Axpona 2019 Official Pics & Commentary Thread

Re: Axpona 2019 Official Pics & Commentary Thread

Mike said:
Thank you Rob. Everything you say is true and thank you for that. I changed from a world of large scale Enterprise IT work, working with 200 of the largest companies in the world in a B2B environment to a small, essentially business to consumer industry.

I spent 25 years writing RFI’s and RFP’s, running projects, staffing projects, working within a specific implementation methodology for $10-$100 million+ IT implementation projects (SAP, ORACLE, etc.) and today, that has changed in a dramatic way. I’m much happier dealing with people rather than portals and paper.

I had zero plans to ever sell audio equipment, but losing both my parents was a real wake up call: life is too short to keep doing what you don’t love anymore. It’s proof pudding that if you find something you love, you will be successful. I used to love IT, but the Great Recession of 2008 changed all that. IT projects and people went from being well respected in an organization to now just another cost center that was even below the HR folks!

I’ve worked hard to not pay attention to what other dealers are doing. I’ve tried to follow my own path for success. I made some big gambles in the stock market, and thankfully, they paid off to allow me to buy my store with cash and I own every single piece of equipment in the store. Manufacturers love to offer dealers terms. I tear up those term sheets. Debt is the enemy of any successful business.

Obsessing constantly over the brands to carry has really helped keep me focused on success.

I admittedly have failed at a few brands: Vandersteen and ClearAudio. Those brands didn’t fail me, I failed them. I could make excuses like the competing products in the store just offered more appeal and value, but the facts are the facts. You have to be able to take the bad with the good. Admit when it’s time to move on. On the other hand, other brands have failed me: Soulution & REL. But those are both stories for another day.

I adore working with my customers, even the ones who change their minds 9000 times. Why? Because I was the exact same way when I was a consumer, so I totally get the customers mindset. Most of my manufacturers are a delight to work with and most are consummate professionals.

Headaches? A few dealers. There’s a few out there who whine, complain, bitch, moan and tell lies. It bothered me 5 years ago, today it’s just good for a laugh. And trust me, I’m not the only one laughing at them. It’s funny, if they spent as much time on improving their own business as they do about bitching about other dealers, imagine the success they could have? How do I know this? Because several dealers call me to bitch about other dealers. My response? Who cares? Focus on your own shit.

This is an industry going through some interesting changes. Those who like to proclaim “high end audio is dead!”, clearly haven’t visited a major audio show or been on my side of the desk. Hell, I had to hire an employee just to keep up.

The industry does need to make some bold changes to strive and ultimately survive. The industry is clawing and scratching in its struggle with the realities of the online world. But this is an industry that needs to truly be online as B&M stores are not on every street corner - at least for the most part. If I can buy a car from a vending machine, I should be able to buy a tube phonostage online from a well known manufacturer. And those manufacturers who remain strict with territories and an aversion to online, are ultimately fighting with one hand tied behind their back. Why? Because their competitors are moving forward.

The prices in high end audio is always a hot topic. I will say, with so many more new companies in the industry, we are seeing some exciting new products at reasonable prices. I tried to mention a few in my show report. And it’s ultimately a good dealer who will steer their customers toward the best fit for their room, budget, etc.

Sorry for the long post. I’ll fuel up and get cracking on the remaining rooms. Thank you everyone for looking and reading!
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Great post, Mike - one of your best ever. Sincere thanks!
 
Thanks Mike, your presentation is greatly appreciated!


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Mike said:
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Classe is back!


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Mike, Can you tell what was sound like of Magico-Classe combo??
 
CGabriel said:
For those of you that couldn’t make it to the show - you are really missing an event. Grant and Richard say that the Shunyata, Audio Rsesearch, Wilson, dCS room has been absolutely jam packed from the time the show opened. We have the lovey sounding Yvette powered by AR 160 amplifiers and the dCS Bartok as a source. Although the room is small we are getting great sound according to many visitors.

For the Sharks attending the show, please come by and see some of our new products. See and hear the Alpha and a Sigma USB cables that everyone is talking about. We are also introducing our Ethernet cables. Venom at $295, Alpha at $600 and Sigma at $900. We also are introducing new lower priced Hydra power conditioners based on the Triton and Denali technologies. The Hydra Delta is a six outlet and will retail for $1995 and the Alpha is a 12 outlet unit that will retail for $3500.

Please come one and see us.
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Yes I lost a pack of cigarettes in that room darn it. I heard them fall out of my pocket but I was so engrossed in the music I forgot all about them. Then when I remembered I went back to get them and they were gone. Oh well that room was well worth it. Good job guys. And the USB cable demo was a sure fire success for those that couldn't hear the difference I feel sorry for you.

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What a great weekend in Chicago! Other than snow today and my flight being cancelled, AXPONA was terrific.

Planning and coordination for this massive event was exceptional. The mobile app was very helpful. Checking in registration took less than 2 minutes. Consistent auto e-messages from AXPONA kept me informed of various activities. The Shelby Lynne concert last night was excellent. And, hotel staff did a great job.

This was my first attendance to AXPONA in the new venue. The hotel and convention center are quite large and was perfect to accommodate the high number of audio companies and attendees. Given the large number of rooms, it was next to impossible to see all of the systems.

With that stated, unfortunately, most of the hotel rooms are quite small. Appropriate room treatment is really needed to make systems sound good in this environment. Quite a few rooms had no treatment or plants - not good here!

Lastly, there were a number of rooms that had great equipment but were inconsistent thru the weekend. I’ll include some of those in the honorable mentions section (below).

Top 10: (In no particular order and independent of price points)

- MBL - both digital and vinyl with classical, jazz, classic rock and electronic music
- Avantgarde - Improved significantly through the weekend and terrific this morning.
- Magico - Not so good on Friday but very good on Sunday. MSB with Precision CH feeding the M2s.
- Bricasti/Tidal - A very good pairing of the bricasti dac and amps with Tidal speakers.
- Scaena - Very musical w the best integration I’ve heard from that speaker.
- Lumin - Launched the new amps driving Giga speakers. Very satisfying.
- Vimberg - More affordable line of Tidal sounded really nice.
- Gryphon - Great showing by this company. Unfortunately, the room was affected by sound from the rooms next to it. New CD/DAC ($39K) launch - interesting looking w great sound.
- Gamut - RS7 Speakers with Jadis Amps and Pear TT. Fast, good extension and musical.
- Joseph Audio - Launch of updated floor standing speakers ($15K) w Jeff Rowland pre, phono, dac and amp, VPI HW TT, AT 1000 and RtR w Doshi tape pre.

Honorable Mention:
- CH Precision & Rockport - Setup in a room that was very small. The Cygnus overpowered the space. On small ensemble music, the combination showed great promise.
- Bayz - Very interesting looking speakers driven by CH Precision. Good sound - based on a two short visits.
- Pure Audio Project - This open baffle Speakers are open, musical and very affordable.
- VAC/VS - 2 very large rooms with the VS11s, 9s, and lower priced speakers. Tons of VAC amps (statements, free standing integrated and IQ). Inconsistent sound in both rooms.
- Wilson/DAG - Alexx w Thors, DAG Relentless and Progression monos, DAG new HD Momentum Pre, Clearaudio TT and DCS dac. Lots of excellent gear but sound was inconsistent during the weekend.
- Magico - M6 w Q18 with DAG electronics. Setup in a major hallway (not room). We did not hear the best of this system where it was setup.
- Elac - Andrew Jones did it again. A $6K system w active floor standing speakers and integrated w DAC. Can’t be beat for an entry level system.
- Gobel/CH Precision - Another inconsistent room. Not so good on Friday but better today. An entire wall was glass with not treatment. System did better with small ensemble music.
- PS Audio - Prototype Speakers based on Arnie Nudell’s design was being played - shows promise.
- Borresen - Demoed the 001 and 005. Very dynamic with lots of detail - maybe a little too much top end. We’ll see how these develop.
- Zesto - George always manages to have nice sound in his rooms. A little light on the bottom end.
 
Mike said:
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Paradigm Persona 3F. $10,000/pair.

A bit of a top down presentation. A little sizzly.


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I was going to mention this also. I own these speakers and I can assure you in my room they sound nothing like these did. While the Revel f228 sounded pretty good at Axpona these did not have a good showing. I can see why you guys all say they are bright. But I own the Persona 3f's. And I owned the Revel f228 at the same time. And the Paradigm Persona's were picked by 5 people as there favorite. So I sold the Revel's. The wave guide in the Revel's really seems to help them in these conditions. Paradigm should have helped by putting one acoustic panel on each side to help that first reflection. I should have been in charge of that room. My wife and I both were insulted. I didn't like the Magico A3 with the Sotm gear also. Found them to be just as bad in that room.

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Kuoppis said:
Any soundbites from the Relentless?


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The system in this room was inconsistent. Sometimes bass was lacking. I stopped by this afternoon and was able to listen to several pieces of classical, rock and jazz that sounded terrific. Yesterday some of the music being played did not sound that great.

The amps are impressive and gorgeous. They make the Progression monos look like toys - no insult here just based on size.
 
CGabriel said:
For those of you that couldn’t make it to the show - you are really missing an event. Grant and Richard say that the Shunyata, Audio Rsesearch, Wilson, dCS room has been absolutely jam packed from the time the show opened. We have the lovey sounding Yvette powered by AR 160 amplifiers and the dCS Bartok as a source. Although the room is small we are getting great sound according to many visitors.

For the Sharks attending the show, please come by and see some of our new products. See and hear the Alpha and a Sigma USB cables that everyone is talking about. We are also introducing our Ethernet cables. Venom at $295, Alpha at $600 and Sigma at $900. We also are introducing new lower priced Hydra power conditioners based on the Triton and Denali technologies. The Hydra Delta is a six outlet and will retail for $1995 and the Alpha is a 12 outlet unit that will retail for $3500.

Please come one and see us.
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Good showing Caelin! Room was very good. Nice product introductions.
 
Overall the sound was much better this year than last and hopefully more exhibitors step up their game next year. I couldn’t find any of the loudspeaker models I own so I guess I wasn’t humiliated, whew. Seriously though there were vendors that treated first reflections and it was easily heard so when I walked into a room that didn’t bother to setup their system i didn’t bother to listen, really no point to it and there’s a lot of ground to cover with plenty of good sounding rooms to hear. My complaint? Heat! Climbing stairs to save time and rooms packed with people, electronics, and no air conditioning. Waa
 
Exactly what I thought. In fact on Saturday my wife and I got to the 12th floor it was hot and jam packed. We left it at that and went back to the west side where all the big rooms were. And I re-listened to the controversial Magico demo in the hallway and it was boomy sounding this time. So I am wondering what changed from the first time I heard the demo. Besides it just being louder.

My wife and I will be starting at the top floor on Friday next year. We didn't realize how tight it was. I actually started getting claustrophobic. Just to hot and to many people.

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