Axpona 2022

Was there yesterday and noted several things.  One observation was that I did not see any class D amplifiers.  Maybe I missed them but Class A/B big amps seemed to rule the day.  Two, I heard some really nice speakers - Paradigm 120s and some small monitors, I think, made by Audio Thesis.  Finally, no physical media played beyond vinyl.

I continue to think the Estelons are the best speaker I've heard, but my purchases have to be no taller than my wife or fatter than my wallet.

I always want to discount KEF as polite but the Ref 5's sounded very, very satisfying top-to-bottom in multiple rooms.

The new B&W's sound less shouty than previous encounters but there is still a lot of forward upper frequency even to my aging ears.

This is the 2nd Axpona where I thought Highwater Sound had the most natural, least electronic sound on voice, even when using different speakers.  Impressed.

The Alta Adam speakers impressively filled the room with music, and the designer knows his stuff ( from a conversation with him.)  With the modest amp, I missed some vocal crispness on familiar tracks, but they benefitted greatly from better amps.

Never been a big Wilson fan, but the tutorial of Patricia Barber recording was spectacular on the bigger Wilson's.

Doshi/Joseph always seems the sane high-end system if you've got the bucks. 

Too much chatting in most listening rooms. I'm fading out on shows.

Came away shifting to high-end headphones.

 

My best rooms included both Wilson rooms. Legacy is always great. Atohm/Atoll room is fantastic. Mon speakers were fantastic. I can't find them online anywhere. If someone knows where to fin that let me know. Muraudio was fantastic. Martin Logan 15a powered by Luxman was great. Revel powered by MarK Levinson was awesome too. Many more but these were some that stuck out to me. Stenheim too. 

I thought the Linkwitz speakers sounded better than most, especially when you consider the price. They really made me want to hear more open baffle systems.

jan mc  the Linkwitz they sound good but they are not musically involving for my taste, they are 65k according to the demo guy.