2023 AXPONA Show Report

I’m heading out from CA for the show again this year.  The only gear on my wish list are Tannoy Cheviot speakers.  Maybe the T&A DAC, too.  I am going to make a week of it and spend time exploring Chicago.  Cool city for sure.

I’m going for the first time (to any audio show) and will be there bright and early Friday morning. I expect I will be overwhelmed at some point so I will try to map out the big rooms I’ve always been interested first, then hit the more practical ones. Not really caring about affordability as I just want to hear the different setups and speaker designs. Are there rooms rooms loud enough to require earplugs? Not sure if that would be rude but I have some filtered ones I bring to live shows. I also want to go to a couple of the lectures that seem like they could be interesting. I have family nearby I will be visiting as well so the somewhat limited mall area doesn’t bother me much.

Earplugs? No need for those. This is the biggest show in the US so if it's your first then yeah you will be overwhelmed.

The Mon speakers may be nice but $25k for conventional stand mounts is Waay over priced ,take MBL 120 Loudspeakers  their tweeter and midrange 100% out of the box and their issues but 100% Omni directional even off axis excellent imaging 

and details lost in other Loudspeakers, and opposing long throw 6.5 inch mid- Bass drivers , the best Stand mount speaker I have heard by a sizable amount 

and it’s low 82 db rating very deceiving for you are getting equal output in 360 degrees not just the front ,more like 87 db  my friend plays these with a A 55 wpc Ayon Amp. These are on y short list .with a pr of good subs like the SVS sb 4000 youhave a full range speaker that Dan compete with any at 3x the price .

These look like they MIGHT be good speakers BUT...

for the price you are getting off the shelf components. Not that they are bad components. I use the same brands these folks use in my speakers that I design. It is just for the price I would desire something better and you are still getting your basic rectangular box, probably made with some variation particleboard or laminate. And for crossovers, I'll bet a $1 right now they are using wire wound coils and not continuous wound ribbon coils. The industry dictates that you should never use $50 to $100 components when a $10 one will suffice. That’s a joke guys.  I haven't seen the inside picts yet but I can only hope that they are not using cat5 wire inside the boxes like so many speakers do. These look very much like the speakers I was building in the early 80s. I could be totally wrong and would love for someone to impress me by showing I am totally off on these. Truthfully just looking at the spec sheet, I don't get it and won't be getting them. Also saying that by adding a sub you have a full range speaker, If you have a full range speaker you shouldn't need a sub. That is an oxymoron from the start. I guess if you want a sub for feeling the tactile pulse of mechanically manipulated movie tracks, a sub is OK, but I reuse turn on my sub when listening to MUSIC.