NYC Show

I was also there yesterday.

I didn't expect it to be that good a show, and that turned out to be the case. In fact, I think it was the weakest of any that I've attended. The venue itself was poor - antiquated, dirty, hot, and the 8th floor smelled horrible. Where I was (thankfully) wrong was that I figured it to be banged out beyond belief, as this was the first high-end audio show in the Northeast since 2007. Instead, the show was lightly attended. The problem was the configuration of the rooms was such that even a few people overwhelmed things.

There were a few good sounding rooms - the Rogue/Eggleston, Nightingale, the Danish Jetson's television looking (Davone) speakers driven by Italian (Absoluta) solid state amps, Joseph Audio, and Pass Labs/Kef were a few of note. There was something most definitely wrong with the MBL setup, as I've heard these components sound night and day better, and there just was no get up and go. Disappointing on a personal level was the fact that the Atma Sphere dealer, an exceptionally nice guy, wasn't playing the amps when we arrived, and when we returned maybe two hours later, they still weren't.

Hi Joe (Trelja),

I'm the Atma-sphere/TAD dealer who's room you were in (Triode Picture + Sound). I'm sorry you didn't get to hear the MA-1's on the TAD CR1's. We didn't have a set schedule of when we switched from solid state (TAD) to tube gear. This is the first show I've ever exhibited at (never realized how much work it is) and Andrew Jones was nice enough to fly in from LA to do the demos. The room was often so packed, and people so enthralled with Andrew's presentation that I had I to wait for the a bit of a lul to do the switch over.

But we did play the Atma's several times a day.

The next time you are in Manhattan, please stop by for a proper demo of the Atma-sphere's and the TAD CR1's.

Andrew Jones designed the CR1's, (which many people told me was their favorite sound of the show, but carry a hefty price tag) but he also designed the Pioneer EX series speakers, which I will soon have for demo as well (at a much more reasonable price) that also use a coincident driver, and should prove to have a nice amount of what the TAD's have to offer, and I've been told the Pioneer EX S-1EX definitely fits into that house sound Andrew has created.

Yes the tads were very nice I especially liked them with the atma's so natural and effortless I could listen to them forever.
Others I liked were the orions, italian panel speaker very life-like, Josephs were impressive but nothing can compare to the MBL's just outstanding. The mark 2 betters the 101 mark 1 by a small margin but nonetheless its better. When will the extremes come to the east coast I can't wait to hear them.

I just wanted to chime in with some inside info about the Axpona NYC show. From what I understand, the organizers had a very short time window to put the show together, and did an excellent job considering the time allotted. The show was part of CE Week (consumer electronics week) in NY, and Axpona was invited to be part of it, but they had to do it very quickly. I am sure the show will be bigger, better and more well attended next year. It was a huge success for us, (especially this being our first time exhibiting at a show), and we will definitely exhibit next year. I just hope to have time to hear more rooms than I did, since I was exhibiting rather than just attending as I did at the 2007 NYC show.

i already comented on my perceptions of the sound at the axpona show. i want to add that i would not want to own any of the stereo systems i heard at the show, for two reasons, no panel speakers and no vintage tube sound.

does anyone have an explanation for the absence of major manufactureres such as audio research, conrad johnson, mcintosh, magnepan, vandersteen, synergistic research, audioquest, et al. ?

by the way. the linkwitz speaker is not worth 14,000, as you can buy two pairs of magnepan 3.7, or one pair of mg 20.1s, instead.