We Bring you Full Coverage of the 2024 AXPONA Show

Oh, well. It’s a trade show, after all, and there are definite limits to what you can expect from a hi-fi in a cramped hotel room (or a gigantic ballroom), wherein the dealers have had a mere day to unpack, set up their wares, and battle with venue, electricity, and internet.

Here, then, are the high-priced speakers I listened to, starting with the big (sometimes huge) rooms on the first floor of the Convention Center, moving to the 16^th floor of the hotel and descending back down to the 3^rd floor. It should go without saying that I missed some folks, but like I’ve always said, I’m just one guy with a briefcase full of blues, classical, and jazz. My sincere apologies in advance to those manufacturers I overlooked—and for any mistakes I may make in nomenclature or pricing.

On the convention floor, in Schaumburg D, Estelon was showing its gorgeous, $170k, hourglass-shaped, three-way, five-driver, sealed-box Forzas, driven by Vitus Signature Series SM-103 Mk.II monoblock amps and SL-103 preamp wired with Crystal Cable Art Series interconnects, power cords, and speaker cables. With the Vitus amps in “classic” Class A mode, the Estelons had very good low end—rich, detailed, deep, and defined. As was often the case in Schaumburg, the upper midrange was a little bright, forward, and aggressive on a cover of “Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road” and Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For” (though the lower midrange was dark, solid, beautiful, and artifact-free). The treble was sweet and extended, detailed without heat or aggressiveness. Despite the occasional upper-midrange issue, this was the best I’ve heard the Forzas sound. I returned to this room for a second listen on the last day of the show, and the mids proved to be more relaxed than on Day One. Indeed, on Day Three, the Estelons were one of the few box speakers that sounded lifelike on voice.

In the Perfection Room on the Convention Center floor, Wilson Audio Specialties was showing its handsome, three-way, three-driver, $52k Sasha V, driven by a Moon by Simaudio preamp, sourced by a Moon streaming DAC and a Clearaudio Signature turntable with Hana Unami Blue cartridge, and wired with Kubala Sosna cable. The Sashas had a warm, plush, romantic sound on vinyl, losing a bit of body and beauty on digital. Bass was a little curtailed in extension; the midrange detailed and forward; the treble a mite soft.

In Schaumburg F, Stenheim was showing its three-way, five-driver Reference Ultime Two SX D’Appolito floorstander (the SX refers to optional new aluminum-billet platforms with adjustable spikes), driven by a quartet of VTL MB-450 monoblocks. The sound was impressive despite the size of the room, which was inducing a bit of sibilance and brightness and a touch of slap echo in the upper mids. Still and all, this was a gorgeous-sounding system with superb staging and imaging and solid, hard-hitting bass.

In Schaumburg H, the Chinese company ESD Acoustics demoed its huge, $4 million (yes, you are reading that right), six-way, 10-compression-driver (with field-coil power supplies and foiled-beryllium and titanium-sandwich diaphragms), multiple carbon-fiber-spherical-horn Super Dragon system, driven by a dozen or so Auralic amps. Despite what my colleagues may say (two of them ran from the room with their panties on fire, as the speakers were, admittedly, being played a tad loudly), I thought the Super Dragon sounded rather wonderful, without a trace of horn artifacts. Despite a slight aural disconnect in the low bass, which didn’t have quite the electricity, focus, directionality, sparkle, and definition of the midbass, mids, and treble, this was a superb system. If power, color, and thrills galore are what you’re looking for (and you have four million dollars burning a hole in your Kitons), this is the speaker for you. I could live with it, even though it doesn’t come with The Absolute Sound Seal of Approval.

In the Journey/Creation room, Scott Walker and Ted Denney were showing gorgeous, $89k, three-driver, three-way, hourglass-shaped Estelon X Diamond Mk IIs, driven by France’s sterling JMF Audio electronics, wired and treated with (what else?) Synergistic Research cable and room-tunes, and sourced by Ted’s new server. These excellent speakers sounded really good on several Qobuz streams, with sensational upper bass detail and transient response, a freed-up midrange, a lovely treble, and an open (rather than boxy-sounding) presentation. Deep-bass limitations notwithstanding, this was a superior sound—not realistic (nothing was) but extremely musical and listenable.

In the Epiphany room, Aries Cerat was showing its $150k Aurora—a weird cubical transducer that looks like something that the Borg might’ve invented. Its compression-driver midrange is loaded into a swirl-like horn; its ribbon tweeter is also horn-loaded via a wave guide; its four woofers approximate a folded open-baffle design (thus the cubical shape). The Aurora comes with a Bluetooth adjustable crossover that can be tailored to the room by the user. Though it is a very high-tech loudspeaker, in Chicago the Aurora’s sound was rather murky, as if it were playing through a pleasant early morning haze.

In the Euphoria room, Acora was showing a special edition of its two-way SRB, the SRB-Gem in a gemstone enclosure. The speaker is $30k all by itself; with the MR sub (also in a gemstone cabinet), it is $55k the pair. In Chicago the Gems were driven by VAC electronics. Via a streaming source, the SRB-Gem/MR was quite lovely on choral and soprano voice—boxless and powerful with a two-way’s typical open presentation. Indeed, this was the best I’ve heard any Acora sound (and, for once at AXPONA, the presentation was lifelike).

In the same room, Val was also showing his big $218,000 Acora VRC three-ways, also driven by VAC, and sourced by UHA Ultima Apollo tape deck and a $350k SAT turntable/tonearm. When I heard this system on Day One, the VRC was having a problem in the bass—a room node. Despite this, it sounded excellent in the midrange and treble on tape, with lovely color and an extremely wide soundstage. Though the SAT table was not as rich and full as the tape player, it did generate a deep soundstage, though it suffered from the same lump in the midbass and added a touch of brightness in the treble. (On Day Three, the SAT sounded much better on an Eric Bibb LP—the lump in the bass was reduced, and the overall sound was considerably fuller and more appealing).

In Utopia B, Focal showed its $140k, quasi-D’Appolito, four-way, five-driver (with 16-inch field-coil woofer) Grande Utopia EVO driven by 740W Naim Statement amps. On female voice, the huge Focals sounded a bit boxy and veiled compared to the little Acoras, though ambience recovery was outstanding. On baritone voice, the Utopias were excellent.

In Utopia C, Wynn Wong was driving the three-way, five-driver, $40k Vimberg Mino floorstander with Karan Acoustics electronics, sourced by a Thiele TT-01 turntable and a Kalista DreamPlay DAC. Wiring was all Fono Acoustica. With the Thiele turntable, the sound was warm, sweet, dark, and detailed. Though the smallish speakers were somewhat limited in deep bass, what was there was good. On revisiting the room, I played my Eric Bibb LP on the Thiele table, having just heard it played back on the SAT table in Val Acora’s room. Though it was not as rich and romantic as the SAT/Acora presentation, the Thiele/Vimberg combo was more realistic on voice and guitar—one of the tiny few lifelike sounds at the show on LP.

In Utopia D, I listened to the $50k, three-way, five-driver, D’Appolito Dynaudio Confidence 60 floorstander driven by Octave tubes. Though rich in color and impressive in dynamic weight on a jazz piano quartet recording, the Dynaudio was also rather thick sounding, lacking definition and spark.

Jeff Joseph of Joseph Audio was showing his $52k three-way Pearl Graphene Ultra driven by Doshi tubes and sourced by a J.Sikora turntable. Rickie Lee was a little bright and piercing on fortes where I was sitting in the front row, but instrumental color was otherwise attractive, and the bass was well controlled and powerful. Jon Batiste’s “The Very Thought of You” sounded wonderful minus that bit of aggressiveness on fortes.

The big $180k Clarisys Auditorium full-range ribbons were being driven by triode tubes. Transparency to sources was superb, without any leaning down of timbre. For instance, the separation among Bill Evans, Scot LaFaro, and Paul Motian on Sunday at the Village Vanguard was astounding. Indeed, LaFaro’s articulation on bass was the best I’ve heard on this cut. Alas, for all its splendid transparency, the Auditoriums were not generating much dimensionality or soundstage depth: Images were flat and pinned to the screens. In short, the Auditoriums weren’t as impressive as the smaller Minuets and Studios I heard last year.

Driven by an EMM Labs amp, the $200k Credo Audio Switzerland Cinema LTM multicone line-array transducer with side-firing woofers was extremely lovely sounding on LP—soft gentle treble, glorious midrange, and deep though softish bass.

Wilson Audio Specialties’ $157k multi-way Alexx V made a fine impression driven by D’Agostino electronics. With its dark, dynamic, opulent cones-in-a-box presentation, it sounded rather the way a diamond necklace in a velvet case looks—gorgeous jewelry for the ear. Delightful on Bjorn Berge slide guitar and vocal with exceptionally high resolution of finger and string sound and considerable instrumental body, the Alexx V may not have been realistic, but it sure was great hi-fi.

Ditto for the $140k, five-driver, four-way Sonus faber Aida MkII driven by Boulder, which was absolutely lovely sounding on a cover of “Dancing in the Dark.” It may not have been quite as swooningly beautiful as the Wilson Alexx V (its bass was a little thick), but it was still great hi-fi.

A little more open and less gemultlichkeit than Wilsons or Sonuses, the multi-way $50k B&W 801 D4 Signatures, driven by Classé, were also more hi-fi than realistic.

Rutherford Audio $165k Stratton Elypsis 1512, driven by Acoustic Arts monoblocks, was an odd-looking rectangular multiway with a surprisingly open, nonboxy sound. Lightish in balance with a slightly blowsy lower midrange, it was not particularly lifelike but still pleasant to listen to.

We now travel to the 16^th floor of the Renaissance hotel, where my first speaker was the four-way, six-driver, $250k Gauder Akustik DARC 250 driven by Soulution 7 Series electronics and sourced by a Transrotor turntable with DS Audio Grand Master EX cartridge. I was looking forward to hearing the DARC 250s, as the DARC 200s were one of my favorites at last year’s AXPONA (plus I’d heard the 250s sound swell in my pal Andre Jennings’ system when he reviewed them). Though quite respectably musical, the 250s were a little too dark and sibilant in the hotel room. Timbre on voice and guitar was quite lovely on Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah,” with solid, slightly forward imaging on voice, but realistic sounding it was not (which I know the DARC 250 is capable of, having heard it sound lifelike chez Andre).

Avantgarde Acoustic introduced its four-driver, three-way $119k Mezzo G3 driven by Phasemation tubes. (The Mezzo G3 incorporates two, powered, front-horn-loaded, 12-inch woofers.) On streaming, the Mezzo was quite impressive (this was a good show for horns in general, perhaps because their directionality reduced the room reflections that cause wide-dispersion box speakers to sound bright). The Mezzo had gorgeous timbre and presence and fine performance detail on solo acoustic guitar and on voice, guitar, bass, and drum kit. The speaker’s low end was solid and deep reaching, making it sound terrific on electronica. A contender!

On the 15^th floor, I got to hear one of my perennial favorites, the $91k MBL 101 MK II omnidirectional loudspeakers, driven by MBL 9011 mono amps and sourced by the MBL C41 streaming DAC driving the amps directly. Given the nightmare difficulties he faced, the fact that Jeremy Bryan managed to put on a show at all is a story in itself, but that he did so well at it is a wonderment. This was just the best system I’d heard at that point in time—the first 3-D soundfield without the forwardness and upper midrange edge that was almost everywhere else. Airy, spacious, open, fast, beautiful, and eerily three-dimensional sounding, this was another contender.

Zellaton showed its $45k Emotion Evo driven by Grimm electronics. While open and non-boxy sounding, the Emotions were also bright on tenor voice and tenor sax. The small room was not doing them any favors.

The three-way, four-driver $99k YG Acoustics Sonja 3.2 were being driven by Linn Klimax Solo 800 amps and sourced by a Linn Klimax DSM. Like the Zellatons, the speakers produced a freed-up sound without boxiness. Timbre was a little lean but detailed with outstanding attack and sustain on acoustic guitar strings. I heard a touch of sibilance on voice, but tone color and focus were otherwise excellent.

Perfect8 Technologies $60k Cube T quasi-omnidirectional floorstanders driven by Ypsilon electronics were boxlessly open on a cover of The Eagles’ “Desperado” and very very good on female vocals. “This is a contender,” I wrote in my notes. An Oscar Peterson album sounded superb in the midrange and upper octaves, despite a little room muddle at the bottom on Ray Brown’s bass. Detailed and open with a wide soundstage, the Cube T was rather like a stat with greater image solidity.

The $64k Tidal Piano G3 driven by Tidal electronics sounded focused but rather miniaturized on Belafonte at Carnegie Hall. A little dark in balance, with impressive inner detail, lovely timbre, and no edge in the upper mids, it was good but not exceptional.

On the 14^th floor, Audio Note was showing its $65k field-coil AN-E/SPx driven by AN amps, preamp, and player. Playing very loud from corner locations, it was room filling, a little aggressive in the midrange, but superb on drum and synth. Too loud for my taste but tasty if you were a headbanger.

YG Acoustics demoed its $64k Hailey 3 driven by Vinnie Rossi electronics. The Hailey was transparent and detailed in the midrange and treble, but insufficient in the bass.

The $54k, three-way, four-driver Gryphon EOS 5 driven and sourced by Gryphon electronics was finely focused on both female mezzo and orchestral accompaniment. Timbre was dark and rich. This was a lovely sound, despite a little aggressiveness on fortes. On Zander Zon’s pedal bass, the Gryphon produced an astonishing semblance of strings and performer articulation.

On the 12^th floor, TAD demoed its $65k GE1 three-way, four-driver, bass-reflex floorstander, driven by a TAD amp and sourced by a TAD player. Transient response was a bit subdued, making for a soft, smooth, laidback balance that was quite listenable.

PMC showed its $90k three-way, six-driver Fenestria, driven and sourced by Esoteric electronics. As with the TAD, the Fenestria’s smooth, extended, laidback response made for a relaxed presentation with good depth and timbre. Bass was a little nondescript on The Pink Panther theme. Overall, the PMC was not great but not bad.

On the 7^th floor, Bayz showed its $160k Counterpoint 2.0 omni loudspeaker driven by Chord electronics. Though the room was a little small for a large speaker that was being played loud, I could still hear the omni virtues in soundstage, dimensionality, and ambience. A good showing for a transducer that has not always shown well.

Clarisys’ $46k Minuet full-range ribbon loudspeaker was driven and sourced by VAC and Belleson. As with the large Clarisys Auditorium, the Minuet was not generating much stage depth or width of image in a small narrow room.

On the 6^th floor, Linn showed its $66k 360 floorstander with active bass driven by Linn electronics and sources. The sound was lean and pacey, like that of all Linn gear.

The mid-sized $66k Clarisys Studio ribbon speaker was being driven by Hegel electronics in yet another small, narrow room. The sound was better than that in the other Clarisys rooms, though I was sitting too close, and the amplification was a bit dry and lean. Nonetheless, the Studio had moderately good depth, high resolution, decent body, and excellent ambience retrieval.

Goldmund showed its $95k Asteria wireless speaker. Tonal balance was ferociously neutral, making for a highly detailed, slightly clinical sound.

Triangle Arts $60k Metis horn-loaded floorstander had a sound that was simultaneously bright, rich, dense, and suave—and solid as hell. I liked the Metis in spite of the occasional brightness because of its uniquely continuous staging, solid almost mono-like imaging, and great midbass. A peculiar contender.

On the 4^th floor, the $57k Tidal Piano driven by Zesto was, alas, not very good. Its thinner tone and restricted bass spotlighted the upper mids, making strings and winds rather piercing on fortes.

On the 3^rd floor, Orchestalls $250k five-way Le Clavier individually suspended and articulated multi-enclosure loudspeaker was driven by an Ella Class D amplifier. Quite neutral in balance and surprisingly coherent, clear, and full range given its many moving parts, the Clavier sounded a bit like a planar, even when it was being played too loud.

JV’s Best of Show

An eight-way tie among the Estelon Forza, the Stenheim Ultime 2, the Acora SRB-Gem, the ESD Acoustics Super Dragon, the Avantgarde Mezzo G3, the MBL 101-E MKII, the Vimberg Mino, and the Wilson Alexx V.