Axpona 2022 Photos

**Mike** · April 23, 2022, 02:09 PM

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**Mike** · April 23, 2022, 02:20 PM

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**Mike** · April 23, 2022, 02:42 PM

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**Mike** · April 23, 2022, 02:43 PM

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**Mike** · April 23, 2022, 02:44 PM

A one off Nelson Pass amp. It’s comprised of 2000 JFETS. 20 watts.

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**Mike** · April 23, 2022, 02:48 PM

Sounded great.

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**Mike** · April 23, 2022, 03:02 PM

Constellation/Magico A5 sounding great

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**Mike** · April 23, 2022, 03:03 PM

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**Barry** · April 23, 2022, 03:04 PM

Thanks for the great pics, Mike. Looks like you're having a really good time!

**Mike** · April 23, 2022, 03:21 PM

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**Mike** · April 23, 2022, 03:42 PM

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**Mike** · April 23, 2022, 03:43 PM

New Luxman 507z

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**Mike** · April 23, 2022, 03:56 PM

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**Mike** · April 23, 2022, 03:57 PM

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**Mike** · April 23, 2022, 04:04 PM

Active Marten speakers. Seeing a trend here?

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**Mike** · April 23, 2022, 04:07 PM

Active Piega.

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**mxk116** · April 23, 2022, 04:19 PM

The Aurender MC20 looks like an excellent addition to the product line. Need to learn more about that. Impressive first look.

**exupgh12** · April 23, 2022, 04:22 PM

Thank you for the pictures, Mike.

**Mike** · April 23, 2022, 04:31 PM

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**RDSChicago** · April 23, 2022, 08:03 PM

How did those Linkwitz LX521s sound? I’ve heard wonderful things about them.

**Mike** · April 23, 2022, 11:22 PM

Originally Posted by RDSChicago

How did those Linkwitz LX521s sound? I’ve heard wonderful things about them.

They sound ok, but the look leaves a lot to be desired.

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**nicoludio** · April 23, 2022, 11:33 PM

Originally Posted by Mike

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How did you find the new Trio G3?

Did you manage to listen them in iTron active mode?

**Devg** · April 24, 2022, 12:41 AM

Wonderful pictures Mike. Thank you for sharing.

**FDPDK** · April 24, 2022, 05:26 AM

Thanks for all the pictures Mike , great job.

**Mike** · April 24, 2022, 06:10 AM

Originally Posted by nicoludio

How did you find the new Trio G3?

Did you manage to listen them in iTron active mode?

Yes. The active was far superior. I listened for over an hour. The iTron was super coherent and dynamic. I played tracks I knew could be aggressive in certain parts of the song, and the active delivered the results to perfection.

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**AJ Soundfield** · April 24, 2022, 06:34 AM

Nice to have that option, bravo AG, Klipsch, etc.

Oh and thanks again for all the pics Mike, we live vicariously through you!

**Ritmo** · April 24, 2022, 07:25 AM

Thx for the pictures and coverage Mike! Looks like a great show.

**Mike** · April 24, 2022, 10:15 AM

As I sit here waiting for my return flight back to Sarasota (direct), a few thoughts on the show:

- Axpona 2022 was a big success. The crowds were back in droves and so were the manufacturers, dealers, distributors and reviewers.
- There was a good number of rooms with plenty to see.
- After two years of Covid craziness, it was great to be back as an attendee to Axpona. I really enjoyed seeing friendly faces again and can’t remember a time I’ve given out so many hugs to old friends and smiling familiar faces. Being away for 2 years sure does make you appreciate the folks you work with every day.
- We had decent weather, Saturday was especially sunny and warm. It rained a bit on Friday and Sunday. Otherwise, it didn’t snow - yeah!!

On to the rooms….

- I made it to all the rooms, except for a few which A. didn’t have a lot of interest for me or B. Were too busy to squeeze my way in. But I would say I made it to 99% of the rooms. I didn’t take pictures of all the rooms, but I did get my way into most of them. I did miss the new Magnepan speaker debut (LRS+), $1000, but some of my friends heard them and said they were terrific.

Highlights:

- The new active Avantgarde Trio G3’s blew me away. I was concerned they may have a sound signature not conducive to what AG’s need to sound their best, but my concerns were quickly put to rest after the first few notes. I got in a good hour listening and chose several songs which I knew to be a bit aggressive in the wrong AG setup and the active Trio G3’s sailed through with flying colors. Not a hint of anything I may have been concerned about. It was also the best I ever heard AG bass. The new room EQ software is super easy to use and better! If I ordered Trio’s for myself, this would be it! Active all the way. Yes, there will no doubt be new G3 models throughout the lineup and a pair of Duo’s will promptly be ordered for the store, when they do. Yes, I saw the other new models, but I’m sworn to secrecy. All will be revealed in Munich and those waiting for the other G3 models will be VERY impressed with the redesigns, fit, finish and technology.

- The new Luxman M10X are voiced to impress. I was hoping the new M10X would retain all the things that we loved about the m900u while adding that needed bass punch and dynamics and I wasn’t disappointed. Controlling the beautiful Magico M6’s, the new M10X were champs and no doubt convinced this is a worthy upgrade to the excellent m900u.

- Hearing the original Wilson Wamm SN001 system built in 1983. It was kind of cool as long as you didn’t sit off axis. Sounded quite good on axis. Like a time warp!

- Active was a big trend at Axpona 2022. We saw new active speakers from YG, Avantgarde, Marten, Piega, Cabasse, Eikon Audio, and countless others. In the case of YG and Avantgarde, it was easily the best I had heard their respective speakers.

- B&W had the 802D4’s and 801D4’s on display and both sounded great. Easily the best 800 series B&W’s ever.

- The crazy Focal Atmos demo was amazing, so were the Maestro’s cranking with the NAIM Statement amp.

- As always, there were a lot of really good sounding rooms: B&W/Classe, MBL 101’s with MBL 9008’s, Esoteric/Raidho, Avantgarde, Magico/Luxman, Luxman/Harbeth, Aries Cerat, Muraudio/Hegel, Magico/Constellation, Infigo Audio/Alta Audio, Estelon/Krell, AGD amps, Rockport/Viola,

Exciting New Products:

- The Aurender MC20. A killer new clock from Aurender.
- Luxman M10X
- Active G3 Avantgarde’s

Best room overall:

- For me, the best sounding room overall was a toss up between the Avantgarde Trio G3’s and the DynAudio/Octave room. I probably spent close to 90 minutes in the Dyn/Octave room over two days. Whether they were spinning vinyl on the Brinkmann turntable or playing digital on the fabulous SimAudio 780D/820S combo (which is what they used 95% of the time), this room couldn’t get tripped up and I was picking the music! It was dynamic, smooth, inviting, neutral, balanced. Outstanding. They had a great room, but I’m thinking those big Octave amps and preamp are something special. The Sim DAC too.

As I mentioned above, the Trio G3’s are special. This isn’t a evolution of the fabulous Avantgarde speakers, but a true revolution. A true revolution in sound, fit and finish, leading us to finally really hear what these speakers are capable of.

Best room for the money:
- Where this category is concerned, there was only one obvious choice: the new Polk Audio Reserve R100’s with Marantz receiver/CD player. Seriously, for $750/pair, these speakers were INSANELY good. Fast, dynamic and punchy with a good top end and midrange. I would call them laughably good.

Thanks for reading! Please understand there are certain things/rooms/items etc. I cannot comment on….it causes waaaaaay too much butt hurt. So I’ve tried to put down some of my thoughts and hope to see everyone at our next favorite audio show soon! If anyone has any specific questions, feel free to PM me.

For now, over and out!

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**mxk116** · April 24, 2022, 10:49 AM

Thanks for all the time and effort to let us experience Axpona through your eyes and, most importantly, your ears. Wonderful to see the massive turnout post COVID. Travel safe Mike.

**asindc** · April 24, 2022, 03:42 PM

Originally Posted by Mike

For $749/pair, these Polk Reserve R100’s are insane.

Powered by a Denon receiver and Denon CD player.

Just holy cow wow for the money.

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Not surprised about the Polks. They have been making great sounding bookshelfs for years.

**AJ Soundfield** · April 24, 2022, 05:07 PM

Originally Posted by asindc

Not surprised about the Polks. They have been making great sounding bookshelfs for years.

The R100s Measure pretty well other than off axis, so with careful placement, should sound pretty good in most rooms. Looks like a newer version of the old Vifa ring radiator tweet

**SCAudiophile** · April 24, 2022, 06:52 PM

Thank you Mike!

**RDSChicago** · April 24, 2022, 08:27 PM

Originally Posted by AJ Soundfield

The R100s Measure pretty well other than off axis, so with careful placement, should sound pretty good in most rooms. Looks like a newer version of the old Vifa ring radiator tweet

The R100s are $649/pair. The larger monitors, the R200s, are $749/pair. Mike, which model did you listen to? Thanks.

**Mike** · April 24, 2022, 09:21 PM

Originally Posted by RDSChicago

The R100s are $649/pair. The larger monitors, the R200s, are $749/pair. Mike, which model did you listen to? Thanks.

R100. Maybe they went up in price. That’s what they told us.

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**RaChiK** · April 24, 2022, 10:04 PM

Agree with you. My impressions were somewhat similar. Apart from big speaker names, I was impressed very much with Muraudio and Alta audio. Of the big speakers, I liked Aries Cerat, MBL, Gaia-1, Estelon and M6. On amp side most impressive was Aries Cerat essentia, infigo audio (played with Alta audio), Karan acoustics, JMF audio (played with gaia-1) and Octave. Octave audio are very very good. I do have RE-320 and it has same signature as the Octave jubilee amp they played with Dynaudio.

**RaChiK** · April 24, 2022, 10:40 PM

Off note, many thanks to whoever returned my BMW car key to "lost and found" yesterday. Else, my trip would have been screwed up. All it says is that "audiophiles" are good dependable people.

**Dizzie** · April 25, 2022, 11:01 AM

Originally Posted by RaChiK

Off note, many thanks to whoever returned my BMW car key to "lost and found" yesterday. Else, my trip would have been screwed up. All it says is that "audiophiles" are good dependable people.

Maybe it means they could not find where your BMW was parked.

**MPW** · April 26, 2022, 02:06 PM

I thought I would share what I felt were a few of my top musical experiences for Axpona 2022 (in no particular order). This isn't necessary a list of my top systems, although there would be some overlap. This is about a series of experiences that I felt were noteworthy. For me, these experiences are why I go to audio shows.

Wilson/Audio Research via dCS DAC - The only room that played a request for me. I didn't really ask at other rooms given the amount of traffic, but since it was late in the day on Sunday and traffic had slowed down, the time was right. I requested Decks Dark from Radiohead and was treated to that plus Weird Fishes/Arpeggi. These are two of my favorite songs from my favorite band, and they were the best I have ever heard them reproduced. What was interesting about this for me was that I have rarely heard a room with Wilson speakers and a dCS DAC that I have ever enjoyed. These new products must be different (in a good way) because the sound was outstanding.

Muradio/Hegel - This was probably the most engaging small room at the show for me. This was really unexpected because I have owned the Hegel H590 that was driving the Muradio speakers and didn't have the best experience. Chalk it up to system synergy because this combination was really fun. The musical highlight was London Grammar's Call Your Friends.

Avantgarde/dCS - Another system sourced by dCS that was almost producing amazing sound. I say almost because these big horns needed more room to breath, but the potential of this system was clearly evident. The most realistic reproduction of music I heard at the show. I can only imagine what that system could do in a proper room. Birds by Dominique Fils-Aime was sublime.

Joseph/Doshi - It seems that Jeff Joseph always has a good sounding room and this year was no different. Michael Fremer entered the room with a tape that was promptly cued by Nick Doshi. The music (I believe) was Marti Jones' If I Can Love Somebody. This music was unfamiliar to me but was reproduced beautifully through the Studer/Doshi combination. I had the sweet spot in the room and to hear one of Michael's tapes was a real treat.

Focal/Naim - It was approaching 4:00pm on Sunday and they were showing off after a long show. I didn't get the piece of music that was being played, but it was electronic with huge dynamic swings. Needless to say the volume was pushed to club like levels. The Focals never broke...until they tripped the circuit. The large group that had gathered broke out in applause. A great way to wrap up the show.

**RDSChicago** · April 26, 2022, 02:41 PM

Great post, Morgan. When I get home from vacation, I’m going to give all of those songs a spin!

**kzhtoo** · April 29, 2022, 01:55 AM

AXPONA 2022 DAY ONE VIDEO COVERAGE - YouTube

**jadedavid** · April 29, 2022, 09:33 AM

this was special

Originally Posted by Mike

This was, for me, the standout of the show.
The "Audiophile Junkie" has made a video of her performance (I am the person that walks in a couple of minutes into the video). Sadly the video does not and cannot capture the vibrancy nor emotion of the performance.
She made my eyes well up almost to tears. The reproduced accompanying music blended seamlessly with her performance.

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