2018 AXPONA: April 13-15, Schaumburg IL
- Thread starter Wildcat
- Start date
Funny, I didn’t get that text.
Do they make the seminars available online after the show? I’d be interested in several, especially the Room EQ Wizard master class.
http://www.axpona.com/sessions_byTrack.asp
http://www.axpona.com/sessions_byTrack.asp
olson_jr
Lunatic Member
Whenever I hear that 'tall size thing' I wonder if it is a reflection off of the ceiling?
KDAC
Addicted Member
fredcohiba
Super Member
I really enjoyed the show. Went on Friday and it was really busy.
Heard Andrew Jones speak - that was very neat.
Best of show for me was the Bob Carver rooms with the ALS (Amazing Line Source) Speaker, they were very nice sounding.
Looking forward to next year...
Heard Andrew Jones speak - that was very neat.
Best of show for me was the Bob Carver rooms with the ALS (Amazing Line Source) Speaker, they were very nice sounding.
Looking forward to next year...
I'm syncing photos at the moment. A couple of my highlights (beyond the Von Schweikert room) are below.
@DC, I thanked PS Audio again for the free beer.
I almost grabbed another today, but was driving home immediately after. They were not doing a demo of the DirectStream DAC this year but, as I'm heading back to Colorado at least once this year, I'm going to stop in and listen to it in their new facility in Boulder once it opens.
So aside from the food/free beer, I was very impressed with the new speaker system Gayle Sanders created for his new company Eikon Audio. (He was one of the two founders of Martin Logan.) It is way too technical to describe here (I could go into it if asked), but the results speak for themselves.
Another favorite was the room with the Continuum Obsidian turntable with Viper arm, the Constellation electronics and the Martin Logan Renaissance 15a speakers.
The marketplace was impressive, although it felt as though a couple of the sellers had less vinyl than last year. However, Morrow Audio opened a used record store in their hometown, and brought up a haul of very clean vinyl, part of it from a major collection they just purchased. I found four pristine records I'm dying to spin tomorrow. I also visited Chad & Co. (aka Acoustic Sounds) and broke down and bought the 45 RPM Hatari! soundtrack. (The Stevie Ray 45 RPM albums are now available separately--they finally negotiated this with Sony, which is why there was a delay.) I debated getting Legrand Jazz but I streamed it Saturday night in my room and didn't particularly care for it.
Hearing the Avantgarde horns was a treat--I could not live with them as everyday speakers, but dayum, what a great basement/party speaker!
Pics will follow shortly. I have many to go through, and have to prepare an article elsewhere by the end of the week with my highlights.
@DC, I thanked PS Audio again for the free beer.
I almost grabbed another today, but was driving home immediately after. They were not doing a demo of the DirectStream DAC this year but, as I'm heading back to Colorado at least once this year, I'm going to stop in and listen to it in their new facility in Boulder once it opens.So aside from the food/free beer, I was very impressed with the new speaker system Gayle Sanders created for his new company Eikon Audio. (He was one of the two founders of Martin Logan.) It is way too technical to describe here (I could go into it if asked), but the results speak for themselves.
Another favorite was the room with the Continuum Obsidian turntable with Viper arm, the Constellation electronics and the Martin Logan Renaissance 15a speakers.
The marketplace was impressive, although it felt as though a couple of the sellers had less vinyl than last year. However, Morrow Audio opened a used record store in their hometown, and brought up a haul of very clean vinyl, part of it from a major collection they just purchased. I found four pristine records I'm dying to spin tomorrow. I also visited Chad & Co. (aka Acoustic Sounds) and broke down and bought the 45 RPM Hatari! soundtrack. (The Stevie Ray 45 RPM albums are now available separately--they finally negotiated this with Sony, which is why there was a delay.) I debated getting Legrand Jazz but I streamed it Saturday night in my room and didn't particularly care for it.
Hearing the Avantgarde horns was a treat--I could not live with them as everyday speakers, but dayum, what a great basement/party speaker!
Pics will follow shortly. I have many to go through, and have to prepare an article elsewhere by the end of the week with my highlights.
A few thoughts from today:
- I noticed (mostly Saturday and Friday) numerous more rooms than in the past with beer, wine, Scotch, etc. While I didn’t partake in any, I like the idea.
- Overall I think systems sounded better today than on Friday. Time for adjustments to be made, stuff to settle down, etc.
- I was pleasantly surprised by a few new-to-me lines, such as PMC speakers (England), Bandwidth Audio, and Graham speakers. Nice to make their acquaintance!
- I’m not a fan of metal tweeters and there are numerous new Beryllium tweeters being showcased. To my ear, Ryan Speakers has one of the better implementations in their new bookshelf/standmount. However, I previously really liked their silk-domes, so I'll remain cautious.
For some reason this year I actually missed a few rooms, and they were unintentional as I wanted to visit, such as United Home Audio (super tape decks) and the Van Schweikert room praised above. Just somehow missed them, alas.
And (drumroll, please) ... stupidest comment heard all weekend:
“You should never, ever use your remote, even on your CD player. It will totally pull the life out of the music every time.”
- I noticed (mostly Saturday and Friday) numerous more rooms than in the past with beer, wine, Scotch, etc. While I didn’t partake in any, I like the idea.
- Overall I think systems sounded better today than on Friday. Time for adjustments to be made, stuff to settle down, etc.
- I was pleasantly surprised by a few new-to-me lines, such as PMC speakers (England), Bandwidth Audio, and Graham speakers. Nice to make their acquaintance!
- I’m not a fan of metal tweeters and there are numerous new Beryllium tweeters being showcased. To my ear, Ryan Speakers has one of the better implementations in their new bookshelf/standmount. However, I previously really liked their silk-domes, so I'll remain cautious.
For some reason this year I actually missed a few rooms, and they were unintentional as I wanted to visit, such as United Home Audio (super tape decks) and the Van Schweikert room praised above. Just somehow missed them, alas.
And (drumroll, please) ... stupidest comment heard all weekend:
“You should never, ever use your remote, even on your CD player. It will totally pull the life out of the music every time.”
That's right up there with little wood stain sample chips from Home Depot with the magic crystals embedded in them that apparently "neutralize" the rom. (Said company shall remain nameless.)
The really ironic and unintentionally funny thing about those wood blocks is that when the rep was describing them, his voice was bouncing all over the room, especially off the large wood headboard to our right. That and when he walked towards the back of the room, I snapped my fingers loudly and heard all sorts of reflections. Oy. I don't know whether to laugh at the idea, or make my own and start a high-end snake oil biz...
Mystic
We're all born mad
I don't know whether to laugh at the idea, or make my own and start a high-end snake oil biz...
Why not both, except save the laughter portion for when you're on your way to bank the $$$ you generate from this new biz.
And something else I learned: apparently Tekton speakers, the ones with the multi-tweeter array in the middle, aren't actually a MTTTTTTTM variation on the MTM design. Only the center tweeter is the actual tweeter. The surrounding tweeters are all crossed over lower and serve, collectively, as the midrange. The gentleman in the room (not the designer) was explaining that it was the designer's way of getting the midrange to be faster (to keep pace with the tweeter, I think) as other materials weren't doing it well enough for him. And with the "midrange" array all on the same baffle/plane as the tweeter, the were already time-aligned. I confess that I judged that book by its cover, ("Oh, this will be interesting" - note the sarcastic voice inflection/tone), but in fact it sounded decent! Not a fan of the Crayola colors, but who am I to judge?
Well, after three days off, I need to get caught up and get some work done, now!
Well, after three days off, I need to get caught up and get some work done, now!
bean_counter
Active Member
A line mechanic where I work retired in his mid-forties about 12 years ago, selling those copper twisty bracelets via mail-order. Has five full time employees filling orders. Lots of $ in snake oil.
I totally agree--some of the larger speakers did not do quite as well in the smaller rooms, and the smaller speakers showed their strengths best in those rooms. Even some of the smaller floorstanding speakers did quite well, considering.
The powered Kii speakers...I did not like those so much. The rep in the room was saying it was one of his top five favorite speakers of all times. My buddy and I who heard them thought they sounded...OK? Sure, the highs and lows were there, they were punchy, immediately attractive (they would sell great at the old Tech Hi-Fi stores )...but there was too much of an "in-your-faceness" and even some dynamic compression that prevented them from sounding natural once you listened past the speakers and into the music. And the cost for these was $17,000/pair. Hell, for that much and a far superior sound, I would spend the extra $8k on the Eikons and be done with it. (They are smaller floor-standing speakers. The technology behind them is intense.)
VAC amps had a large presence this year, I noticed.
The powered Kii speakers...I did not like those so much. The rep in the room was saying it was one of his top five favorite speakers of all times. My buddy and I who heard them thought they sounded...OK? Sure, the highs and lows were there, they were punchy, immediately attractive (they would sell great at the old Tech Hi-Fi stores
)...but there was too much of an "in-your-faceness" and even some dynamic compression that prevented them from sounding natural once you listened past the speakers and into the music. And the cost for these was $17,000/pair. Hell, for that much and a far superior sound, I would spend the extra $8k on the Eikons and be done with it. (They are smaller floor-standing speakers. The technology behind them is intense.) VAC amps had a large presence this year, I noticed.
Rather than have me write it all out, this video from Eikon Audio explains how their system works.
Having listened to it at length in three different listening sessions...it's not just technobabble, it actually works. There is just a sort of coherency there to the sound which is rare to hear in most loudspeakers.
The speaker:
Rear bass driver, and four balanced analog inputs:
Control unit (preamp, DAC, crossover and DSP):
No parking ticket (yet):
Having listened to it at length in three different listening sessions...it's not just technobabble, it actually works. There is just a sort of coherency there to the sound which is rare to hear in most loudspeakers.
The speaker:
Rear bass driver, and four balanced analog inputs:
Control unit (preamp, DAC, crossover and DSP):
No parking ticket (yet):