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This years Axpona was probably the best they've had. There were lots of vendors and better sounding rooms than in shows past. I felt the traffic was also up, but others were not so sure. The folks at Axpona worked very hard to put on another great show this year. That being said, there is room for improvement. Axpona was marred not by who was there or the rooms, but by who wasn't there. No Pass (except for a pair of amps in one room), no Vitus, no Rockport, no PS Audio and most importantly, no MQA! I had more than a few people tell me, "the whole reason I came to Axpona was to hear MQA." The list of notable no shows was long and frankly, disappointing. Axpona needs to find a way to directly attract more manufacturers and more distributors. All in all, a good show and a nice improvement over last year.
Biggest surprise:
As far as sources are concerned, tape stole the show. The tape seminar that Myles put on was good and the number of reel-to-reel machines in use seemingly up 500% over any previous shows. Tape definitely made a strong impact as far as sources were concerned.
Biggest disappointment:
No real MQA presence. IMO - there should have been a big MQA room where demos were being held every hour on the hour, not buried on a little Mytek table in the back of the main lobby with the headphones, Record cleaning machines and vinyl for sale. People have heard the hype, Axpona was a perfect time to "show the beef".
Auspicious debuts:
Magico S5 mk2. Jadis KT150 integrated. Wilson Alexx. StromTank. New Atmasphere tube amp. Air Force 3 turntable. Wells Audio Integrated. VPI DD Avenger. CAT mk7 amps. Many others.
Best Budget Speaker:
The Elac's made another strong showing, but this year, for me, the Aurum Cantus Melody M-102SE's at $2500 a pair. Finished in a gorgeous cherry (or rosewood option), these speakers sounded magnificent. Runner up: Elac's.
Best Solid State Amp:
The Wells Audio amp just sounded right. It sounded like music. I was smitten with this amp. Runner up: Parasound JC1's/Rowland (tie). Honorable mention: Gamut amps.
Best Tube Amp:
The big CAT amps were sounding magnificent in the Magico room, but I have to say the VAC 200 iQ monos. Paired with the Von Schweikert speakers, these amps sound like music. Runner up: Jadis I-50.
Best Tape Source:
Chad's Ampex R2R in the Rowland/Joseph room.
Best Vinyl Source:
Kronos Pro with ZYX Universe Premium in the Magico S5 mk2 room/VPI Direct Drive Avenger (tie).
Best Digital:
Impressed again with the Chord DAVE. Maybe Suncoast Audio needs another addition to its digital lineup...hmmmm....
Best Wireless Speaker (could this become a new category?):
The Goldmund Wireless speakers were awesome! Goldmund speakers with internal Goldmund electronics. How could they be anything but great?
Best Speaker:
OK, the MBL 101 Xtremes are insane, needing a massive room and costing $1,000,000 for speakers, amp, cables, sources, etc. so, we almost have to exclude them from this contest and focus on speakers people might actually buy. So, in the speaker category that some will actually buy, the Magico S5 mk2 was the most consistent sounding in the show. As I mentioned in another post, I went back to that room 10-15 times and it was always sounding great. No boom. Just right.
Runner up's: Avantgarde Uno XD (after I argued with the Avantgarde rep on Saturday morning and he finally allowed me to fix the EQ -- then thanked me afterwards because they sounded WAY better -- long story). He didn't touch my EQ settings and kept saying "these sound so much better, thank you."
Focal Sopra 2's with the Pass XS amps and Sopra 2's with the MicroMega integrated. Awesome! The big Tidal speakers were also amazing. Loved that whole Tidal room. Big dollars though. The Gamut speakers also sounded awesome. The Monitor Audio Platinum II speakers have to be one of the greatest buys in audio. $27,000 for a speaker that is very reminiscent of the Raidho D5. The D5 still beats it, but boy...for $27,000? These big Monitor Audio's are impressive. I also liked the KEF Blade 2's with the Parasound gear. Very nice sounding. Harbeth SHL5+ with the Vinnie Rossi Lio was also nice, but could get boomy.
More...Eggleston speakers on the second level with a full ModWright setup and the Scaena speakers with ARC also sounded very nice.
Finally, in the "what the hell is that?" category, we have the Waveion speaker. Looking inside the speaker, one could see tie wraps and other things.
Best Overall Room:
As I've said before, the Magico S5 mk2/CAT/Kronos Pro with ZYX Universe Premium cart was by far the most consistent. No bass humps. No "it was good sometimes." It was consistently excellent. When the Magico/CAT/Kronos combo was playing, nothing could touch it. The ambience, the presence, the realness was unmatched.
Biggest surprise:
As far as sources are concerned, tape stole the show. The tape seminar that Myles put on was good and the number of reel-to-reel machines in use seemingly up 500% over any previous shows. Tape definitely made a strong impact as far as sources were concerned.
Biggest disappointment:
No real MQA presence. IMO - there should have been a big MQA room where demos were being held every hour on the hour, not buried on a little Mytek table in the back of the main lobby with the headphones, Record cleaning machines and vinyl for sale. People have heard the hype, Axpona was a perfect time to "show the beef".
Auspicious debuts:
Magico S5 mk2. Jadis KT150 integrated. Wilson Alexx. StromTank. New Atmasphere tube amp. Air Force 3 turntable. Wells Audio Integrated. VPI DD Avenger. CAT mk7 amps. Many others.
Best Budget Speaker:
The Elac's made another strong showing, but this year, for me, the Aurum Cantus Melody M-102SE's at $2500 a pair. Finished in a gorgeous cherry (or rosewood option), these speakers sounded magnificent. Runner up: Elac's.
Best Solid State Amp:
The Wells Audio amp just sounded right. It sounded like music. I was smitten with this amp. Runner up: Parasound JC1's/Rowland (tie). Honorable mention: Gamut amps.
Best Tube Amp:
The big CAT amps were sounding magnificent in the Magico room, but I have to say the VAC 200 iQ monos. Paired with the Von Schweikert speakers, these amps sound like music. Runner up: Jadis I-50.
Best Tape Source:
Chad's Ampex R2R in the Rowland/Joseph room.
Best Vinyl Source:
Kronos Pro with ZYX Universe Premium in the Magico S5 mk2 room/VPI Direct Drive Avenger (tie).
Best Digital:
Impressed again with the Chord DAVE. Maybe Suncoast Audio needs another addition to its digital lineup...hmmmm....
Best Wireless Speaker (could this become a new category?):
The Goldmund Wireless speakers were awesome! Goldmund speakers with internal Goldmund electronics. How could they be anything but great?
Best Speaker:
OK, the MBL 101 Xtremes are insane, needing a massive room and costing $1,000,000 for speakers, amp, cables, sources, etc. so, we almost have to exclude them from this contest and focus on speakers people might actually buy. So, in the speaker category that some will actually buy, the Magico S5 mk2 was the most consistent sounding in the show. As I mentioned in another post, I went back to that room 10-15 times and it was always sounding great. No boom. Just right.
Runner up's: Avantgarde Uno XD (after I argued with the Avantgarde rep on Saturday morning and he finally allowed me to fix the EQ -- then thanked me afterwards because they sounded WAY better -- long story). He didn't touch my EQ settings and kept saying "these sound so much better, thank you."
Focal Sopra 2's with the Pass XS amps and Sopra 2's with the MicroMega integrated. Awesome! The big Tidal speakers were also amazing. Loved that whole Tidal room. Big dollars though. The Gamut speakers also sounded awesome. The Monitor Audio Platinum II speakers have to be one of the greatest buys in audio. $27,000 for a speaker that is very reminiscent of the Raidho D5. The D5 still beats it, but boy...for $27,000? These big Monitor Audio's are impressive. I also liked the KEF Blade 2's with the Parasound gear. Very nice sounding. Harbeth SHL5+ with the Vinnie Rossi Lio was also nice, but could get boomy.
More...Eggleston speakers on the second level with a full ModWright setup and the Scaena speakers with ARC also sounded very nice.
Finally, in the "what the hell is that?" category, we have the Waveion speaker. Looking inside the speaker, one could see tie wraps and other things.
Best Overall Room:
As I've said before, the Magico S5 mk2/CAT/Kronos Pro with ZYX Universe Premium cart was by far the most consistent. No bass humps. No "it was good sometimes." It was consistently excellent. When the Magico/CAT/Kronos combo was playing, nothing could touch it. The ambience, the presence, the realness was unmatched.
