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!!
Thanks @nevada_matt Love the pics they posted over there. |
I also thought the Borresen X3's were fantastic. They paired wonderfully with the Avik integrated/streamer which I think was only about $5500. They were also using the Ansuz A3 'power and ethernet distribution' systems. I agree with mikempls that the host in this room was great. Another speaker that got my attention was the Vivid Kaya 25 which I believe was also around 11k. I learned from the gentleman running the demos that Vivid was started by the guy who designed the B&W nautilus speakers . . . he has used this elongated tuned port concept in his Vivid creations. Anyway, loved the sound it produced. I found it hard to leave both of these rooms.
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@bloom How does the Vivid compare with the Borresen. I know the Vivid well and was considering the Kaya 45 in the past. I liked the Yamaha NS5000 a bit more than the Kaya 45 during demo time. Just personal preference. |
