AXPONA
AXPONA 2014: Wrap Up
Chicago in April is a capricious time to visit, but while we all got a bit damp here and there, at least this year we didn’t have to dump into the street while we all […]
AXPONA 2014
AXPONA 2014
AXPONA 2014: Sweet Home Chicago
Part-Time Audiophile How hot was the gear at the 2014 Audio Expo of North America? So hot a fire alarm briefly cleared the four show floors of Chicago’s Westin O’Hare midway through day two [yes, […]
AXPONA
AXPONA 2014: Music Hall, Creek, Epos and a wee dram
It may be the worst kept secret that Leland Leard and Roy Hall of Music Hall Audio serve up the “good stuff” at audio shows. They have these tiny plastic medicine cups that they’ll measure […]
AXPONA
AXPONA 2014: Sound Lab and the wall of sound
Let’s enjoy a hypothetical. Say, for the sake of argument, that you believe that panel speakers don’t present bass with the same impact that cone speakers do. If that is the case, the hypothetical goes, […]
AXPONA
AXPONA 2014: Soundfield Audio
Ammar Jadusingh (AJ to those of us prone to slaughtering names) was showing a brand new loudspeaker from his Soundfield Audio brand, the $8,500/pair Variable Soundfield Tower 3 (VST-3). These are really interesting — powered […]
AXPONA
AXPONA 2014: Volti Audio and Triode Wire Labs
I’ve been tracking Volti Audio for a while now, and I’m happy to note that I loved their flagship Vittora loudpseakers before Art Dudley did, so that’s something. Maybe? Whatever. Shown here at AXONA was the […]
AXPONA
AXPONA 2014: Denon & Marantz
D&M were here at AXPONA with offerings Denon, Marantz and Boston Acoustics. These guys are still on my go-to list for quality sound, great features, and reasonable prices — I have a Marantz receiver running […]
AXPONA
AXPONA 2014: Kharma and Constellation, times two
Kharma and Constellation Audio teamed up on a pair of rooms at AXPONA, and if you were a fan of hi-fi sound, they would have been like manna from heaven, weaving webs of light and space […]
AXPONA
AXPONA 2014: Legacy Audio will kick your big room in the rear
When I get asked about Legacy Audio, the first thing I think of is “giant loudspeakers”. For whatever reason, the Whisper got stuck in my head all those years ago as a Stereophile Class A […]
AXPONA
AXPONA 2014: Sonist Returns
As you may or may not know, Sonist founder Randy Bankert passed away a bit over a year ago. Given that Randy was a one-man show, this was terrible news for lovers of his work. […]
AXPONA
AXPONA 2014: Polymer Audio and FM Acoustics and the assault on the high-end
To say that tongues were wagging about this room was a bit of an understatement. Polymer Audio Research chose AXPONA to unveil their newest, the MKS-X, at $60k/pair. These flagship speakers are a 4Ω, 86dB, 4-way loudspeaker […]
AXPONA
AXPONA 2014: Audioengine destroys your desktop
There’s an adage about small things and good packages. Hell, it’s a truism. And here’s another: high quality audio doesn’t have to break the bank, even if it totally consumes your desktop. Audioengine has pretty […]
AXPONA
AXPONA 2014: YG, Audionet and Kronos
I swung through this room just before breakdown, so I didn’t get to hear the new $42k/pair YG Acoustics Hailey loudspeakers. Those lucky enough to catch the action would have seen and heard a full […]
AXPONA
AXPONA 2014: Vapor Audio, Purity Audio and LampizatOr
I’d heard that Vapor Audio‘s new $7,600/pair Derecho loudspeakers were new, as in, “completed the day before the show”, which was pretty much a great reason to leave this room till late on Saturday in […]
AXPONA
AXPONA 2014: DeVore Fidelity and Resolution Audio
John DeVore has been working on his Gibbon X loudspeakers for several years now, but he thinks the end is in sight — with luck, the new monkeys will get the final tuning and tweaking […]
AXPONA
AXPONA 2014: Benchmark sets a new benchmark
Benchmark Media Systems has been pioneering the affordable DAC segment for almost a decade now, so it’s kinda fun to not only watch them evolve to meet demands from the high-end of their market, but also […]
AXPONA
AXPONA 2014: Sony at Ear Gear Expo
The personal audio team from Sony Electronics had a prominent table at the Ear Gear Expo this year, bringing their top-shelf headphone amp/DAC combos for folks to listen to. The $999 HAP-S1 (shown here in […]
AXPONA
AXPONA 2014: The Marketplace
At any audio show, the Marketplace is the gym — for credit cards. Not getting them a workout is a matter of skill, but that’s altogether no fun. Especially with such tasty morsels all within reach. […]
AXPONA
AXPONA 2014: JH Audio and allure of in-ear monitors
Another of my panelists on Sunday’s “What Headphone is Right For You?”, Kevin Glendinning from JH Audio was here at the Ear Gear Expo, chatting up the crowd on the JH Audio lineup, including those […]
AXPONA
AXPONA 2014: Scaena and Ayon, sculptures in sound
Scaena had some new loudspeakers tucked kitty-corner into one of the larger demo rooms down on the main floor at AXPONA, and it was either the room, the odd placement, or “something else”, but the […]