Axpona 2017 Best Of

Mike

Mike

Audioshark
Staff member
Joined
Apr 2, 2013
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Location
Sarasota, FL
Best speaker under $20,000:

Avantgarde Zero TA XD

Best speaker under $100,000:

MBL

Best speaker over $100,000:

Von Schweikert

Best Tube Amp:

VAC Statement 450iQ monos

Best Solid State Amp:
Pass (heard some INT-60's and INT-250's)
The new Audia Flight and Esoteric Grandioso (tie for second)
Honorable mention to Bricasti and Tidal and Gamut.

Best DAC under $10,000:

AMR 777SE (new model coming. Does not do DSD)

Best DAC over $10,000:

Berkeley Alpha Reference DAC2 (lots of these were in use!)

Best Super DAC ($100k range):

MSB Select DAC II

Best Turntable over $40,000:

Kronos Pro

Best Turntable under $40,000:

VPI Avenger Ref

Biggest disappointment:

B&O Speaker

Best Room under $100,000:

Joseph Audio with Rowland

Best Room over $200,000:

VAC with Von Schweikert statement speakers (tie with)
MBL with MBL electronics

A terrific show! So many rooms and so much equipment. It was huge! Most importantly LOTS of people and great times!!




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Re: Axpona 2017 Best Ofn

Mike........Many thanks for the Axpona 2017 photo show. The dinner photos were cool, too. I felt the excitement and fun. It is quite an effort to snap so many photos of the different rooms and systems and get them posted to this forum. That effort is appreciated by me and I'm certain everyone else who could not attend. Kudos for a great job.
 
As simply an audiophile with no commercial affiliations in this game, I can say my "best of" list would have likely been much different..
 
Melbguy1 said:
As simply an audiophile with no commercial affiliations in this game, I can say my "best of" list would have likely been much different..
Click to expand...

You weren't there. How do you know for sure? The rooms/setup played a huge role. Watching the guys on the VAC/Von Schweikert room work until all hours of the night moving those gigantic speakers, tuning them using the adjustments on the back, moving room treatments and seating around was something. They were also blessed with a nice big room.

Geez, I thought my list was very fair and unbiased. There were a lot of great rooms. But the ones that stood out to me are listed above.

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Re: Axpona 2017 Best Ofn

jdandy said:
Mike........Many thanks for the Axpona 2017 photo show. The dinner photos were cool, too. I felt the excitement and fun. It is quite an effort to snap so many photos of the different rooms and systems and get them posted to this forum. That effort is appreciated by me and I'm certain everyone else who could not attend. Kudos for a great job.
Click to expand...

Thanks Dan. It's a labor of love. We all had a wonderful time.


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Melbguy1 said:
As simply an audiophile with no commercial affiliations in this game, I can say my "best of" list would have likely been much different..
Click to expand...

No doubt, everyone has their personal favorites. But you really need to hear the rooms for yourself before you make a judgement. A lot of systems with great components were not worthy of Best in show due to less than optimal setups.

Ken
 
Dizzie said:
Mike, (or anyone). What were the speakers and other components with the Audia Flight amps?
Click to expand...

Verity.
3d70f0286d9c17ea74ccc573c684ae38.jpg



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Alpinist said:
No doubt, everyone has their personal favorites. But you really need to hear the rooms for yourself before you make a judgement. A lot of systems with great components were not worthy of Best in show due to less than optimal setups.

Ken
Click to expand...

Well said and also "less than desirable" pairings. Too much Ying and not enough Yang.


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I spent a lot of time in the MSB/YG and ARC/Sonus Fabre rooms on Sunday Morning and these rooms really delivered today. I got the opportunity to sit in the MSB/YG room for over an hour this morning and spin all of my favorite discs. The MSB Select DAC was performing on a level the likes of which I've never heard before. Unprecedented transparency and tonality that redefined for me what digital audio is capable of. To sum it up, I want one of those! :)

Ken
 
Guys - keep in mind, it's just a show. Nobody is calling anyone's baby ugly. Hostile conditions. Limited setup time. Often unfamiliar components and cables. Terrible dirty power.

It's a show. Period. As my friend said, "if it sounds great, good! If it sounds poor, move on, it's a show!"


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A couple of honorable mentions for me were the new Bergmann air bearing TT and the Aqua La Scala DAC. The TIdal room was my favorite uber expensive room. The MBL room really kicked ass today, much better than Saturday even. They played several more delicate songs at a reasonable volume level that sounded wonderful.

Best,
Ken
 
Alpinist said:
I spent a lot of time in the MSB/YG and ARC/Sonus Fabre rooms on Sunday Morning and these rooms really delivered today. I got the opportunity to sit in the MSB/YG room for over an hour this morning and spin all of my favorite discs. The MSB Select DAC was performing on a level the likes of which I've never heard before. Unprecedented transparency and tonality that redefined for me what digital audio is capable of. To sum it up, I want one of those!��

Ken
Click to expand...

Ken,

I'm glad you could experience a bit of the SELECT magic :)
But hear me, the SELECT is nothing without the partnering gear. We've taken it to systems where the magic simply was not there, most likely because something else in the chain was not up to scratch. Vince/MSB is actually very particular with what he shows with, because he knows the SELECT need the proper "enviroment" to shine.
And these new MSB monos do just that, as well as the YGs, that he's been using for a while now!


cheers,
Alex
 
Mike said:
You weren't there. How do you know for sure? The rooms/setup played a huge role. Watching the guys on the VAC/Von Schweikert room work until all hours of the night moving those gigantic speakers, tuning them using the adjustments on the back, moving room treatments and seating around was something. They were also blessed with a nice big room.

Geez, I thought my list was very fair and unbiased. There were a lot of great rooms. But the ones that stood out to me are listed above.

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Click to expand...
Mike and Ken, you've assumed I disagree with all your votes. You're right I wasn't there. Hence I added the qualifier "would have likely been much different", not "would have been much different". Spot the difference? Point of information, I agree with some of your votes/comments. For example;

- Best Tube Amp: VAC Statement 450iQ monos
- Best DAC over $10,000: Berkeley Alpha Reference DAC2 (lots of these were in use!) (*Noting Vitus Audio were not at the show)
- Best Solid State Amp: The new Audia Flight and Esoteric Grandioso (tie for second)
- Best Turntable over $40,000: Kronos Pro
- Biggest disappointment: B&O Speaker
- Best Room under $100,000: Joseph Audio with Rowland

Just my 2c...if that's ok?
 
Melbguy1 said:
Mike, you've assumed I disagree with all your votes. You're right I wasn't there. Hence I added the qualifier "would have likely been much differ ent", not "would have been much different". Point of information, I agree with some of your votes/comments. For example;

- Best Tube Amp: VAC Statement 450iQ monos
- Best DAC over $10,000: Berkeley Alpha Reference DAC2 (lots of these were in use!) (*Noting Vitus Audio were not at the show)
- Best Solid State Amp: The new Audia Flight and Esoteric Grandioso (tie for second)
- Best Turntable over $40,000: Kronos Pro
- Biggest disappointment: B&O Speaker
- Best Room under $100,000: Joseph Audio with Rowland

Just my 2c...if that's ok?
Click to expand...

It's all good. I'm interested to hear from others on their thoughts of different rooms.


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Joseph Audio was a real eye opener. Jeff said it was the most full his room had been at 5:30 on a Saturday night at any Axpona ever. He was smiling ear to ear because we all were smiling and sitting there in disbelief at the amazing sound those "little" Perspective were putting out. Ian and his wife were there with me and had nothing but praise either. R2R a HUGE Jeff Roland integrated, Doshi Tape pre, and his Perspectives. It was a stunner!

He was out of brochures for them by noon on Saturday...

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