The AXPONA 2023 Chronicles: Part 12
The one, and only, 1st Floor.
Audio Expo North America 2023 Show Report By Rick Becker

Ear Gear Experience
The Ear Gear Experience was in the right half of the ballroom and there were two aisles of tables with lots of opportunities for listening. As I am not a headphone geek, other than my workhorse Grado SR80e that I use at my computer workstation at home, I just stuck my head in here for a quick look.

And here was the other side. Maybe someday I'll get a little more involved with this segment of the industry.

Gryphon Audio Designs
Schaumburg E, being on the corner of the block has entrances on two sides. Like last year, Gryphon Audio from Denmark had a silent display, but this year showed all (or almost all) of their products — twelve electronic components, plus their first loudspeaker.

As there was no music playing, people in the know or those who were curious just drifted through the space. There were plenty of gentlemen around to answer any questions.

The new Eos speaker ($22k) is a two-way with a port on both the front and rear. It comes with a plug that allows you to choose whether you want to have it front or rear ported. Instead of an opaque grille, the Eos features a vertical string shield for the drivers, much as Sonus Faber does. It also appears to be removable. The way the chassis is faceted and tapered, there is likely excellent internal resonance control. They claim a frequency response of 26Hz to 45kHz so I suspect there is also some intricate channeling inside the chassis, given the relatively small size. From memory, I'd say it looked about the same size as a Wilson Sabrina and the fit and finish were every bit as superb as Wilson or my Kharma speaker. I have lots of interesting questions to be answered about this intriguing speaker.

Schaumburg F  Nordost, Stenheim, And VTL (Vacuum Tube Logic)
This was the same team of manufacturers that presented last year with VTL Sigfried monoblocks driving the huge Stenheim Reference Ultime Two ($155k). I didn't think that combination sounded great, and this year it was a different combination.

First of all, the Wadax digital front end shown last year was replaced with dCS Rossini Apex DAC ($32.8k) with the Rossini Master Clock ($10,850). They also had a VPI Avenger Direct turntable ($36k) equipped with a Lyra Etna cartridge ($9k).

Nordost supplied cabling that ranged from Odin 2 power cords ($22.5k ea) to Odin 2 analog interconnects ($27k) to two pair of Odin 2 Loudspeaker cables ($39.6k/pr). They also supplied power distribution and grounding units that were much more reasonable in cost. Just ball-parking, I'd guess there was in the neighborhood of $350k worth of Nordost gear in the system.

VTL supplied the amplification in the form of a Reference Line Preamp, Series III ($35k), a Series II Signature Phono Stage ($15k), a pair of MB-450 Series III monoblocks ($30k), and a pair of MB-185 Series III Signature monoblocks ($27k). With the 95dB sensitivity of this speaker and a nominal 4 Ohm impedance, this was plenty of power, even in this large room.

Luke Manley, head of VTL, explained the amplification and why the speaker sounded so much better this year. They were using the MB-185 Signature amps on the bass driver because they were equipped with EL34 tubes which have a tighter bass control than the larger MB-450 Signature amps with 6650 or KT88 tubes which they were using on the midrange and treble. The MB-450 Sig. puts out 425 Watts in tetrode or 225 Watts in triode.

The smaller MB-185 Sig. puts out 225 Watts in tetrode or 140 Watts in triode. So it is counterintuitive to put the smaller amp on the woofers and the larger amp on the midrange and tweeter, but the characteristics of the tubes involved in each amp dictated the best sonic outcome. Luke explained the transformers in each model were different, too, which played into the equation. The MB-185 simply had a leaner, tighter bass that did not excite room resonances in this cubical room. It would be a gross understatement to say Luke Manley knows his tubes and amplifiers. I hope I don't get a bill for tuition.

I also noted that with the woofers at both the top and bottom of the speaker, bass nodes would be more dispersed in the room, much as if you had subwoofers in different locations, or tall stacks of subs like REL suggests. Furthermore, two rear-facing laminar flow reflex ports load the front-mounted 12" drivers so you have bass emanating from eight different points in the speakers to help even things out.

The speaker looks larger in photographs than in real life. Perhaps it is the monolithic shape. But it is only 60" tall (plus maybe a few inches for the footers), and 20" deep. The greater concern may be the total weight of over 500 lbs. each, though it appears to be modular for ease of delivery.

I've often cautioned about the need to audition Stenheim speakers with your favorite music and in a rig that is similar to your own. The high resolution can be very demanding. Yet I've found a few combinations that I thought worked well. Luke Manley pulled the rabbit out of the hat with the uncanny use of his VTL amplifiers this year.

Also of interest in this room was the new Nordost 8-outlet Q Base Mk III (QB8) ($2300) with one of the middle outlets labeled "Primary Earth" which may indicate a star-grounding wiring pattern.

T+A North America
T+A stands for Theory and Application and this German company has been coming on strong in North America the past couple of years. Their downsized 200 Series has been around, particularly at the Canadian shows for many years, but there is a lot more to the company than just that.

It being mid-afternoon on Sunday at this point, they were playing a handsome, conventional-looking floorstander, the Solitaire S 430 ($30k), driven by a very impressive-looking monoblock. The combinations sounded very good.

Above the bi-wireable speaker connections were three square buttons each giving a 1.5dB boost to the Bass, Mid, and Treble. I also noted the inclusion of casters where spikes would normally be installed. This facilitated rotation among the three sets of speakers in the room.

On the left in the above photo was the S 530 ($45k) and on the right was the S 540 ($55k) which was having its World Premiere. I was sorry to have missed hearing them. The speakers are available in three finishes: the Gloss Black seen on the S 430, a Gloss Macassar wood veneer seen on the S 530, and Gloss Silver seen on the S 540. The aluminum front baffles are available in either brushed black or brushed silver. So you have six combinations to choose from.

The two smaller speakers are bass reflex design and the S 540 is a sealed chassis. The two larger speakers use Cylinder Wave Technology featuring a Line Source tweeter and Line Array midrange. The Cylinder Wave Technology is called Magnetostat, which is said to be different from the more accustomed electrostatic design. It is based on the technology they first developed for their headphones.

The M 40 HV monoblock amplifiers were certainly eye-catching. The HV series of components feature special high-voltage technology in the amplification stages. The monoblock is rated at 550 Watts @ 8 Ohms and 1000 Watts @ 4 Ohms. In high current mode, it runs up to 60 Watts in Class A and up to 250 Watts in Class A/B. The S/N ratio is an impressive 114dB. It requires a mains line capable of delivering 2500 Watts.

I admired the architectural design of the amp and the way the design worked perfectly with the HRS amp stand. Very elegant, and very contemporary.

AURALiC North America
I have to give AURALiC North America a big apology as I totally missed their room tucked into the corner of the Schaumburg block and the wide-open hallway leading past the next room to the Expo Hall & Café. It was getting close to closing time at 4 p.m. and maybe they had closed their door and were packing up already. I'll make an effort to catch up with them in the fall at the Capital Audiofest.

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