AXPONA 2022 Show Report
Final Update Featuring The First Floor
Audio Expo North America 2022 Show Report
Show Report By Rick Becker

  The T+A room seemed refreshingly minimal compared to many others. From the Talis speaker series, they used the S300 three-way speaker in solid aluminum ($17.5k). On the table were the 200 Series components including the A 200 stereo power amp ($4900, L), DAC 200 DAC / Preamp / FM 200 ($6900), and MP 200 Multi-source Streamer and CD Player, including FM 200 ($5700). I noticed the speakers were on a riser, presumably to raise the drivers closer to the ear level of people mostly standing about the room. This was an enjoyable rig with tasteful, slightly downsized electronics for people who don't want their gear to be too prominent in their room.

Seen above is the Caruso R ($4100) which they call a Multi Source Receiver with silver anodized top and bottom plates, a high-quality lifestyle product that includes FM Caruso, which means FM radio as well as internet radio. The back side has a huge array of inputs and speaker binding posts. Just add speakers and punch away at the 7" touchscreen. With 50 Wpc, you will have a wide selection of speakers to choose from, as long as you don't do disco at home on the weekends.

I was able to try their headphones, the Solitaire P, high-end Planar Magnetostatic ($6900), and Solitaire P-SE ($3900) with their HA 200 headphone amp ($9500) with built-in DAC. At these prices, I should say they sounded very impressive, but given my daily driver is a notch above entry-level in the Grado line and my headphone DAC is a Clarus Coda, that would hardly be credible. This is way above my league, so yes, it sounded pretty impressive.

The Solitaire P has an aluminum housing, while the P-SE has a synthetic housing. Both were comfortable.

The Audio Experience presentation in Schaumburg D featured an Estelon speaker from Estonia. I've heard their speaker only a few times and they've always scored as one of the Best Rooms. It was no different here with the Estelon Forza, a 4-way design with a marble composite construction. It starts at $159k and goes up with premium finishes. It was driven by a Krell prototype stereo amp that will deliver 3200 Watts @ 1 Ohm. Backing that down to 8 Ohms, it should come out to about 400 Wpc, all in Class A. At 160 pounds, you will likely need friends or a willing dealer to help move it. The Audio Experience is located in Vernon Hills IL, about an hour north of the loop in Chicago, or a half-hour north of Schaumburg.

The Estelon speakers (the entire line) score high not only on the sound of music but also as a piece of sculpture, suitable for the finest contemporary homes. And as good as the music was here in this large cube-shaped room, they premiered a more evolved sculptural flagship model at High End in Munich a month later. Can you blame them?

The front end was an Innuos Statement Streamer ($15.1k) used with the MSB two-box Reference DAC ($50k) that can additionally serve as a preamp. Like the Krell preamp below, an HRS (Harmonic Resolution Systems) Damping Plate was used to quell chassis vibration. HRS SXR audio stands and isolation bases were also used here. These stands are adjustable to accommodate your needs as your system changes over the years.

A Krell Illusion preamp, a two-box design ($19k) was also used here. I've also found the latest amps from Krell sounding very good at the Montreal show earlier this year with Gershman Acoustics. Krell seems to be on a roll with higher quality components coming out recently. Transparent Audio cables were used throughout the system. I don't have prices for everything, but given what I do have, I would estimate this rig to be in the neighborhood of $350k to $400k. While spending this much money is no guarantee of achieving this kind of quality, they seem to have done everything right in this room with excellent transparency, resolution, tonal color, and dynamics, making for another of the Best Rooms at AXPONA 2022.

Working my way around the Schaumburg Ballroom along with the registration and info desks to the east side rooms, Gryphon Audio Designs from Denmark had four components on pedestals, a small portion of their total offerings which run from source to speakers. Clockwise from the left seem to be the top half of the Commander preamp, the intriguing top-loading Ethos CD player, the Apex power amp (offered as monoblock or stereo), and what might be the Diablo 300 integrated amp. All their power amps run in true Class A, but they have invented a Green Class A which allows you to dial down the power that is needed according to the efficiency of your speakers and the size of your room. If you think their gear might be heavy, you would be right. The Apex amp weighs 450 pounds, twice that for monoblocks.

Moving on to Schaumburg F I found the big Stenheim Reference Ultime Two speaker (5' tall, over 500 lbs. ea.) being driven by VTL Siegfried Series II Reference monoblocks that put out 650 Watts in tetrode mode; 330 Watts in triode into 5 Ohms. These amps also have four modes ranging from Low, with the lowest damping factor and a more natural sound, to Max with maximum damping factor and greatest sonic impact. I've heard them before and they are filled with outstanding technology.

Luke Manley of VTL gave me a warm welcome, but I should have tapped into him to learn how the amps were adjusted. From what I heard, I suspect they were set at Max in tetrode mode, while I would have much-preferred triode mode with a low damping factor. The Stenheim are extremely precise speakers that play extremely clean with virtually no roll-off at the top end. This can be very impressive at first, but tiring or worse over long periods. With 95dB/W/m sensitivity and 4 Ohm impedance, they could have played very well with a lower-powered SET amplifier albeit with a different sonic signature. They may be just what you're looking for, but I highly recommend a personal audition with an amplifier similar to your own.

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