Axpona 2018

I heard the HHR exotics and IMHO the were quite harsh and metallic sounding and although the soundstage was huge it was also vague where instruments didn't really seem to have a place...they seemed to be coming from "everywhere". Most unimpressive for me. On the other hand the big MBL's were clearly (pun intended) in a league by themselves and were stunning. Sorry to disappoint but I always leave open the very real possibility that the source material during my listen or the listening room tuning was part of the problem. It was a very small room.

@kdude66 
I heard the A3 at Axpona and the S3 is a much better speaker. Much more refined in every way. I have my S3 for sale in the classified if you are interested. 

Anyone else hear the Cube Audio speakers??  Impressions?? 

I’d be interested in hearing impressions of the Exogal room with the new Ryan S610 monitors if anyone can share that.

@chrshanl37 I’d be interested in hearing impressions of the Exogal room with the new Ryan S610 monitors if anyone can share that.

That one is easy.  They were hands-down the best smaller speakers I heard at the show.  I listened for a couple of songs and even waited until the crowd cleared out so I could have a go at the sweet spot.  My buddy also agreed they sounded excellent.

The only smaller speakers that even came close in that size of speaker were some Elac monitors, but the Ryans were much better, as one would expect at their price point.

I want to say they retail for $4,000 so that would be my only caveat with them; at that price point there may well be other speakers that offer better performance - albeit probably at a larger size.  

On a personal note, my gripe with floor standers is that if you are taking up the same real-estate with bookshelf speakers and some nice stands, why not just go with floor-standers and enjoy better bass?  I am aware that Ryan also offers some larger speakers, so those could be intriguing as well and perhaps best the S610's?

With that stated, I absolutely cannot discount how accurate, tight, smooth and refined the S610's were.  I was frankly blown away by their size vs performance ratio.

While talking with some other vendors later on, the venders -who often don't have much time to get away from their own wares to see the other stuff in the show - asked me what they should go listen to and what some of the best rooms were.  I mentioned the Sonus Faber and Wilson rooms, but also mentioned "you have to go hear the Ryans".  

All that to say that if they fit your needs and you like that price point, you absolutely should consider auditioning them.