Black Ice has a new headphone amp that is Jim Fosgates home system in a tube based headphone amp. Is that the one they had at the show? Prices?
Axpona 2023
Axpona Show Recap Sunday April 16th 2023- O'Hare Airport
Clarisys Audio-Why these difficult names??
$35k. Easy on the ears at higher volumes.
"Apogee" is what they look like only prettier.
The new T+A $50k speaker model was also excellent. They make smaller models
I plan to look into.
The $43k Joseph Audio is a perennial winner.
The $200k+ Borresen Speakers may still be my all time favorite. Lars was there
but Michael B. was burned out from an Asian tour.
The Vimberg stand mount Speaker they demo'd is a magical speaker.
Last year they showed Lime Green speaker and sold it at the show.
Makers please note. Focal failed to bring even one "Hot" colored speaker.
And they must have had 25 speakers there. Poor merchandising.
Did anyone else partake in one of Wendel's 1/2 hour new subwoofer sessions? (Magnepan)
Wendel's contention is that 12 6.25" drivers mounted in a dipole configuration
beats anyone's subwoofer. Not sure about his science on that but he puts on an
impressive demo!
I am still waiting delivery of my LRS+ speakers ordered Dec 4th.
I did get to listen to the new LRS+ speakers finally. Interesting back story about
something Sandy Gross had to say in the Bacche room. He thinks the LRS+ are "special".
Mike Fremer debuted his new LP. I won't try to review it but will advise against over paying
for an early copy.
Met some fun people at Cambridge Audio Saturday night! Their business is good.
Dined with the Black Ice people at the Weber Grill. Jared has a very
interesting past if you ever meet him. They sold 40 units of one headphone amp
on Friday at the show!
I finally met Fredrik Lejonklou from Sweden. He does things in an all out assault mode.
Also has the best laid out website I've seen. Product history info is wonderful. Other makers note.
I spoke with the Chris Brunhaver, PS Audio Speaker designer, (son of one of the speakerlab founders)
and heard his mid sized $20k speakers. I like the look and the sound is pretty good
for a first effort. I decided against asking him if he missed Darren Meyers the PS audio designer
who was recently hired away by the new Parasound owner. Darren is a very talented guy who will
benefit greatly from his new association with John Curl. I have to think Parasound will be announcing
a new Class D amp soon enough.
Rumor has it that PS Audio is shopping for a new software man to fix some long standing glitches.
When the mute button turns on the TV it is time for a fix.
Andrew Jones was demoing his new Point 8 speaker. $3k. the Point 10 is $4k.
He had some great demo music I will be including in my next Track du Jour email.
The 8's sounded as good or better than the 10's in that setup.
A fun show overall!!
- ...
- 49 posts total
@benzman I'm curious to know more about the Borresen X3 speakers. Your feedback is very encouraging. Can you tell me a little bit more about them? Would you describe them as more on the 'neutral' or 'warm' side of the spectrum? How do they compare to some other speakers based on what you heard? Thanks. |
I was with two other friends and we all thought by far that You would call it a affordable mid high end speaker. I think they spec to down to 35hz. I teased he was hiding a subwoofer in there. It was with the Audio Group Denmark. Just a great overall balanced sound. I am not good a descriptions but worth a listen for sure. Very musical. Nothing called attention to itself just a very balanced thru the whole spectrum. Perfect size for most rooms. Sounded like a much bigger speaker. |
I totally agree with Benzman — the Borresen X3 speakers at $11,000 are one of the best values I’ve ever seen. To my ear, they sounded as good as the $22k Von Schweikerts. Another value play — the Scansonic MB 6B (by Raidho) for $15k. Their answer to Børresen’s new X3 — both high quality, exceptional value buys. Did anyone check out the Canton room by Bluebird? I was really looking forward to listening to the Reference 3 K floorstanders but was sadly disappointed. Same for the Audio Monitor Platinum 200 3G speakers. Both of those are good brands and I’ve read great reviews. Perhaps they were just victims of the “Hotel Room Curse!” Though that sure didn’t seem to hurt the Børresen X3s — phenomenal. And Frits (Børresen’s guy) was icing in the cake. Hoping to pull the trigger on those bad boys this fall! All in all, a great show. |
- 49 posts total