AXPONA 2019 Show Report -- Audio Expo North America
AXPONA 2019 Coverage By Rick Becker -- Part 1

Room 1639 presented a complete Goldmund rig from Switzerland with multi-box speakers and minimal electronic boxes. I had only seen speakers from this series on their website and I was pleasantly surprised by how much more appealing they were in person with the gray anodized finish and darker gray grill cloth. The speakers, at $70,000, offer a modernist design that fits with high-end interior design environments, reminding me of Mid-Century modern sculpture of David Smith.

Room 1640 combined the talents of Jeff Rowland with his signature design chassis on his electronics, Cardas Audio cables, the Grand Prix turntable equipped with a Lyra Etnacartridge and arguably the most normal looking speaker in the Vivid Audio line. It was a pleasure to meet Jeff Rowland after reading about and admiring his products over the past two decades. The cabinets of the Vivid Kaya 90 speakers ($26,000/pr) are actually relatively light (about 85 lbs.) and very stiff, raising the resonant frequency above the human hearing range. The drivers are de-coupled from them with four bass drivers positioned in vibration cancelling configuration and coupled to a patented tapered tube loading folded over and concealed within, rather than exposed in a curly-Q as in their Giya models. The port exits at the side, behind the two woofers. This was a very fine room, and had it been playing something other than classical music I might have formed a more definitive opinion. Let me also say that I've loved the sound of Vivid speakers ever since they set foot in North America with their initially quirky designs. The designs of their earlier models are certainly an acquired taste, but one that comes easily when the speakers sound this good. The Kaya 90 should overcome most any design resistance.

A rack full of CH Precision gear was topped off with a very interesting DeBaer Saphire turntable with Reference power supply ($57,000) and Onyx tonearm ($19,500) equipped with a Top Wing Suzaku (Red Sparrow) cartridge ($16,500). A pair of CH Precision A1.5 monoblocks ($75k) was driving a pair of Rockport Technologies Cygnus speakers ($62,500) in 1644 at the end of the hall. I've heard numerous combinations of speakers and CH gear at the Canadian shows and this one here seems especially good. So, a tip of the hat goes to Andy Payor of Rockport as well. This was my first audition of a Top Wing phono cartridge from Japan…so maybe they deserve some credit, too? As well as all the expensive CH gear? Let's not forget the Argento FMR cables, the AURALiC Aires G2 streamer (a paltry $4k) or the Box Furniture double-wide wood rack ($10,000). Let's just call it another Best Room.

Rene LaFlamme imports Nagra components and I have to say I greatly admire the current architectural styling of their product line seen here. It was a pleasure to hear the relatively new Kharma S7 ($18,000) as my own reference speakers are a much earlier Kharma speaker. Unfortunately, the newer models since then are less efficient, requiring more power than I can squeeze out of the SET amps in my large room. The S7 was perfectly sized for the room here, and would make an interesting speaker in combination with a pair of good subwoofers in a larger room. Nonetheless, I loved the sound here and I'm tempted to give the whole damn 16th Floor a Best Rooms designation. The cartridge on the Brinkman turntable here was an EMT and it was tracing the grooves of one of Rene's own LPs — he's still very much in the recording business, after all. Another interesting component was the Nagra TUBE DAC with Classic power supply unit ($39,500) which some of you may have heard.

The bottom line on the 16th Floor is that there wasn't a single system that I could not live with, happily ever after. Sure, there were aesthetic differences and room compatibility issues that would cause me to pick one over another, but there was also a lot of very good gear up there. If you came to the show and started on the first floor and worked your way up, never making it this high, you missed out on some excellent listening opportunities.

I took a break at this point to split back to my car for a Clif Bar and mixed nuts to go with my Mt. Dew for lunch. Next, I drop down to the 15th Floor. Stay tuned.

---> Onward to AXPONA 2019 show report by Rick Becker part 2.

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