Behind the scenes at PTA we’ve been discussing the enormous (i.e. record-breaking) popularity of AXPONA 2024 and the show’s transformation into an audio juggernaut in recent years, and we’ve asked ourselves a question: can a show get too big for its own good?
Words and Photos by Marc Phillips
For a reviewer, the answer is yes. It’s hard to cover a show this big and hear everything there is to hear. As I pick my Best Sound at AXPONA 2024, I realize it’s not an infallible or comprehensive list since I only heard an uncomfortably small sliver of the action in Schaumburg. So the only Best Sound awards I can dole out are selective at best. I missed so many rooms that I was supposed to check out–John DeVore’s new Orangutan Bronze speakers, Von Schweikert with WestminsterLab amplification, those affordable new speakers from Morel Acoustics and much more. I didn’t even get a chance to hear “Chocolate Chip Trip” in the Acora room.
For a show attendee, a high-end audio show can also be too big. We’re talking crowded and noisy rooms, elevators that aren’t quite up to the increased activity within the venue and, worst of all, a paucity of available chairs in the sweet spot.
So before you fire off an angry missive in defense of a room I didn’t mention for Best of Show, chances are I didn’t get to hear it at all, and if I did this list might be very different as a result. Besides, you can check out The Occasional Podcast where we get together and talk about our respective Best Sound at Show lists. But getting back to that original question, the one about a show getting too big–well, it’s a very good thing as well. AXPONA 2024 is proof that our hobby is alive, vibrant even, and that we have very little to worry about when it comes to pursuing high-end audio through the next several decades at least.
And now here they are, my top rooms for AXPONA 2024, in alphabetical order:
Artisan Fidelity and TIDAL Audio
What’s not to love about a system comprised of TIDAL Audio speakers and electronics, and a beautiful Garrard 401 turntable restored by Artisan Fidelity? Absolutely nothing, that’s what.
The sound of this system was sublime in every way, but I think what impressed me was its relatively compact size–this is heavy-hitter hi-fi and yet it’s all compact enough to fit into most listening rooms. Plus, it looks fantastic–that ‘table is one of the most beautiful pieces of audio sculpture I’ve seen, so beautiful that it makes me reconsider having one of those old industrial EMT 927s as my dream turntable. (Looks do count.) In this case, however, attractiveness should be in the service of the musical performance, and the Artisan Fidelity room might have been my primary hangout at AXPONA 2024 if I’d been able to get away with it.
Audio Group Denmark: Børresen C1
I wasn’t kidding when I said my first impressions of the new Børresen C1 loudspeakers, at just $16,500/pair, were almost identical to my first impressions of the $100,000/pair Børresen M1 monitors I heard just a couple of years ago. How are they doing this? The low bass, the vanishingly low amounts of distortion and noise, the soundstage depth and width–it sounds like you’re listening to a big, full-range tower. That, of course, is why Audio Group Denmark continues to wow and amaze this industry–they’re clearly doing things no one else is doing.
It reminds me of when I visited the Audio Group Denmark factory in Aalborg back in 2022. I asked AGD’s Lars Kristensen if there was anything proprietary I shouldn’t photograph, and he said no. “By the time everyone else has figured out how to do what we do, we’ll be down the road with something new.” The new Børresen C1 speakers are proof of this–they replace the renown Z series of loudspeakers with improvements across the board, for roughly around the same amount of money. Needless to say, Audio Group Denmark continues to set the pace in high-end audio.
As you can see, I’ve decided to refer to that certain group of manufacturers as the Dream Team–Joseph Audio loudspeakers, Doshi Audio amplification, Cardas Audio cabling, J. Sikora turntables, digital from Aurender. This room consistency places in my Best of Show listings because they’re so good at what they do. I’ve never been to a show where the Dream Team didn’t deliver the goods, and in a way that I found tailored to my personal preferences. I love this gear, in other words. It’s stuff I would buy.
But at AXPONA 2024, the Dream Team outdid itself thanks to some key additions and improvements. The Joseph Audio Pearl Graphene Ultra speakers, using a new SEAS driver, redefine the word “flagship” for a company whose speakers all sound like flagships. Nick Doshi brought in a new phono stage and a stunner of a full-function preamplifier. And Jeff Fox, who imports J. Sikora turntables, added the Aidas cartridge line from Lithuania to the Dream Team mix with a cartridge that had a body made from mammoth tusk. Everything new added to the sonic whole in a way that clearly declared that this was the most satisfying Dream Team room ever.
It’s been a while since I’ve heard a new Fern and Roby product, and I was just about to call Christopher Hildebrand and ask him when he was coming up with something new. I needed a fix! Fortunately, Chris surprised everyone by bringing his first integrated amplifier to AXPONA 2024–the glorious little Amp No.2, which features an MM/MC phono stage and retails for just $8,500.
Mated to a pair of Fern & Roby Raven IIIs in a new, striking ash finish, as well as a supremely musical Weiss DAC, the Amp No.2 delivered a natural and focused sound that quickly informed me that yes, I was about to fall in love with yet another simple yet elegant integrated amplifier. And I love simple yet elegant integrated amplifiers more than just about anything in high-end audio.
Fidelis AV: JMF, Ideon and Stenheim
This was another killer hi-fi in too small of a small room, and yet this Fidelis AV and Audio Skies system kept everything under control in an impeccable manner. I sat down in the sweet spot and immediately worried about being too close to the speakers–and everything else for that matter. But once the music started flowing, I felt like I was in one of those big conference rooms downstairs at the Renaissance Schaumburg, listening to another monster system.
While I dig each of the brands represented in this system–JMF, Ideon, Stenheim–I lean toward the French amplifiers as the reason why I’m so enamored with the sound of this system. I like JMF so much that I’ll be visiting the factory in Southern France right after the Munich show in a couple of weeks just to pay homage to these solid-state masterpieces. I can’t wait.
When it comes to the sheer love of music, and the passion and obsession it takes to make it all sound rewarding, there is no one in high-end audio who is more committed than Sonner Audio’s Gunny Surya. When I visit Gunny’s room, it isn’t about listening to a system and taking notes about what I hear. It’s all about giving in to Gunny’s superb DJ skills, and letting him play some of the most gorgeous–and rarest–recordings you’ll enjoy at a show.
In this case, I’d heard almost every component in the Sonner Audio system–the Margules amplification, the Ayre digital sources, the Nordost cabling and grounding equipment, and especially the Sonner Audio Allegro Unum monitors, which are one of my favorite two-way monitors I’ve heard in the last few years. The sonic improvement, however, was supplied by Gunny’s new loudspeaker stands, which took him years to perfect. They add $4K to the Unum’s $12K price, but instead of pondering the value of a $4,000 stand, you’ll be wondering how to find another pair of $16K speakers that come close to supplying a true emotional connection to the music as these.
Why did I wait until now, at AXPONA 2024, to discover Treehaus AudioLab? I suppose it’s because another of PTA’s writer already called shotgun when it came to covering this brand. Maybe it’s because this gorgeous, handmade gear seems plucked out of the world of lifestyle audio where everything looks great while the sound is, well, just very good. I quickly learned that Treehaus AudioLab gear, from a sonic standpoint, is the real deal.
This particular system featured Treehaus AudioLab field coil speakers, along with a full complement of Treehaus’ exotic tube electronics (a four-chassis 300B amp with 6 watts per channel? Fire it up!), and an SME turntable. Here’s another case of a room where I rushed a little due to time constraints, but I didn’t want to get up and leave. I will be back at the next show, and I will camp out.
In many ways, the Vinnie Rossi and Qln room at AXPONA 2024 was The Big Event for me. First you have Vinnie Rossi’s new Brama 2 amplification, one of my favorites, and second you have the new Qln Reference 9 speakers, which are the brand-new big brothers to the Qln Reference monitors we selected as 2022 Product of the Year. The first time I heard the monitors with the original Brama integrated, I thought this might be the system that best addressed my personal tastes in high-end audio. These were the speakers, and the amplification, that I really really wanted in my listening room.
The Vinnie Rossi Brama 2 integrated and the Qln Reference 9 loudspeakers are even bigger and better and yes, if everything goes well they will be in for review before the end of the year. The warmth, the precision, the passion–it’s all there.
In my AXPONA 2024 show reports, I mentioned the game of Musical Chairs between the brands YG Acoustics and Vinnie Rossi–if one of these two brands was in the room, it was going to sound fantastic. In this room, however, we had both brands together and it was sheer magic. This was a very simple system, mostly YG Vantage speakers and the Brama 2 separates, and maybe that’s the secret to having a great room at a high-end audio show–don’t make it a kitchen sink system where everything is properly spotlighted. Instead, stick to what sounds the best and leave everything else in static displays.
I was able to witness the synergy between YG and Vinnie Rossi at the Alma Audio East event last fall in Virginia, and it seemed natural that these two companies, with their extraordinary attention to engineering and details, would be a fantastic match. This room confirmed that magic, and if you ask me what amps you should use for your YGs, I’m gonna tell you Vinnie Rossi–and vice versa.
For the last couple of years, Wynn Audio has hosted one remarkable exhibit room after another at the high-end audio shows. That’s easy to do when you lead off with a pair of Vimberg Mino speakers, of course, but at AXPONA 2024 Wynn Wong brought a special guest in–Helmut Thiele, who designed the Thiele TT01 turntable and TA01 tonearm. Helmut Thiele worked at Thorens for a number of years, and now that he’s on his own he’s come up with an ingenious four-point pivoted tonearm that completely erases tracking error.
In my travels I see many promising innovations based on sound engineering principles, but it’s rare when those advances are mated to such wonderful sound. The Thiele table and arm have an effortless sound that seems unusually free and clear of artifacts. I heard nothing but music from this system, and I was quite impressed.
This room at AXPONA 2024 put a spell on me. I sat down in the sweet spot and everything looked right–the visual proportions of the system, the lighting in the room and my position within this space. Then the music began, and I forgot about all my problems, the stress of covering an audio show that’s so huge and yet everyone wants you to be in a certain place at a certain time. None of that mattered as long as I sat in the YG and Ayre room.
Both YG Acoustics and Ayre have gone through a reset in the last few years, the proverbial “lull” in operations, only to come out swinging when everything’s back in place. If there’s a certain theme to high-end audio in the last few months, it’s “everyone loves a comeback.” But in YG Acoustics’ playbook, the best strategy is to take something from the past–like their petite floorstanding Carmel two-ways, and make them better than ever. The YG Acoustics Carmel 3 are here, and they are stupendous. You should hear them, along with the latest products from Ayre, when you get the chance.
…and the Best Sound of AXPONA 2024: The Dream Team
The Dream Team, as I’ve mentioned, usually makes my Top 10 at every show I attend. It only took a few minor additions–a cartridge here, a new speaker cone there, to propel this room into the realm of the very best. My only regret, as it is with so many other rooms at AXPONA 2024, is that I didn’t have the time to sit and spend enough time with this amazing hi-fi. Congratulations to everyone involved!
That’s it for AXPONA 2024–in a few days I leave for High End 2024 in Munich, another very large high-end audio show. Even bigger than AXPONA. But that’s okay–high-end audio is alive and well, and it’s my job to listen to it.
If you would like to hear even more coverage from AXPONA 2024, check out our recap report and highlights from our audiophile-oriented show The Occasional Podcast. You can stream the episode direct from the embed below, or from your favorite podcast platform including iTunes, Android, Google, Deezer, Spotify, iHeartRadio and more.
Thanks Marc for your synopsis of best of show. Like you, I love the sound created by top quality, stand-mounted monitors so I was especially interested in reading about the Borrenson C1. Unfortunately your review of the C1 didn’t include any description of the electronics used to drive the speaker. Could you please let us know about the rest of the system. Thanks, best regards.
I did cover that in the Friday Highlights article, but the Borresen C3 speakers were running with the Axxess Forte 3 integrated/DAC/streamer and Ansuz cables.