+1 @rsf507 Yes, there was an arrogance in that room. Which in most cases does not bother me. I want the sales/rep designer to be proud of the product. My only issue was with the Wilson Benesch sales rep. I asked why the Precision series was absent? Basically he said were paying $30k for the room we want to put our best foot forward not to show entry level gear.
Axpona 2023
Axpona Show Recap Sunday April 16th 2023- O'Hare Airport
Clarisys Audio-Why these difficult names??
$35k. Easy on the ears at higher volumes.
"Apogee" is what they look like only prettier.
The new T+A $50k speaker model was also excellent. They make smaller models
I plan to look into.
The $43k Joseph Audio is a perennial winner.
The $200k+ Borresen Speakers may still be my all time favorite. Lars was there
but Michael B. was burned out from an Asian tour.
The Vimberg stand mount Speaker they demo'd is a magical speaker.
Last year they showed Lime Green speaker and sold it at the show.
Makers please note. Focal failed to bring even one "Hot" colored speaker.
And they must have had 25 speakers there. Poor merchandising.
Did anyone else partake in one of Wendel's 1/2 hour new subwoofer sessions? (Magnepan)
Wendel's contention is that 12 6.25" drivers mounted in a dipole configuration
beats anyone's subwoofer. Not sure about his science on that but he puts on an
impressive demo!
I am still waiting delivery of my LRS+ speakers ordered Dec 4th.
I did get to listen to the new LRS+ speakers finally. Interesting back story about
something Sandy Gross had to say in the Bacche room. He thinks the LRS+ are "special".
Mike Fremer debuted his new LP. I won't try to review it but will advise against over paying
for an early copy.
Met some fun people at Cambridge Audio Saturday night! Their business is good.
Dined with the Black Ice people at the Weber Grill. Jared has a very
interesting past if you ever meet him. They sold 40 units of one headphone amp
on Friday at the show!
I finally met Fredrik Lejonklou from Sweden. He does things in an all out assault mode.
Also has the best laid out website I've seen. Product history info is wonderful. Other makers note.
I spoke with the Chris Brunhaver, PS Audio Speaker designer, (son of one of the speakerlab founders)
and heard his mid sized $20k speakers. I like the look and the sound is pretty good
for a first effort. I decided against asking him if he missed Darren Meyers the PS audio designer
who was recently hired away by the new Parasound owner. Darren is a very talented guy who will
benefit greatly from his new association with John Curl. I have to think Parasound will be announcing
a new Class D amp soon enough.
Rumor has it that PS Audio is shopping for a new software man to fix some long standing glitches.
When the mute button turns on the TV it is time for a fix.
Andrew Jones was demoing his new Point 8 speaker. $3k. the Point 10 is $4k.
He had some great demo music I will be including in my next Track du Jour email.
The 8's sounded as good or better than the 10's in that setup.
A fun show overall!!
Showing 3 responses by dayglow
@mikempls +1 Yes, The Canton room was very disappointing. The Reference 3k sounded sluggish/veiled and unengaging. I talked to the Monitor Audio sales rep. and he was very upfront about the Platinum Series being made in China He was very convincing about the extreme level of quality control in PRC factories. The Platinum 200's were playing and sounded restricted but I could hear the potential. He claimed they need a fairly large room to breath properly. I did mention the budget Roksan Attessa gear could be holding them back, he agreed the better the electronics ect. I believe the VSA model was the Endeavor SE playing? or was it a new Endeavor 6? If my memory is correct the retail was $29k not $22k. IMO the Endeavor was clearly superior vs. the Borresen X3. The speed/dynamics and tonal balance was near reference level. The X3 had a little of that "fake" HI-FI ish sheen to it that some Focal/B&W speakers "can" have. I do think at $11k they have few if any competition just be careful with component matching. |
@mikempls Thx for the kind words! I did not see the Scansonic MB models but many of the Raidho models the TD 2.2($45k) was exceptional even when playing Tool. Did you hear the MB 5B, the claimed sweet spot in the Scansonic line-up? Also would like to mention the YG Acoustics Talus from the Peak Series. I thought it was the best under $15k speaker at the show. Its best feature was it did not call attention to itself while music flowed in a non mechanical presentation. The $17k Totem Metal V2 had a very neutral pristine "master tape" like sound but the Talus were slightly more engaging. Both speakers IMO are standouts at the crowded $15k area price point. On the budget side <$10k. The Wharfedale Dovetail $8k/$9k w/stands had a commanding presence that was very well balanced. I was most impressed with the treble delivery. A SS amp/larger room would tighten the bass but the Master Sound amp sounded great. The Atohm GT2 HD at $7500 had that neutral pristine sound with solid bass and dynamics and presented the smallest footprint of the 4 mentioned here. I also believe it has the highest ceiling when upgrading electronics. The Audiovector QR7 at $6500 had a big open spacious sound with nice tonality and slightly rounded bass. Much more relaxed then the Dovetail which is listener dependent not a flaw. Finally the Axpona budget winner at $5k is the Acoustic Energy AE 520. Scale/calmness and balance are its positives. it might lack the pristine clarity of the others sounding slightly thick but electronics and cables can easily solve that minor nitpick. |