AXPONA 2017 Protocol

@astewart8944 ,
Did you get a chance to listen to the ProAC D30S? I was impressed, with the speakers being driven by Naim. They sounded very dynamic. They are more up-front, than my current system. And the bottom end on these were very deep. One song on which they impressed me was the Boz Scaggs - Thanks to You. They rumbled the room. I had not imagined that these could do it. Last year I was reading a post on this forum where the poster mentioned that he could not get bass from his D30R. Something must have been seriously wrong in his system.
Will wait for you feedback on these, as well as on th Spendor D7, after you audition them.

GREAT show my wife and i loved it will be back next year for sure!!

I could not believe how busy the show was on Friday. This usually never happens on the first day. The show over all was busier than CES last year. This show is appearing to take the place of CES.

@milpai I didn't get to hear the ProAC D30S. Thanks for the report. I did listen to several speakers that I listed earlier on this thread, which I now re-list below with my abbreviated report on each:
PSB T3 (The PSB room didn't have T3s, but was playing T2s. It didn't sound very good to me. I previously heard T3s at a dealer and enjoyed their overall presentation. More about the T2s at AXPONA later)
Spendor D7/D9 (These were not at the show--I'm trying to head to San Antonio to hear the D7s later this week.)
Endeavor 3 MkII (I was expecting a lot here and I was underwhelmed. The first time I walked in the room it was straight up 10am, music was blaring out of other rooms and this room was changing a turntable cartridge--for 15 minutes. Once the music started, the sound was, um, non-dynamic. I chalk part of this up to the music selected, a jazz sax number that felt lazy as it wound its way through the middle register. I went back later and listened again. This session provided partial redemption of these speakers. Now the music was dynamic and revealed more of what the Endeavor E-3MKIIs could do. I can see how others would like them; but they did not layer the music in a way I found satisfying. The overall system seemed to lack speed; maybe it was the Jolida tubes driving these things, but it felt like the speakers had a regulator on them that kept them from opening up.)   
Joseph Audio Perspectives (Wow. These speakers are smooth....There was a line to get a seat. Both times I visited, I stood in line. I first had to stand in the hallway, then I advanced to standing by the seats. Finally, I graduated to sitting down in the seats--and even got to sit in the favored middle chair on my second visit. And...I didn't want to give that chair up. The mid range and upper range were both captivating, detail without brightness, clarity with warmth. Hard to be too superlative on the sound coming out of a 36" high tower speaker that is 8.5" wide and 13" deep. The bass... it is sufficiently present and overall blends well, but it is these speakers weak point IMO. Specs say 35Hz on the bottom; my Imagine Ts are 38Hz on the bottom and have more bass presence, but admittedly are not as tight in the bass as the Perspectives. I should note here that Jeff Joseph told me he had the plug in the rear port to provide a tighter more focused bass delivery. So, that could explain some of the bass "leanness." However, if you have twin REL subwoofers (like I do) this is not an overwhelming concern. And, if you haven't already guessed, I really enjoy the bass cleft! For folks who focus intently on voices, the upper register and detail, these speakers should rank high on their list. Driven by Rowland Daemon Integrated (1500W @ 8 ohms--no that's not a typo!). Overkill? Yes! Enjoyable? Unquestionably. Doubting D Class amps have the ability to allow extremely musical presentations after listening to that amplifier with these speakers seems hard to fathom IMO. This was my favorite room. BTW I walked into the PSB room playing the T2s right after hearing the JA/Rowland room; that's probably why I was a bit hard on the PSB T2s. I presently own Imagine Ts and I still like the sound for the price. But one of these is clearer way ahead of the other. It stands to reason looking at the disparity in price points, although that is not always the case, I have come to learn.
Marten Django XL (These were not at the show; the Marten Coltranes were. I briefly listened to the Coltranes--$80K MSRP. They seemed terrific--but not $80K terrific. I got up and left without trying to critically evaluate them because, hey, I'm trying to find speakers I'm willing to buy and the clock is ticking.)
Monitor Audio PL300 II (These are great speakers. I listened to them twice and really enjoyed it both times. It is a complete package--presents a very complete soundstage and layers upper, mids and lower registers with seeming ease. I consider them a fast speaker with the PASS amps pushing them. I heard several different kinds of music through them and they excelled at handling each genre I heard: country, blues, rock, orchestral. The MA sales guys were taking all comers--if you had a CD they would play it. Unfortunately I had a USB and nobody in the rooms I visited was taking USB music. These speakers are pretty bulky relative to others I'm interested in (44"x16"x18.5") and, for me, are not as pleasing to look at as some of the other speakers I saw. But, they are not overpriced relative to the overall sound they deliver. They were driven by PASS XA monos and an XP-30 preamp. This is an excellent match. I could happily live with these speakers. Big time bass, direct, tight, not boomy, well integrated into the overall musical presentation.)
I will post some thoughts later about my visits to the Magico rooms and the Modwright/Daedalus rooms. And @milpai as promised, when I return from San Antonio, I will post my thoughts on the Spendor D7 listening session. Most importantly, I had fun at AXPONA! I told my friends that it was Disneyland for guys who like to take electrical stuff apart; men who, as kids, stuck screwdrivers into wall sockets. (I did see a few women at the show who were clearly as into it as the fellows.)
Sorry for the overall length of this report.
Peace
Al

Al,
Thank You for the detailed report.
I think our experiences match a lot. I heard the PSB Imagine T3s on Sunday at the Saturday Exchange room. They sounded so much better than the demo I have a few weeks back. At that time the dealer was comparing the T3s vs the B&W 804D3s. I think the B&Ws have a hot treble, and so the PSBs sounded a bit rolled off. But on their own in the AXPONA room, they sounded great.
Monitor Audio PL300II were very good indeed. They sounded balanced.
I too was wowed by the Joseph Audio Perspectives. So much heft for a diminutive loudspeaker. They sounded pretty nice too.
I think you would have loved the ProAcs and the Atohm loudspeakers. The bookshelf Atohm GT1-HD was sounding like a medium sized floorstanders. I had to step to the speakers (2 floor standers besides it) to make sure that the bookshelf versions were playing and not the floorstanders. Slight bling factor aside, they sounded very good.
I also liked the TAD and the Kii. The Kii had no business to sound as good as it did in the demo that was given. I believe it is the DSP magic. One speaker that impressed me this time compared to my experience from 2015 was the ATC SCM40. But I was told that the combination of my Parasound A21 and this loudspeaker will not sound good. This speaker requires much more power. Not sure how true that is. But in the actual ATC room the SCM50 was making some of the best music of the show. These can make you get up and dance.
I liked the MBL, Vivid Audio Giya, YG and the Sonus Faber rooms too. These were all the upper echelon rooms. One thing I should mention is that, in general the rooms did not sound bad in this show - unless the speaker was not good. And that leads me to the Endeavor. I was disappointed by them in 2015 and that did not change in 2017 as well.

And I enjoy reading detailed report. So please do not apologize. I am sure folk here also enjoyed your detailed report. If you can get a chance, try to listen to PMC and ProAc when you are in San Antonio. Good Luck, and I will wait to hear your feedback.

Thanks!