect cables.

Playback

Next up was a TEAC system featuring the AP-507 power amplifier, UD-701N network player, CG-10X master clock, TN-5BB turntable, PE-505 phono stage, Vienna Acoustics Mozart SE Signature speakers and Esprit cables and mains conditioning.

Playback

The rather intriguing Vienna Acoustics Liszt Reference speakers were on demo in this room with an MJ Acoustics Henley 12” sub, Java HiFi Carbon Double Shot 400 integrated amplifier, Esoteric K-05XD SACD player, G-05 master clock and N-05XD network streamer, once again Esprit cabling and mains condition was used throughout.

Playback

Lastly, we had the world debut of the new Amphion Argon 7LX speakers paired with an Esoteric F-02 integrated amplifier, N-05XD network streamer, G-05 master clock and PS-01F power supply, cabling and mains conditioning was from Esprit.

Now go to Part 3, the final part of the AXPONA 2025 coverage.

You can read Part 1 here.

Please note, all content and photos are the copyright of HiFi PiG Magazine/Big Pig Media LLP and must not be copied or reproduced in any way without the prior, written consent of the editor.

Oscar Stewart

Additional photography by Kelly Bowden