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Audio Doctor goes to Axpona observations so far


 
For the first time went to Axpona, one heck of a show more audio then we have ever seen, the old New York audio shows were like this.

Anyway walked most of the show and most of the systems heard were just bad, common problems no room tuning, rooms that were too big for the gear or too small.  Even some of the really expensive stuff was dissapointing.

There were a few room that were good.

So far winners for us that were very good not in any particular order:

1: Big Horns from Germany forgot the name really famous one,
2: Muiraudio $15k electrostatic hybrid 
3: Alta Audio cheapie $5k speakers sounded great
4: Vimburg
5: Paradigm Persona 3F

(not a great setup,  but the sound comming out of them for a $10k speaker was very impressive. excellent, midrange soundstage was impressive  image floated nicely, even though the speakers were way too close together and the bass response was excellent.  Would have been way better with a few substitions.

6: T+A $75k floorstanders were impressive for such a small size reference speaker, don't know if they are worth that kind of money, the electrostatic tweeter coupled to a line array with buillt in subs was very musical in a way too small room. Would have liked them to be taller

Decent but not up to the hype the new PS audio speakers bass was very good for a $12-15k set of speakers filled up a big room ugly, and not the ultimate wow that PS was billing them as.

The Scaena line array  when we had them setup in our show and at some of the older New York Audio Shows were mind blowing this setup didn't gel which was sad.

Today to hear the Gryphon room, Golden Ear and a few others.

Scott Markwall gave a great demo of the Furutech NCF products which are really cool.

Innous gave a great demo of the Statement vs the Zenith, and wow what a difference in soundstaging and clarity.  

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Paradigm, T+A, Persona dealers.

128x128audiotroy
whitestix
703 posts
 
I was there two days and saw a lot of very nice rooms. The towering German speakers, Goebel (?)  were stunning as was were the Salk Towers... as always a reliable fine speaker in beautiful cabinets.  The two MBL rooms were simply amazing, particularly their new standmount  speaker for $17K.   Now we're talking!   

Spatial Audio was in two rooms with the $7500 X3 speakers, which have a powered woofer now and new ribbon, I think, tweeter, driven by a Modwright amp in one room and an LTA ZOTL Ultralinear tube amp.... both set ups sounded fantastic and the X3' are clearly a step up with the M3's... lower LF and clearer HF.   The Rockport room was excellent.   The T&A room pretty much blew me away with their exotic gear.... a unique preamp/DAC combo that is state of the art for playing hi rez recordings.  Their speakers were excellent as well.  Magico's $400K system at the end of a hall was quite impressive, to say the least.

Oh, finally Vanatoo demo'd their Transparent One Encore and Transparent Zero BluTooth speakers going for $600 and $360, respectively.  Even with no sub playing, these little gems sounded absolutely amazing.  I will be ordering a pair for my desktop, yet on stands, they would surely delight most music lovers!  

I liked the vibe at the show a lot. My visit with Steve Guttenberg showed him to be just as pleasant and humble of a fellow as he appears to be in his videos.  I could have done without the snow storm on Sunday, but you never know in Chicago.  
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dseltz
152 posts
 
Did anyone hear the Rethms?
bache's avatar
bache
503 posts
 
did anyone hear the Block audio
josh358
286 posts
 
Pwhinson, funny thing about the Pass room -- they told me that only one of the amps in the room had any electronics in them! They were just empty cases.

Think you're right about the Sanders vs. the Martin Logans, though I found both too bright (and a 61-year-old pair of Quad ESL 57's just right).

Like everyone else, was disappointed by the AN-3 but in all fairness it was in an absurdly big room and location (a corner!), and I read that the prototype isn't as adjustable as the production models. Like the Vandys it couldn't really be judged. But I suspect it was also overhyped in the videos, a single Neo 10 is never going to sound like an IRS V! Not in a big space, anyway. The comparisons to the IRS set me up for disappointment.

At the opposite extreme, the little LRS was the hit of the show for those lucky enough to hear it. Magnepan was showing it to the press and then letting others discover it through word of mouth.

Audiotroy, I had the impression that the big Magico setup was suffering from the space it was in. It was the sort of space appropriate to a PA system, not a pair of loudspeakers! None of the Magicos I heard this time sounded good. Go figure. But I thought a lot of speakers were suffering from bad acoustics.
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