AXPONA 2019 Show Report -- Audio Expo North America
AXPONA 2019 Coverage By Rick Becker -- Part 2

MBL, the renowned full-system German manufacturer had their typical excellent display with their omni-directional speakers. They are perennially one of the Best Rooms wherever they go and if you haven't spent time literally walking around the room to experience the three-dimensionality of their presentation, do so at your next opportunity. One of my most extraordinary experiences, ever, in audio was listening to a recording of a live rock concert on an MBL system at concert level a show in Brooklyn a few years ago. On a counter on the back wall I spotted the TechDAS III turntable shown here, their entry level model.

In room 1528 were a pair of Gamut speakers driven by Jadis JA200 monoblock amplifiers. The unit on the floor on the left was the tube amp and its power supply was on the right. The Jadis components on the rack in gold and chrome looked remarkably updated from the last time I saw a Jadis rig years ago. A Pear Audio turntable was at the front end. A highly stylized track from the motion picture sound track of The Hot Spot featuring John Lee Hooker was so uncharacteristic of Hooker's blues sound that I could hardly pay attention to the quality of the rig, but it sounds pretty good on my video notes through headphones. I'll have to check out the film on Netflix.

A Kuzma turntable with a Kuzma Car 50 cartridge were at the front end feeding a Prana Fidelity Purna/ca fully balanced preamp with phono stage ($9950) with dual mono power supplies. The Prana Fidelity Vayu speakers ($8950) were described as a two-way quasi line array of 89.5dB/W/m efficiency and incorporated a switch with a 2dB roll off on the tweeter if you so desire. As such, they didn't really need the 1500 Watt power from the prototype MG Audio Design monoblocks incorporating 3rd generation class D circuitry using modified Pascal modules. A Schiit Audio Gungnir DAC ($849) replaced the intended Prana-modified Wyred 4 Sound DAC-2 that was damaged in shipping. Kubala-Sosna Realization series cables connected the dots in this fine sounding room that made the trip to Chicago from Denver. (Room 1533)

My first introduction to Stenheim speakers from Switzerland was last month in Montreal where Jerome Fragman showed a stand mounted monitor. Here they presented the Alumine Three floorstanders ($29,900) in a world premiere driven by an Einstein Audio rig. The Alumine Three is a sensitive speaker rated at 93dB/W/m and 8 Ohms with a 5 Ohm minimum, so you could conceivably drive it with a good 300B amp if the music was not too demanding or your room not too large. The red surround on the tweeter and red bar at the slotted port add a nice touch to the grey cabinet and black baffle. The tweeter and midrange each have their own aluminum internal enclosure. The sound here was very transparent and precise — not what you might expect from tube gear. Part of the reason for that is due to the Einstein The Silver Bullet monoblocks which are an OTL design with no transformers between the output tubes and the speaker to color or slow down the sound. Hence, we heard a very transparent, precise and fast sound bordering on the analytical. As I think about it, this was probably the most transparent presentation at the show. I love the polished chrome look of the Einstein gear and noted on the power strip on the floor that voltage in the room was running at 117, a little low. (Room 1534)

A Merrill-Williams Audio turntable ($8995) with Helius Omega standard tonearm ($3695) equipped with a Koetsu Rosewood phono cartridge ($3495) was feeding the new EAR PhonoBox phono preamplifier ($1895/black) available in black or chrome. Below it in the rack was the V12 integrated amp ($9795) putting out 50 wpc, also from EAR. I had the great pleasure of meeting Tim De Paravicini in the room, one of the great High-End designers who works in both tube and solid state. The V12, like the V8 that preceded it, is one of the most unique designs in this industry and uses six EL84 power tubes per channel. While not a new design, it is not often seen at shows. Magnan cables strung the gear together.  Dan Meinwald, who imports EAR as well as the Marten Django L speaker ($10,000) heard here, was also on hand. (Room 1540)

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