Axpona 2014 North America. I will be attending

[Scottsmrnyc]

I just thought I would let everyone know and find out if anyone else plans to attend.

[jdandy]

Scott.......Take your camera along. You know how much we love photos. :yes:

[DopeyBovine]

I'll be there with my wife. Went last year and really enjoyed ourselves.

[Maks]

I should be there as well, it's only 15 miles from my house so I have no excuse :)

[Ritmo]

I'm thinking about flying up for the day on Saturday - worth it?

[DopeyBovine]

Absolutely worth it. A great way to spend the day.

[Scottsmrnyc]

I was granted a press pass for Axpona 2014 and will be covering this event for The Audiophile Club Of Athens, Greece as well as for my own website- THESCOTTMRIFKINHIGHENDAUDIOPHILEREPORT.COM...Here is a photo of myself for recognition.

[Scottsmrnyc]

Here I am

[Myles B. Astor]

I was granted a press pass for Axpona 2014 and will be covering this event for The Audiophile Club Of Athens, Greece as well as for my own website- THESCOTTMRIFKINHIGHENDAUDIOPHILEREPORT.COM...Here is a photo of myself for recognition.

Scott that link doesn't work.

I used this.

http://www.thescottmrifkinhighendaudioreport.com

[sgbroimp]

I am going. Will be my first Hi-Fi show since NYC in the 1970's. You will have no trouble recognizing me as I will probably be the oldest guy there...........though I hope not.

Steve

[DopeyBovine]

Great show- my wife and I went today to avoid tomorrows crowds. Wonderful systems, some of them may need a little more dialing in- I heard a bit of boomy bass. Other rooms were shoe horning speakers that were way too big into smallish rooms (and playing them too loudly).

[catmonv]

I just want to share the pics that I got. I may not be able to provide you with all the electronics used but I hope you guys enjoy :banana:


Scaena Loudspeakers

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/catmonv/IMG_0048_zps408548a1.jpg (http://s1221.photobucket.com/user/catmonv/media/IMG_0048_zps408548a1.jpg.html)

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/catmonv/IMG_0049_zps49d6020e.jpg (http://s1221.photobucket.com/user/catmonv/media/IMG_0049_zps49d6020e.jpg.html)



Staccato Horn System

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/catmonv/IMG_0050_zps8be82051.jpg (http://s1221.photobucket.com/user/catmonv/media/IMG_0050_zps8be82051.jpg.html)

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/catmonv/IMG_0052_zps927a4a80.jpg (http://s1221.photobucket.com/user/catmonv/media/IMG_0052_zps927a4a80.jpg.html)



MBL Entry Loudspeakers

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/catmonv/IMG_0053_zps2b650805.jpg (http://s1221.photobucket.com/user/catmonv/media/IMG_0053_zps2b650805.jpg.html)



Venture Loudspeakers

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/catmonv/IMG_0061_zpsfdfc88a5.jpg (http://s1221.photobucket.com/user/catmonv/media/IMG_0061_zpsfdfc88a5.jpg.html)



McIntosh Loudspeakers

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/catmonv/IMG_0063_zpse8e9afe7.jpg (http://s1221.photobucket.com/user/catmonv/media/IMG_0063_zpse8e9afe7.jpg.html)

I was impressed with the Men 220 Correction System

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/catmonv/IMG_0064_zps1bae1070.jpg (http://s1221.photobucket.com/user/catmonv/media/IMG_0064_zps1bae1070.jpg.html)



Focal Loudspeakers

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/catmonv/IMG_0066_zpse6f2f980.jpg (http://s1221.photobucket.com/user/catmonv/media/IMG_0066_zpse6f2f980.jpg.html)



Dynaudio Loudspeakers

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/catmonv/IMG_0073_zps4654f7fd.jpg (http://s1221.photobucket.com/user/catmonv/media/IMG_0073_zps4654f7fd.jpg.html)

Driven by this
http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/catmonv/IMG_0074_zps65bd8c78.jpg (http://s1221.photobucket.com/user/catmonv/media/IMG_0074_zps65bd8c78.jpg.html)



Sonus Faber Loudspeakers

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/catmonv/IMG_0075_zps3b80bef8.jpg (http://s1221.photobucket.com/user/catmonv/media/IMG_0075_zps3b80bef8.jpg.html)

This to me is the best room. It appeared like the musicians are in the room and you can pin point its exact location. The speakers were invisible.



Magico Loudspeakers

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/catmonv/IMG_0077_zps1ea1b8cf.jpg (http://s1221.photobucket.com/user/catmonv/media/IMG_0077_zps1ea1b8cf.jpg.html)

Second best room according to my ears. Just like the Sonus Faber, the sound staging is excellect and separation of the instruments are awesome!

Driven by this.
http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/catmonv/IMG_0078_zpsf2e62821.jpg (http://s1221.photobucket.com/user/catmonv/media/IMG_0078_zpsf2e62821.jpg.html)

[catmonv]

Wilson Audio Loudspeakers

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/catmonv/IMG_0083_zps558dbdcf.jpg (http://s1221.photobucket.com/user/catmonv/media/IMG_0083_zps558dbdcf.jpg.html)



Focal Loudspeakers

http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd464/catmonv/IMG_0086_zpsbd06f9a9.jpg (http://s1221.photobucket.com/user/catmonv/media/IMG_0086_zpsbd06f9a9.jpg.html)

[Masterlu]

Ramon... Great pics! :thankyouspin:

[jdandy]

Ramon.......Thank you for taking us along. Great photos.

[audio badger]

Great pics! Thanks for posting. Those are some awesome looking systems!

[Rtan]

Great pics. Like them all.

[sgbroimp]

Well guys this was an interesting show, especially for someone who had not been to a hi-fi show since the 70's and in the last 7-10 years not really kept up. Some observations:
---An older crowd. One speaker company owner expressing big concerns about that and a view that quite a few speaker companies will fail in the coming years. One visitor said his son never sits still and listens to music and as such would never be a high end audio customer. A friend of mine expressed this view to me recently as well. Does not bode well for high end audio's future.
---Room correction works. Typical hotel rooms with bright walls are awful places to audition audio. The two rooms using McIntosh's Room Perfect had better sound flat out, though they did not have the biggest, most expensive speakers. One of the guys in one Mc room said the correction was running at 64% which is huge and reflects how bad the room was. Moral: Go look at hi-fi at the show, but do final listening at a store or better yet take the stuff home for a trial.
---The German Emperor is back! The Emperor Mk II was there. And he can come to your house and perform for only $200K for a pair of these babies. Gee, I could have had an MB S-Class V-8 (actually 2)! I looked puny standing next to one.
----Goofy still sells. In the lobby was something for the gear head Nascar or Harley fan.
----Tubes, tubes and more tubes. A high end company without a tube offering would seem to be out in the cold. Some chassis brought back that 1949 look in a big way. Not for me.
----McIntosh found a slick way to get their tubes to glow the company "home colors". I thought the green glowing filaments looked pretty cool.
-----Turntables are back in a big way and least you would think so. There was a whole room full of them and for the turntable owner that wants that natural rural farm feeling of real cowhide, for $60 he could have that special platten mat.
------Speakers dominated the show. Several out of Germany at "Apotheken Preise" (Apothecary prices!) and loads of others. My wife would not welcome most in our home, but then neither would I. The man from the San Jose speaker Co. I talked to put it this way: "Speaker manufacturers are hurting themselves by not paying close enough attention to how their products look in the home." I told him he was preaching to the choir as far as I was concerned, that I shopped within a group of products that sounded about equally acceptable, then picked the best looking even if it cost a bit more. In my house I have to stare at the things every day and night. That "red horny look" look ain't gonna cut it for me. King of the show size-wise was the Soundlab A-1 (I think that is the model no.).
-----One company that made an impression was Seaton Sound and the owner, Mark Seaton. They set up a large room with big screen and played their excellent speakers. The cost was surprisingly affordable for what he was offering. Been in business 9 years.
-----The Paradigm sub woofer has a room equalization system, though different from Room Perfect. One neat thing is you can see the response curve on a lap top. A terrible curve for this room before the tech worked it.

All in all I am glad I went. I heard Room Perfect on and off several times and I must say it blew me away and am glad I have one about to be set up in the next couple of weeks or so, namely in my new MX 151.

Sorry you guys could not make it....maybe next year?


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[Scottsmrnyc]

Sorry I didn't report about the show right away. I thought the show was amazing. My favorite rooms were the United Home Audio room, MBL room, Kharma/Constellation room and the Acoustic Zen room. Both McIntosh rooms were great as well. Some Photos-Photo Set #1

[Scottsmrnyc]

Set Two of photos from Axpona 2014. I always have a problem with the way the photos appear. They sure don't look that way when I download them.

[Scottsmrnyc]

Axpona Photos Set #3- Robert Harley of The Absolute Sound Magazine and myself in the Kharma Loudspeaker room.

[Scottsmrnyc]

Axpona 2014 Final Set of Photos #4

[crwilli]

Man! I just hurt my neck and did a 360 in my family room!

DAN !!!! Help!