CHICAGO (PTA) — This year’s AXPONA audio show is already on course to be their biggest, and most newsworthy yet. Lots of product debuts are happening at this show, and we’re committed to bringing you the most extensive coverage of what’s NEW and out-of-this-world in the hi-fi universe.
Let’s continue with the Must See Rooms for Saturday (Day Two) of Axpona 2019
Ear Gear Expo Booth #8415 — Linear Tube Audio (LTA)
LTA will have a bevy of high-end headphones for you to listen to with their acclaimed MZ3 Headphone Amp + Preamp + 1-watt Integrated Amp, but most exciting and making it’s debut, LTA will also have their NEW Z10e Electrostatic headphone amp on display.
Room #678 — Raven Audio
Raven Audio is so much more than they were just a few years ago. Adding new amplifier models to their lineup and quickly becoming a serious player in the cable and loudspeaker industry is something I don’t even think Dave Thomas (founder of Raven) could have even predicted. If he did, the well kept secret is out now. Two new Raven Audio towers will surprise you to no end. Foam wave guides, and tuneful low-end are but a few of the outright special characteristics that make the new loudspeakers stand-out among the crowd of sometimes tiring designs. Currently debuting 4 new products at AXPONA. These products include 2 – new speaker lines, a new line of high-quality, but very affordable cables and a new integrated tube amplifier. Don’t walk, run to the Raven room.
Level 1, Schaumburg-H — Auralic
Auralic takes over a large room at this show, with undoubtedly formidable high-end loudspeakers and delivers at every note and pause of the music. Taking advantage of the space, you can hear with two towering systems what Auralic does at their most affordable price-point, and then a few steps up. Auralic is showing us about great sound at a value, and then showing us how much more value can be turned out with smart designs.
Room# 604 — SVS Sound
The room will wow you to no end if you are looking for sub-woofer demonstrations that twist your guts around each other. But for the more refined ear, you might notice that everything else upward of the audible frequency range has that same level of refinement and energy to present a dynamic and yet balanced sonic picture. Yes, expect to be kicked, but at the same time, kicked into a pleasant sub-mission that you won’t walk away from easily.
Room #1604 — PureAudioProject, Pass Labs, Luminous Audio
What would a show be, without Pass Labs, and me waxing on-and-on about open-baffle speakers. Overall, three very familiar brands, offer up something entirely new when working together. The new PureAudioProject loudspeaker, ready-to-run right out of the box, no assembly required is based on their Trio 15 design. Still one of the best values in hi-end, the new loudspeaker just made getting into the PureAudioProject universe that much easier.
Level 2, Nirvana Lounge — F1, Audio, Magico, Dan D’Agostino
I don’t even know where to begin. The guys from F1 Audio, Magico and D’Agostino aren’t playing a room, they are playing one of the largest open spaces on this convention center campus. There’s no practical explanation for this sounding as full and tight as it does, unless one were to point out the massive dual sub-woofers, each weighing in at 575lbs. In the most absurd way, this would make one hell of a bedroom system.
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i wouldnt call Passlabs overpriced junk. there are now ways to build a fairly simple 3 component high end (streamer dac, power amp, speakers) system for under 5k or so
I do not get it …. nobody buys this overpriced junk anymore. audio systems cost more than a decent house. audiophiles (assuming they exist) are wealthy hobbyists who throw away money on the latest shiny toys which only barely improve music reproduction. audiophiles are gullible weirdos.
I think you were good right up to the point where you said: “I don’t get it”. Everything after that was some version of “sour grapes”.
I cannot afford this stuff either. I also cannot afford a villa in Santorini. The former fact, however, has no bearing on the price of the latter. Clearly, the latter has a price. Given “market forces” that price has been established and supported by value. The fact that I am not the target demographic is about as interesting as the debate about the historicity of the moon landing, and in no way determines (much less influences) either the value or the price of beach-front real estate in the Cyclades. For the record, my concentrated efforts at “wishing the world were different” collectively do not seem to matter much, either. It’s all really quite depressing. I may actually have to go do something about that.
But to dismiss artisan manufacturers as thieves and their enthusiasts as weirdos is just flat out ignorant, desperate, and tired.
Do we really have go through a history of art here? Fine. You don’t like Rothko? You think Pollock is a hack? Is Basquiat is a waste of wall space? Yeah, well, good for you. Happily, you’ve just saved yourself some money. Maybe you can save up enough to finally take that trip to Greece.
In the meantime, let those of us with ears and eyes, hear and see. Fact is, it is a glorious time to be a weirdo.