I attended that show. It's difficult for me to imagine that it was judged a success by any standard. I'd very much like to see the return of an audio show to NYC, but not if the result in any way resembles AXPONA NYC 2011. |
I hope the "dry run" was a success, and there is a larger show next year. |
Several months ago, those who put on the show maintained there will be a far bigger, better show next year. I'm not completely sure why that would be the case, but those involved seemed to view this as a dry run.
If they were intending to use this as a gauge for future interest, it seems misguided. NYC is the largest venue in the USA, able to easily draw from an area that extends from beyond Boston to the north, down through Philadelphia and even Baltimore and Washington DC to the south. In other words, put a show together that people will want to attend, and they certainly will.
Then again, I believe we've reached the point of saturation with high-end audio shows. So, like RMAF, apart from one that can really get traction going forward, what's left over will perhaps come off as leftovers. |
And once a year, turkey is fine. |
Sounds like a Turkey to me!! |
The reason for the absence of many manufacturers is simple. The show was assembled on very short notice and with limited resources. See the post just above yours. |
i already comented on my perceptions of the sound at the axpona show. i want to add that i would not want to own any of the stereo systems i heard at the show, for two reasons, no panel speakers and no vintage tube sound.
does anyone have an explanation for the absence of major manufactureres such as audio research, conrad johnson, mcintosh, magnepan, vandersteen, synergistic research, audioquest, et al. ?
by the way. the linkwitz speaker is not worth 14,000, as you can buy two pairs of magnepan 3.7, or one pair of mg 20.1s, instead. |
I just wanted to chime in with some inside info about the Axpona NYC show. From what I understand, the organizers had a very short time window to put the show together, and did an excellent job considering the time allotted. The show was part of CE Week (consumer electronics week) in NY, and Axpona was invited to be part of it, but they had to do it very quickly. I am sure the show will be bigger, better and more well attended next year. It was a huge success for us, (especially this being our first time exhibiting at a show), and we will definitely exhibit next year. I just hope to have time to hear more rooms than I did, since I was exhibiting rather than just attending as I did at the 2007 NYC show. |
Yes the tads were very nice I especially liked them with the atma's so natural and effortless I could listen to them forever.
Others I liked were the orions, italian panel speaker very life-like, Josephs were impressive but nothing can compare to the MBL's just outstanding. The mark 2 betters the 101 mark 1 by a small margin but nonetheless its better. When will the extremes come to the east coast I can't wait to hear them. |
Hi Joe (Trelja),
I'm the Atma-sphere/TAD dealer who's room you were in (Triode Picture + Sound). I'm sorry you didn't get to hear the MA-1's on the TAD CR1's. We didn't have a set schedule of when we switched from solid state (TAD) to tube gear. This is the first show I've ever exhibited at (never realized how much work it is) and Andrew Jones was nice enough to fly in from LA to do the demos. The room was often so packed, and people so enthralled with Andrew's presentation that I had I to wait for the a bit of a lul to do the switch over.
But we did play the Atma's several times a day.
The next time you are in Manhattan, please stop by for a proper demo of the Atma-sphere's and the TAD CR1's.
Andrew Jones designed the CR1's, (which many people told me was their favorite sound of the show, but carry a hefty price tag) but he also designed the Pioneer EX series speakers, which I will soon have for demo as well (at a much more reasonable price) that also use a coincident driver, and should prove to have a nice amount of what the TAD's have to offer, and I've been told the Pioneer EX S-1EX definitely fits into that house sound Andrew has created. |
I was also there yesterday.
I didn't expect it to be that good a show, and that turned out to be the case. In fact, I think it was the weakest of any that I've attended. The venue itself was poor - antiquated, dirty, hot, and the 8th floor smelled horrible. Where I was (thankfully) wrong was that I figured it to be banged out beyond belief, as this was the first high-end audio show in the Northeast since 2007. Instead, the show was lightly attended. The problem was the configuration of the rooms was such that even a few people overwhelmed things.
There were a few good sounding rooms - the Rogue/Eggleston, Nightingale, the Danish Jetson's television looking (Davone) speakers driven by Italian (Absoluta) solid state amps, Joseph Audio, and Pass Labs/Kef were a few of note. There was something most definitely wrong with the MBL setup, as I've heard these components sound night and day better, and there just was no get up and go. Disappointing on a personal level was the fact that the Atma Sphere dealer, an exceptionally nice guy, wasn't playing the amps when we arrived, and when we returned maybe two hours later, they still weren't. |
i went yesterday. sound was generally ok. i did not find any rooms outstanding. many manufacturers were absent, and my favorite dealer, audio connection was not there.
draw your own conclusions as to the size of the show.
i was disappointed that i could not hear any panel speakers.
this show did not not compare well to the last stereophile show held years ago in nyc, in the hilton.
one note, the most cost effective system was a small tube-based three piece system of napa acoustics, consisting of a 25 watt hybrid integreated amp, a small tubed cd player and a mini monitor. |
I think it takes some time for most to adjust to the sound of omnis. Larger mbl have to be set up just right to really show their magic. I've heard the same system sound phenomenal at a dealer and just so so similar to what you describe at a show, so take what you hear at a show setup with a grain of salt.. |
I posted this in the wrong forum... here's a copy.
I went. It was smaller than most shows.
The most memorable rooms for me:
The TAD Monitor demo was great. Bass was strong and tight but not overwhelming, loud but not fatiguing, vocals were smooth but with lots of satisfying texture. (Lots of "buts" there. I always seem to describe good audio attributes as "good thing" but not with "bad thing.") The British fellow who I think was the designer (not sure) gave the demo & played some rare Supertramp music (& some nice classical). It was so nice I almost fell asleep in the front row.
They used Tube OTL amps (looked like 50 tubes!), but he said
they were voiced with solid state.
Another nice surprise to me was something I never heard of.
They were called Davone speakers. They are small, $6000 speakers that resemble Bose 901s, but they sure don't sound bozeish. They were sweet with nice impact and again I just wanted to sit & listen for a long time. I was surprised at the low price. They look like something out of the Jetsons,
flat speakers on something that looks like a music stand,
about 3-feet off the ground. Source was an AMR CD player, using Shunyata speaker cables. I forgot the amp (maybe AMR too, I'm not sure). From a store called Sensorium in NY.
They had that rare affect of making me not thing about highs vs. mids vs. bass and just enjoy the music as a whole.
I kept thinking this was a sound I could live with long term (a rarity). I was actually surprised when he told me the price. I thought they were $10K+ things.
MBL was nice, but I thought the 101Es overloaded the room a bit, and I couldn't get a focused soundstage. Tonality was excellent for all instruments and vocals, but the sound seem to come from everywhere, a little disconcerting, but I got used to it. Omnidirectionals, for better or worse. Nevertheless, I just felt I could take the MBL sound in for hours and just relax. |
