AXPONA 2018 Show Report -- Audio Expo North America

Ayon Audio, Lumenwhite, PureAudioProject, Whammerdyne, And Triangle Art

   Ayon Audio really delivered during the AXPONA 2018 show with their Spheris preamplifier and Ayon Orthos II XS GEN 4 monoblocks ($27,000 per pair). These are pure Class A 180 Watt in triode mode, or switchable to 300 Watt in pentode via KT150 output tubes. The Ayon Orthos Spheris III line stage ($34,000) employs tube regulation within a separate chassis to keep power supply noise away from the delicate analog signal. As for speakers, as much as the above pic gives a good photo-visual-only example, you reeeeally need to see how stunning these are in person! The Lumenwhite Kyara Loudspeakers ($49,000 per pair) has all the audiophile pedigree needed... and this system sounded great! Before i forget, for digital duties the Ayon S-10 Signature vacuum tube Network Player ($8500) and Ayon CD-35 HF SACD / Preamp / DAC ($22,000) also made a showing. Overall I always seem to come away impressed with the sheer speed, yet harmonic rightness of the Ayon / Lumenwhite combo. Did I remember to mention how incredibly stunning the speaker cabinets looked? Wow! See Enjoy the Music.com's review of the Ayon Audio Crossfire EVO monoblock power amplifier at this link.

A show fave is PureAudioProject with their open baffle design floorstanding speakers. Their TRIO15 Horn1 has Verastaar copper foils and Leonidas XO crossovwer ($7495 for speakers, add $900 for Verastaar upgraded copper Audio Foils internally). Some of my most-desired amplification, plus elegantly-styled with central meter, is the handmade tube amps from Whammerdyne. During AXPONA 2018 the Whammerdyne Truth vacuum tube amplifier ($13,000) was mated to a Cos Engineering d1 DAC/ preamplifier ($9000). A variety of Verastaar copper cabled connected things system-wide. Wow, what a great soundstage my notes say. My memory says there's always a fun-filled time with open baffle speakers. Obviously many agree, and you can see our review of the PureAudioProject Trio15 Horn1 speaker at this link.

Triangle Art came fully ready for AXPONA 2018 with their Master Reference Turntable ($39,999), Maestro Turntable ($7500) and Osiris Mk2 ($6800) with Apollo cartridge ($8000). For amplification duties, the Reference Tube preamplifier, Reference Tube phono stage, Reference Tube monoblock amplifier, and TA-260S amplifier were more than plenty ($18999, $12999, $17999, and $19999 respectively). If there's one thing that everyone loves, it is the visual styling, and sound, of the Triangle Art turntables. Always get a big 'WOW" factor with all that precision-made shiny metal bits. Wonder if they'll make a turntable in rose gold finish <big smile>.

Technics turntable at AXPONA 2018 looks so very lonely. Ah well, back to covering additional audiophile gear so check back tomorrow for more AXPONA 2018 coverage by Your Truly. As always, in the end what really matters is that you...

Enjoy the Music,

Steven R. Rochlin
Creative Director, Enjoy the Music.com

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