My Axpona 2022 Impressions

Great read.

I have heard Stennheim only twice I think. But each time I was always very impressed. IMHO an underrated brand.

Last time I was at an audio the average age of the visitors was approaching 60. It would not surprise me if in a few years shows like this will be no more. If this is good or bad, I can't tell.
 
My counter to that was that many of the rooms with only digital sources had poorer sound since the digital setups were rudimentary. One room had really nice speakers and electronics but had a laptop and a DAC as its only source. As a result, the sound suffered. Conversely, one room had a not-too-expensive speaker setup but was play LPs and the sound was much better.

I am generalizing but we did find that often not enough thought or expense was put into making the digital source sound good.

My experience with several previous shows (not AXPONA) is that most rooms have not enough attention paid to optimal source set-up regardless of the source (except perhaps R2R, which has fewer variables). Even though I am not a fan of LP's in general it doesn't make sense when a (e.g.) $15k phono set-up sounds worse than a $5k CD player, and now many exhibitors aren't even bothering with a high-end CD (or SACD) player - which is obviously easier to set up well than laptop streaming.
 
ptman said, "- Vivid Audio Giya speakers powered by JMF and Ideon electronics. I only left this room because I knew I wanted to see my other top 3 before the show ended. Probably my top pick."

I don't doubt this at all, as one of my best friends has Vivid Giya speakers and his system is one of the best I've ever heard. They are fantastic speakers.
 
In contrast to many rooms, the Vivid room was quite serene. Music was playing at lower volumes and the space itself was quiet and somewhat removed from the outside noise. Definitely a room to relax in. I thought the sound was among the best at the show, although I would have liked to hear the system pushed a bit.
 
Makes sense to me. Vinyl is enough of a hassle in a home environment. There is far too much down time diddling with LP's to meet the demands at an audio show. No one wants to sit in a demo with continuous periods of silence as tracks are found and played.

Sorry but did you read my post? Obviously not.

And we call them DCPs.
 
Sorry but did you read my post? Obviously not.

And we call them DCPs.

Of course I read your post!. I have never heard the term DCP's so I wasn't commenting on that term. I was stating a fact that no one wants to go to an audio show and wait around while some one plays an entire LP (especially if the genre isn't meaningful to them) or while they search for a requested LP track. It is just so much easier to demo gear with a digital set-up.
 


The lady distributor from Canada (sitting on the right side of the panel table) is brave. Here she is telling Framer (and everybody) that young folks just want to stream their music despite all the noise about analog. She is right.

I recently helped a friend setting up his new audio system. He plays music with a band and enjoys the sound of analog, yet he is putting his money in digital and streaming. He invested $2k altogether. Just speakers and an integrated amp; no analog and no CD player. He streams music from his phone. Convenience wins.
 
Of course I read your post!. I have never heard the term DCP's so I wasn't commenting on that term. I was stating a fact that no one wants to go to an audio show and wait around while some one plays an entire LP (especially if the genre isn't meaningful to them) or while they search for a requested LP track. It is just so much easier to demo gear with a digital set-up.

There-in lies the rub. If they just want to play disc jockey all day then what you are saying works. If they want to show off how well the equipment can sound then they need to really think about the quality of the source.

If you have an Aurender or Lumin, etc then it is fine. However, many of the rooms had laptops and DACs which really didn’t cut it. The rooms which had modest turntables sounded better than those.
 
There-in lies the rub. If they just want to play disc jockey all day then what you are saying works. If they want to show off how well the equipment can sound then they need to really think about the quality of the source.

If you have an Aurender or Lumin, etc then it is fine. However, many of the rooms had laptops and DACs which really didn’t cut it. The rooms which had modest turntables sounded better than those.

I went into one room and there was a playlist on repeat and nobody in sight. I waited around and nobody came in. The room was empty, but gear was setup and playing. That was a new one.

The challenge comes when working the room. You always have the little old guy that walks up hiding his CD, and then sheepishly asks “can you play this?”, almost a druggie asking a new dealer “whatcha got?” It’s actually quite funny.

I play what I like in my room and don’t care if it’s not up to audiophile quality. If I feel like some Marshall Tucker Band, some Brothers Johnson, some Earth Wind and Fire, Marvin Gaye, Elton John or some AC/DC, it’s getting played. Requests are welcomed and encouraged, but if no one asks, I’m playing a mix of tape, vinyl and digital. I absolutely hate going into rooms and hearing audiophile crap. Play real music. People will forgive the less than stellar recordings if the songs are making their toes tap.

It’s a show, have fun!


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Can anyone who attended the show give me their opinion on the Aroes Cerat room with the new Aurora speakers? please only the sound not the aesthetics of the speakers.
 
Can anyone who attended the show give me their opinion on the Aroes Cerat room with the new Aurora speakers? please only the sound not the aesthetics of the speakers.

The sound was excellent. Very sweet and detailed. Musical. I’m working on my wrap up video and hope to get it published next week. It’s a lot of work this video editing stuff is! Especially for old eyes!


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The sound was excellent. Very sweet and detailed. Musical. I’m working on my wrap up video and hope to get it published next week. It’s a lot of work this video editing stuff is! Especially for old eyes!


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agree. visited that room three times. small room for such a large speaker but it worked at reasonable volumes. the sound in the room was very listenable and balanced sounding. not golden hued, but musical and nice textures and detail. good micro-dynamics as one would expect from a horn. it was the middle level Aries Cerat dac.

i'm still trying to decide if i like the square horn structure visually. i guess i do, but i could never live with it.
 
In contrast to many rooms, the Vivid room was quite serene. Music was playing at lower volumes and the space itself was quiet and somewhat removed from the outside noise. Definitely a room to relax in. I thought the sound was among the best at the show, although I would have liked to hear the system pushed a bit.

agree. went back 6-7 times to try and 'get' the measure of the Ideon digital. i was told the room overloaded in the bass at higher volumes which was why they did not let loose.

too bad because it's hard to judge the new-to-North America JMF electronics and the Ideon digital. both do show promise.
 
Of course I read your post!. I have never heard the term DCP's so I wasn't commenting on that term. I was stating a fact that no one wants to go to an audio show and wait around while some one plays an entire LP (especially if the genre isn't meaningful to them) or while they search for a requested LP track. It is just so much easier to demo gear with a digital set-up.

Digital couch potato.
 
Lars impressed again with the borrensen 01 speakers. I sat thru a song and knew I'd be doing something to upgrade my current system. While the six figure rooms are always good fun I really appreciate the rooms for working class folk and perlisten speakers were sounding exceptional as were the kef ref 5 meta, dali also did well in the small rooms and that RAZZ speaker with the 15" woofer and horn tweeter for I think $4k a pair agreed with the room. I very nearly bought the legacy Aeris(again) but decided to upgrade the amp for my blades instead. I also thought TT playback was down from previous shows unless i'm getting conditioned to it.
 
Great video, Mike & Mike...thanks for sharing! Love the eye candy in the background. Great to hear you are now an Innuos dealer.
 
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