AXPONA 2022: It's about time!!
Apr 22, 2022 21:40:52 GMT -5
LCSeminole, cawgijoe, and 7 more like this
Post by ttocs on Apr 22, 2022 21:40:52 GMT -5
Day 1
There is a pretty noticeable absence of exhibitors this year compared to 2019, but still lots to visit. Attendance seems pretty good however, even for a Friday.
Quite a few rooms were setup very well. A few got it spot on!
B&W 802 D4 speakers with McIntosh MC611 amps actually sounded great to my ears! Finally. I'm not really a fan of B&W's tweeters, but today they were good.
The Wilson Alexx V speakers were setup extremely well, sounded great, and were powered by Audio Research amps. Something to note here is that they didn't use speaker cable elevators, which were in abundance elsewhere. Would the sound have been 2% better with the elevators? The original Wilson prototype speakers were on display and active, which was cool.
VAC amps had their Statement 452 iQ Musicbloc™ Power Amplifiers, four of them, powering some speakers I wasn't impressed with and didn't notice the brand. But the amps are pretty cool looking.
KARAN ACOUSTICS MASTER COLLECTION POWERa MONO amps powering Vimberg Tonda speakers sounded pretty fab! Setup nicely, great soundstage, very lifelike.
MBL was a great disappointment. I expected much more from their display, but it just suffered and I spent very little time in their room.
The Bayz Audio Courante also disappointed, but it's a cool looking speaker.
Avantgarde Acoustic's brand new Trio G3 with four BASSHORN XD subs, two short and two tall, was one of the jewels of the entire show! Very impressed with the sound in general, but mostly extremely impressed with their subwoofers!!!! They produce no buildup of bass around the rom, nothing in corners, behind the speakers, along any walls, nuthin'! I've never experienced anything like it. And there was no acoustic treatment in the room. I was told that even the DSP setup showed the room as being very flat before doing any tweaking. It was a very impressive demo! I just don't happen to have the $300,000 to get things rolling. But if I did, setup of the system is included in the price. The subs can be oriented as shown or vertical.
Another great demo was from Linkwitz! If you want an unbreakable soundstage, that remains intact even when walking right up to one speaker, Linkwitz is what you want. The soundstage stayed intact and was complete no matter where I placed myself. It's a turn-key system, includes speakers, cables, amps, and crossover. Just add water (just kidding). They just don't like loud volume. The woofers only go so far before they begin to show some cracks in the armor. There's a slim chance it may have been the room, but while they are great for music under the control of non-adolescents, I just can't see anyone using them for HT. But for the money, they seem like a great product, all things considered.
The Alta Audio Alec speakers are a favorite of mine, but the demo room that represents Alta, showing the Adam, did not do themselves any favors by pairing the speakers with a Krell K-300i integrated stereo amp. It just didn't sound anything like how these speakers can sound when fed great power.
The same model Alta Adam speakers were in a room on the same floor that was the right way to demo them. The amps in this room are absolutely brand new on the market and are really fabulous!!! They are Infigo Audio amplifiers. From Infigo Audio: "CEO/Founder Hans Looman has been consulting to former Resonessence Labs, a spin-off of ESS Technology, the well known creators of the Sabre DAC chip, and helped them run the various audio shows they were presenting in the past nearly 10 years. His amplifier design was showcased many years as the Projecta amplifier and was originally planned to be released as Resonessence brand. Unfortunately Resonessence Labs ceased business, the amplifier will now be released under our own new brand: Infigo Audio"
Each mono block has 250 devices. That's not a typo. The devices are dialed back from full power (their words, not mine), run with no heat (the heat sinks were room temperature), and sound amazing. I was in this room for a long time. I spoke with Hans Looman, the designer, and also spoke at length to Calvin Johnson who is super stoked to be connected with Hans. If I had $50k I'd by a pair.
Somehow my invitation to Magnepan must've gotten lost in the mail, so I couldn't enter their room. But the LRS+ aren't at the show anyway, according to one of the dealers I spoke with. No holy smoly D'Agostino Relentless amps at the show. No PS Audio. And of course, no Emotiva! There's a cool Focal ATMOS demo I wasn't able to access due to a waiting ling, and it'll probably be longer tomorrow, so . . . . . . .
There is a pretty noticeable absence of exhibitors this year compared to 2019, but still lots to visit. Attendance seems pretty good however, even for a Friday.
Quite a few rooms were setup very well. A few got it spot on!
B&W 802 D4 speakers with McIntosh MC611 amps actually sounded great to my ears! Finally. I'm not really a fan of B&W's tweeters, but today they were good.
The Wilson Alexx V speakers were setup extremely well, sounded great, and were powered by Audio Research amps. Something to note here is that they didn't use speaker cable elevators, which were in abundance elsewhere. Would the sound have been 2% better with the elevators? The original Wilson prototype speakers were on display and active, which was cool.
VAC amps had their Statement 452 iQ Musicbloc™ Power Amplifiers, four of them, powering some speakers I wasn't impressed with and didn't notice the brand. But the amps are pretty cool looking.
KARAN ACOUSTICS MASTER COLLECTION POWERa MONO amps powering Vimberg Tonda speakers sounded pretty fab! Setup nicely, great soundstage, very lifelike.
MBL was a great disappointment. I expected much more from their display, but it just suffered and I spent very little time in their room.
The Bayz Audio Courante also disappointed, but it's a cool looking speaker.
Avantgarde Acoustic's brand new Trio G3 with four BASSHORN XD subs, two short and two tall, was one of the jewels of the entire show! Very impressed with the sound in general, but mostly extremely impressed with their subwoofers!!!! They produce no buildup of bass around the rom, nothing in corners, behind the speakers, along any walls, nuthin'! I've never experienced anything like it. And there was no acoustic treatment in the room. I was told that even the DSP setup showed the room as being very flat before doing any tweaking. It was a very impressive demo! I just don't happen to have the $300,000 to get things rolling. But if I did, setup of the system is included in the price. The subs can be oriented as shown or vertical.
Another great demo was from Linkwitz! If you want an unbreakable soundstage, that remains intact even when walking right up to one speaker, Linkwitz is what you want. The soundstage stayed intact and was complete no matter where I placed myself. It's a turn-key system, includes speakers, cables, amps, and crossover. Just add water (just kidding). They just don't like loud volume. The woofers only go so far before they begin to show some cracks in the armor. There's a slim chance it may have been the room, but while they are great for music under the control of non-adolescents, I just can't see anyone using them for HT. But for the money, they seem like a great product, all things considered.
The Alta Audio Alec speakers are a favorite of mine, but the demo room that represents Alta, showing the Adam, did not do themselves any favors by pairing the speakers with a Krell K-300i integrated stereo amp. It just didn't sound anything like how these speakers can sound when fed great power.
The same model Alta Adam speakers were in a room on the same floor that was the right way to demo them. The amps in this room are absolutely brand new on the market and are really fabulous!!! They are Infigo Audio amplifiers. From Infigo Audio: "CEO/Founder Hans Looman has been consulting to former Resonessence Labs, a spin-off of ESS Technology, the well known creators of the Sabre DAC chip, and helped them run the various audio shows they were presenting in the past nearly 10 years. His amplifier design was showcased many years as the Projecta amplifier and was originally planned to be released as Resonessence brand. Unfortunately Resonessence Labs ceased business, the amplifier will now be released under our own new brand: Infigo Audio"
Each mono block has 250 devices. That's not a typo. The devices are dialed back from full power (their words, not mine), run with no heat (the heat sinks were room temperature), and sound amazing. I was in this room for a long time. I spoke with Hans Looman, the designer, and also spoke at length to Calvin Johnson who is super stoked to be connected with Hans. If I had $50k I'd by a pair.
Somehow my invitation to Magnepan must've gotten lost in the mail, so I couldn't enter their room. But the LRS+ aren't at the show anyway, according to one of the dealers I spoke with. No holy smoly D'Agostino Relentless amps at the show. No PS Audio. And of course, no Emotiva! There's a cool Focal ATMOS demo I wasn't able to access due to a waiting ling, and it'll probably be longer tomorrow, so . . . . . . .
