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Some Axpona thoughts

Went on Friday. Always try to find great sounding speakers that are not TOO expensive. Ones that impressed me- Vapor Cirrus Black(4K),Kef Ls50($1500), Rega RS5($1500),Joseph Pulsar(not cheap at 7K but a special speaker),Sonus Faber Veneer 3.0(bargain at $3500), Legacy Aeris(12k), Acoustic Zen Crescendo(16K) and lots more. Two others intrigued me. 1)Newform Research line array.(10K) 84" Tall with about 12 drivers and about 3 feet of ribbons drivers mounted directly in front of the other drivers. It looks odd and you wouldn't think it would work,but it sounded totally transparent and with 4 subs and a cross-over thrown into the package- it wasn't a bad deal. The star of the show had to be the Tad Reference One. It was worth the price of admission alone. At 70K, totally unaffordable for me, but what a treat to listen to. They played a Master Tape on a reel-to-reel of a jazz recording. It was literally like the sax player was inside the speaker. The most accurate reproduction of an instrument and music I've ever heard. That's what cool about these shows. I would like to hear other people thoughts if they were there-especially on the Newform Research(am I crazy?) and the TAD(I can't be crazy).
jackmonster
csmgolf
887 posts
 
There were quite a few rooms with good sound in them. I liked both of the Volti rooms. The Sony's were very good. All of the MBL's sounded great. I heard a demo of the large ones with a master reel to reel tape and it was absolutely stunning. I've never heard anything like it. As usual, Audio Note sounded good. Others included in no particular order, but not limited to, Scaena, YG Carmel, Dynaudio C1, Joseph Audio Pulsar, the new model from Tyler (I liked them better than any of his previous speakers I've heard/owned), Vapor Audio Cirrus and Stiff Breeze (Stiff Breeze are an awesome speaker at <$1900 a pair), everything I heard in the Selah and Salk rooms, and the speakers from Waterfall Audio. The Seaton Sound room was good as well and are a fine value considering that they are triamped using onboard amps.

I have to disagree about the Legacy Aeris. I have owned probably ten pairs of Legacy speakers over the years and still own a set. I went to that room on four different occasions expecting to be wowed and was disappointed every time. The tweeters were hot and there was a resonance in the lower midrange. Those issues should have been able to be resolved with the room correction processor they use. I wanted very much to like them and quite honestly, didn't. Also, they are 17k, not 12k.

I am not a huge fan of panel speakers, but thought the King Sound King (12k)were outstanding, amongst the very best of the show irrespective of price. I am sure there are others I have missed, but overall most of the sound was pretty decent considering the circumstances.
raks
468 posts
 
I also thought the King Sound room was pretty impressive with the depth of the sound stage being on one of the runways at O’Hare. I also felt the SoundSmith Dragonfly speakers were pretty amazing for the price.
shaudio67
4 posts
 
My favorite room at the show was Legacy, there were some other good ones as well- the TADS did indeed sound good. So did the Sonus Faber with dual stacked subs with Audio Research electronics.

Whisper XD had the best imaging at the show with King Sound a close second. Neither system left any sign that the sound was coming from a speaker. A lot of other rooms sounded kind of diminutive by comparison. I still haven't found a speaker that out images the Whisper XD.

The Legacy Aeris was really dynamic and open with lots of punch. I would like to have heard them with the Ayon player they used on the Whispers. The Coda amps they used are a real bargain IMHO. Funny you don't read much about Coda.

All in all, a great show, I hope they do it again.
tobb
131 posts
 
CSMgolf are you sure having owned ten sets of Legacy speakers isn't a slight exaggeration !:-)
I spoke to Doug Brown from Legacy and they can't figure out what you were listening to unless you entered during Bill's little seminar/demos on how versatile the processor is with regard to room correction.
They were doing these throughout the show.
During demos Legacy may go from end of the spectrum to the other to demonstrate this versatility and yes without the room correction it might sound off.
I spent three days with the Aeris in Vegas and I didn't experience anything remotely close to what you described.
The four incidents were they a duck and dash?
I thought the Kings were good also but not that much better than the Aeris if at all.
What speaker were they showing for 12K?
I would urge you to talk to the guys at the next show and they'll welcome the opportunity to set you straight on the Aeris.
csmgolf
887 posts
 
Tobb, here is my list.

1. Original Focus
2. Silverscreen II
3. Mist
4. Original Whisper
5. Original Marquis
6. LF Xtreme
7. Original Studio
8. Mini monitor (still have)
9. Victoria LE
10. Gallery
11. Escort
12. Classic HD
13. Focus SE
14. Empire (still own)

Looks like ten was an underestimation! :-) The number in my first post was just a guess without really taking the time to count them all.

My trips to there room were not flash and dash. I really, really wanted to be blown away and was not. I am just stating what I heard. To my ears, the Whisper XD was much better. Believe me, I don't want to bash them as they have been nothing but great to me over the years. My impression was very good, but not the game changer I've come to expect from them.

I am not sure which 12k comment you are talking about. The OP quoted the price of the Aeris as 12k when they are actually 17k. My original post may have been confusing in this regard. The Kingsound King 3 list at 12k. Those were the 12k speakers I was referring to.
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