I went to Axpona 2013 in Chicago and it was a real thrill to see and hear the great high end audio gear. It was a great atmosphere and although hotel rooms are not the ideal place to set up equipment you could still get a feel for the sonic qualities of the equipment.
A few rooms and gear stood out but most of the rooms sounded good for the setting. Some of the better sounding electronics was the new McIntosh gear and the new JoLida’s mono-blocks.
The Purity PSE-300B Ultra mono-blocks were simply gorgeous and they sounded wonderful as well.
I really liked the sound of the large Focal speakers. The Focal speakers are powerful but yet delicate sounding especially when listening to a great vinyl rig.
The KT Audio Imports room was very shiny but sounded very nice.
The Soundsmith room sounded great considering they were using some rather small book shelf size speakers. Their vinyl/cartridge was just captivating. I had a hard time leaving the room.
The least best sound room was the Legacy room. I just couldn’t understand how they would allow their gear to sound so bad. They were using Morrow Audio cabling and it just didn’t work.
The best sounding room was the Von Schweikert room. The new vr-100 speakers were just simply amazing to listen to. They sounded good early Friday shortly after the show opened and when I went back to their room that evening you could tell they were something very special. They were very natural sounding and music flowed effortlessly. They were also powerful sounding and yet handled delicate passages beautifully. I didn't want to leave this room either. I was drawn to the music and that is what I listen for when listening to the various system.
The TAD, YG Acoustics and Tidal speakers sounded good but the Focal or Von Schweikert speakers were much more natural and musical sounding.
There were numerous rooms with great vinyl rigs. I wish I could afford them. I would never leave my listening room.
I was able to visit almost every room next year I plan on staying two days and spending more quality time in each room.
I am interested to see if anyone else was able to attend and what your thoughts were.
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