@rick2000 Please stop posting equipment announcements as they're not reviews and serve us no purpose other than provide the MSRP.
2023 AXPONA Show Report
Here's all the Exhibitors at this year's show
You all got to hear the all new Mon Acoustic Supermon Isobaric Speakers and Sanctus Cables, they must be heard to be believed ! They will at Booth 646 at this Show !
Who's going to this Show ?
166 responses Add your response
@ozzy No Dealers here in the USA but you can hear them at the Axpona Show 2024. I will take sound over looks every time.. Look at the comments below this video at the Axpona 2022 Show.. |
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@ozzy next year be sure to go to the Axpona Show and listen to the KMD Loudspeakers.. they could be your Holy Grail speakers for life 😇 Some of my friends are changing their mind about the Clarisys Audio speakers after hearing the KMD speakers at Munich 2023 Show ! They just sounded more like Real Music being played into the room...and they were using very cheap gear and cables too ! Real Shocker... KMD speakers are based off of the Haas Effect and the Binaural Effect.. you can look at these articles about these here.. https://izotope.com/en/learn/what-is-the-haas-effect.html https://acta-acustica.edpsciences.org/articles/aacus/full_html/2022/01/aacus220021/aacus220021.html Here are the KMD 500RT's at the Munich 2023 Look at the comments from Thomas Grimm below this video ! WOW... |
The all new McIntosh ML-1 MK2 Speakers ! Sounds better in 4K I need to go listen to these new speakers ! 😎 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl17A7P3CoM
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Some of the World’s Very Best Sounding Speakers use Alnico Magnets and these all new Tannoy Stirling III LZ Special Edition speakers Sounds Amazing at Axpona 2023 ! 🤩😲😈 |
More Best of Axpona 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPf5RMPdoPY New Von Gaylord Legend Reference Speakers best Bargain at Axpona 2023 ?...🤔🤔"Biggest Bargain On The Planet" ?!🤑😲😈 |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdCTSPcvUYc More systems at Axpona 2023 Show I got go listen to those all new $22K Gryphon Audio EVO 2 Speakers 🤔Best-Kept Secret ? WOW This guy has heard some of the best speakers on the planet too |
Those Focal Utopia EVO speakers sounded really good at Axpona 2023 ! 😲 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTVz545P3xY
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https://www.audioholics.com/trade-shows/best-loudspeakers-of-axpona-2023-show-report The New Improved JBL L100 Classic Black Edition Speakers and New Monitor Audio Platinum 200G was the biggest Bargains at the Axpona 2023 Show ?!..😎 |
@blisshifi Thanks for the feedback on the Borresen X3's ! |
The X3 are quite good, especially for the price point. I heard them both at FLAX and AXPONA this year. That said, I absolutely hate how they look aesthetically. The tweeter baffle is ugly, as are the checkered drivers. They took the carbon pattern that they had with Scansonic and copied it, but the rest of the cabinet is clunky and unrefined. It seems to have lost all of the aesthetic finesse that all other Danish speakers seem to possess. But hey, if you’re listening in the dark, none of that matters. I would say that the performance is good, especially for a Scansonic MB series competitor, though sonically they sound very close based on the experiences I’ve had (I am a Scansonic dealer and personally have owned a Borresen Z3 Cryo and a Borresen 02). But the X3 does have more break up and less clarity than any of the higher end product lines from Borresen and Raidho. I would say overall, since Michael’ and Lars’ departure from Dantax, they have shaped their speakers to be more transparent and focus on a completely holographic soundstage. Raidho, on the other hand, has been advanced by Benno Melgaard to be more fluid and musical (and not to mention room friendly), all while still retaining an incredible amount of detail and clarity. |
They picked the new $280K Borresen M3’s as the best speakers they have ever heard period at a Show ! 🤔 I wonder how good those all new $11K Borresen X3 are ? I hear they are on Backorder already... https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2023/04/16/axpona-2023-highlights-axpona-2023/ |
@smatsui In case you ever run into this again, the Topping does not need the remote to switch inputs. You push the main power button to do that. All the functionality of the remote is duplicated on the front panel. I though Matt knew that- sorry about that! |
Anyone hear the new NS-2000A Speaker - Yamaha USA at Axpona? They had both the NS5000 and this new speaker. BTW - Clarisys Audio info, Clarisys Audio (audioshark.org)
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@ozzy That's great news ! They are six of us saving our pennies to buy a pair of Clarisys Audio Minuets some day ! |
@rsf507 Fair point. You're right, a bit of digging and seems those Ktema speakers have been around for 12 years, one of FS' last creations. Thank you for correcting me. I think it's the first time I've come across them. Agree they were wonderful, and there's no doubt the Air Tight electronics contributed to it. I can't really speak to why I like those vs what I have previously heard from Sonus Faber. It's obvious that the engineering in the cabinet is quite different from the Ktema speakers. I did enjoy both rooms, but as noted, I didn't cover either of them as the ones that stood out the most. The musicality and tone of that AXISS room was really quite good, however. There were certainly a lot of "quite good" rooms. But again, everyone has personal preferences. No wrong or right in this one. |
But yet you're not a fan of Sonus Faber. Wasn't it Franco Serblin who designed and had his signature on most SF designs? I also heard those FS Ktema speakers in the Axiss room and in my opinion they were the best of show. Dynamic, with a controlled bottom end yet very natural sounding like real musicians were inside that room. It moved me like nothing else. But these are not "new" FS speakers. They have been around for many years now unless they were redesigned. I believe Franco Serblin passed away in 2013 |
@dayglow My pleasure. If anything I’ve learned in this hobby is that as objective as measurements can be, audiophiles want to be moved by what they hear. That movement is emotional, and what they hear is purely subjective. As a dealer and guide, I need to respect that people appreciate all sorts of qualities that different gear delivers, even if I don’t value them myself. I will never steer anyone away from Sonus Faber or MBL even if I don’t care for them. I can at least speak to their strengths and weaknesses in order for customers to make the most informed decisions. I’ve probably guided half of my customers to other dealers or brands I don’t carry because they’re looking for something different. Thankfully since my dealership business is not my primary source of income, I’m not at a place where I have to make a certain amount of sales to survive, and as a result I find myself in a place where I can truly help and guide vs try to sell what I’ve got. Hopefully because of that I’ll find enough folks who share the value the same qualities in the gear as I do and become repeat customers in the lines to make my business more sustainable. For now, I just use any proceeds from my business into funding new brands and product lines that I truly believe in for my floor. Building the business from the ground up, so to say. And I want my whole journey to succeed based on delivering fulfillment vs driving profits. I’d like to say I know I’ll be successful going this route, but only time will tell. :) |
@blisshifi Appreciate your knowledgeable insight and stating your audio biases. |
@dayglow Your comment made me realize that yes, the majority of my coverage was from the lower level floors in larger rooms. I did also visit every floor and listened in dozens of rooms. There were some notable rooms there, like the Constellation/Magico setup, AXISS room with the Air Tight monoblocks and New Franco Serblin speakers, and a few others. Bayz audio also sounded better than it did before. Every chance I get, I try to listen on Sonus Faber because I typically don’t like them and I try to make myself understand them. Whether it be at shows, other dealers, or other customers. I associate the way I feel about them similarly to how I feel about MBL, though I have historically found MBL to be more pleasing of the two. This year was no exception, but I can say that was the best I ever heard the Sonus Faber Aida sound. I’ve typically only heard them with the McIntosh 1.2KW amps or other similar gear. The whole Boulder and DCS stack configuration enabled the Aida to be more dynamic and open, while seeming quite natural. That said, it was still not holographic to me. It did not give me a sense of performers playing in the space, despite the system’s resolution and wonderful tone. I guess I personally place a lot of value in a system’s ability to deliver the goods holographically. Regarding the Wynn, Vimberg and Karan, I think any mechanical nature of the sound you perceived was likely due to the size of the room. It was enormous for the size of yhr Tonka D, especially compared to something like the massive Estelon in the floor below them. I do think different amps can absolutely shape the final delivery of speakers. I demonstrate this for my customers all the time. What I did love about the sound in the Wynn room is that it had the speed and imaging of something like the Borresen (perhaps not as pronounced), with the heft and fleshed out natural delivery of the Lansche and Thrax combination I heard in the Florida Expo. The Wynn audio was definitely quite effortless in my opinion, but not relaxed and not the most refined. Still, it moved me the most compared to any other room in the show. |
@blisshifi +1 Great overview on the 1st Floor "Ultra" level systems. The $70k Vimberg Tonda D(Wynn Audio) set up was exceptional as my No.2 system at the show. I thought the muscular intense sound had a very live presentation. Not sure if you commented on the Sonus Faber Aida 2/Boulder/DCS/Clearaudio room. I thought this was the "Best Of Show" system. The liquidity/flow and ease of operation and non mechanical presentation was exceptional. I’m curious if you believe the Vimberg could be improved with less powerful/aggressive electronics(Karan Acoustics)? My No.3 system is somewhat a sleeper(value) system. Room 418 YG Acoustics Hailey 2.2/Zesto Audio/Dr.Feickert/Tri-Planar/Cardas. IMO this system brought extreme resolution/detail with a very musical/liquid presentation at a somewhat more affordable price point($!50K+) Only giving up scale and some deep bass which would be better suited for reasonably sized rooms.
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@bubba12 i did listen to the Dyn / Octave room and thought it was pretty good. Nothing really stuck out at me but nothing about it was bad, either. It was definitely pleasing, but nothing too exciting. With the FR 30, it didn’t sound bad overall, it wasn’t bad, but I just thought other rooms presented better both from having better flow AND separation/delineation. I could see how many could like what I heard in that room the same way people love MBL, but I just have never jived with them despite how many times I’ve heard them. Also, I have to reiterate how cheap the finish seemed to me. Felt like it would fit right in with all the cheap plasticky stuff from IKEA. I actually love the aesthetic design of the speaker, and I personally love elite speakers as well, but the finish of the FR30 just looked much cheaper in person than what I’ve seen in the pictures. |
Well, reading through this thread, I’m now wishing I had spent more time. As a first timer with just a half day, I was a bit rushed and very selective in what I stopped to see/hear. I clearly missed a bunch. As I noted previously, I was disappointed w/ the Rockport/Vinnie Rossi room though Jonathan Valin thought it great. Hearing/seeing this integrated amp was one of the reasons I went to the show as it was potentially on my purchase list. On the other hand, he and i both liked the MBL room. Harley also loved the Magicos, but I don’t think i could live with them. Perhaps I should have stayed for a longer listen. I would agree with @blisshifi that the T+A room (perhaps my favorite electronics mfg) was mixed. I didn’t get any time in the sweet spot., I had high expectations but was disappointed they were playing music to demo a system instead of music to listen to. At least while i was there. So much more I didn’t hear/see. So I guess I’ll have to go next year and do a better job of organizing my day around it. |
Clarisys Audio called and they too wish @rick2000 would knock it off. |
@ghasley +2 Wish there was a way to block rick2000 |
@rick2000 do you have any affiliation or are you just shilling for free? |
@blisshifi I loved the Dynaudio and Octave/SimAudio room as well. Opinions? I don’t agree on the FR 30 comments. The massive size of those is amazing at 30k. Think of the actual size of speakers in this range of pricing. The build was not Estelon quality but it’s 10% of the price. I thought the sounded very good. Just a thought. I agree with all your other points. |
I’m a bit late to the party but I recently posted some photos and commentary of what I thought were the most notable rooms and wanted to share: https://blisshifi.com/axpona-2023-gear-report/ Would love to hear others’ thoughts on my findings as I do feel I share a number of opinions expressed on this thread. Overall, though, I felt that the sound across the board was more challenging than last year. Lots of rooms were inadequately set up, gear not broken in, and the rooms themselves posed a lot of mode and phasing challenges. |
@bubba12 You're very welcome |
@rick2000 was correct about Clarysis Minuet. They are so good. Thanks for the heads up. |
