Here are my comments regarding Axpona.
I can’t believe no one has mentioned the Borresen speakers yet. They had their new reference 05 speakers there, the first pair in the country, and they were simply awesome. Yes, $120k for the pair is not for mere mortals, but compared to all the other 6 figure speakers, it blew them away. Focal Utopia’s being the exception. They were also showing 3 lower end models that all sounded great but all comparatively pricey. Their new ribbon, incorporated in all models, was the best sounding transducer I have ever heard in my 40 years of being in this industry. Recently retired. You will be hearing a lot about these speakers.
Never been a big fan of horn speakers. AvantGarde makes everything sound like its being played by a marching band. Klipsh, no idea why anyone thinks they sound good. That being said, I came across a speaker new to me called Ocean Way Audio Monterey. It looked like a horn type of speaker although they call it a hybrid waveguide system. I didn’t have time to get the skinny but was greatly impressed by the smoothness of the midrange and high frequencies. Of course it had the strengths of a horn speaker with none of the drawbacks. Very impressive but $32k for the pair.
Magico speakers - they play all the notes very well but they just don’t sound musical to me. Extremely over rated as far as I’m concerned.
Marten Logan speakers never impressed me for many years. I never thought they got the woofer to play well with the panels. I stopped paying attention to them for years. I heard the new 13 and 15 speakers at the show and let me tell you, they sure sound great now. Woofers keep up with the panels and way better dynamics than I ever thought possible. Very impressive. I just hope you don’t have to send the panels back every few years to get fixed like the older models.
Friday wasn’t bad but it was very crowded Saturday in the little rooms. Lots of cool products but unfortunately many of those companies won’t be around in a year or two. I have seen many promising companies come and go over the years leaving owners of their products up the creek.
I agree with the previous comments regarding the Wilson Alex speakers. Bad room, bad music, bad sound. Lots of millionaires in there though. Across the way they had the Alexia’s playing with a Rogers tube integrated that sounded way better than the previous room.
Sanders, Muraudio, Eminent Technology, and many others sounded okay but the music being played in many rooms would make a Bose table radio sound good. I know the manufacturer’s want to make their products sound their best but if that’s the only kind of music that doesn’t embarrass them, I move on. At least Focal and Dynaudio aren’t afraid of rocking out.
I listened to many great products but I kept returning to the though on what I would have to do to afford the Borresen 05 speakers. They spoke to me like no other speaker ever has although the wife seemed pretty firm on the big “NO” she gave me. I wonder if she’ll fit in one of the Borresen crates? Lol.
I can’t believe no one has mentioned the Borresen speakers yet. They had their new reference 05 speakers there, the first pair in the country, and they were simply awesome. Yes, $120k for the pair is not for mere mortals, but compared to all the other 6 figure speakers, it blew them away. Focal Utopia’s being the exception. They were also showing 3 lower end models that all sounded great but all comparatively pricey. Their new ribbon, incorporated in all models, was the best sounding transducer I have ever heard in my 40 years of being in this industry. Recently retired. You will be hearing a lot about these speakers.
Never been a big fan of horn speakers. AvantGarde makes everything sound like its being played by a marching band. Klipsh, no idea why anyone thinks they sound good. That being said, I came across a speaker new to me called Ocean Way Audio Monterey. It looked like a horn type of speaker although they call it a hybrid waveguide system. I didn’t have time to get the skinny but was greatly impressed by the smoothness of the midrange and high frequencies. Of course it had the strengths of a horn speaker with none of the drawbacks. Very impressive but $32k for the pair.
Magico speakers - they play all the notes very well but they just don’t sound musical to me. Extremely over rated as far as I’m concerned.
Marten Logan speakers never impressed me for many years. I never thought they got the woofer to play well with the panels. I stopped paying attention to them for years. I heard the new 13 and 15 speakers at the show and let me tell you, they sure sound great now. Woofers keep up with the panels and way better dynamics than I ever thought possible. Very impressive. I just hope you don’t have to send the panels back every few years to get fixed like the older models.
Friday wasn’t bad but it was very crowded Saturday in the little rooms. Lots of cool products but unfortunately many of those companies won’t be around in a year or two. I have seen many promising companies come and go over the years leaving owners of their products up the creek.
I agree with the previous comments regarding the Wilson Alex speakers. Bad room, bad music, bad sound. Lots of millionaires in there though. Across the way they had the Alexia’s playing with a Rogers tube integrated that sounded way better than the previous room.
Sanders, Muraudio, Eminent Technology, and many others sounded okay but the music being played in many rooms would make a Bose table radio sound good. I know the manufacturer’s want to make their products sound their best but if that’s the only kind of music that doesn’t embarrass them, I move on. At least Focal and Dynaudio aren’t afraid of rocking out.
I listened to many great products but I kept returning to the though on what I would have to do to afford the Borresen 05 speakers. They spoke to me like no other speaker ever has although the wife seemed pretty firm on the big “NO” she gave me. I wonder if she’ll fit in one of the Borresen crates? Lol.