The AXPONA 2023 Chronicles: Part 2
Fine premium audio gear on the 15th floor.
Audio Expo North America 2023 Show Report By Rick Becker

Yamaha
The rig here was identical to the one I saw a few weeks earlier in Montreal, except for the cabling. Perhaps that was the difference, except while the room here was on the small side for this rig, the one in Montreal was way too big. Remember the pouf stools in Montreal? Or maybe the heavy-duty speaker stands made the difference here?

From the top down, they showed their GT-5000 turntable ($8k), CD-S2100 CD player ($3k), C-5000 preamp ($10k), and M-5000 100 Wpc @ 8 Ohm power amp ($10k) which drove the NS-5000 speakers ($15k). And this room sounded pretty good — certainly much better than in Montreal.

While the above photo is the worst one I've submitted for publication, it is important in that it shows their new HA-L7A USB DAC / Headphone amplifier with seven sound field modes. Serious stuff.

What many audiophiles might not know is that Yamaha makes a very wide variety of audio gear that extends far beyond our more narrowly defined borders into pro audio and commercial applications. Exploring their website is a true adventure.

Bending Wave USA And Audio Research
The Club Lounge is a luxurious two-level suite and it suits the character of the Bending Wave USA presentation that totaled close to $800k, if not more, depending on the number of interconnects involved.

The stars of the show were the Gobel Noblesse speakers ($250k) and the Wadax digital front end with Reference DAC, Reference Server, Optical System AKASA, and Reference Power Supply (roughly $308k, total). Gobel Divin Sovereign subwoofers were listed, but I didn't see them in the room. The subs are huge. I saw them at Capital Audiofest where they had to take one out of the system because it was just too much bass.

Some years have passed since I've seen these speakers at AXPONA and time wears away the awe with which they first strike you. The speakers are still large, still beautifully made, and still sound gorgeous, but the thrill of the knowledge that they exist has worn off. And that's how it should be. At this level, you should expect the excellence to last a lifetime and it likely will. These will be "forever" speakers for their owners who can then devote their time to enjoying music and / or move on to other pursuits.

Part 3 Coming Soon
This wraps up the tour of the 15th Floor. Part 3 will hopefully appear in a few days where I will explore the 14th Floor. Keep coming back as Enjoy the Music.com posts more AXPONA 2023 show coverage.

---> Onward to the next part of Rick Becker's extensive AXPONA 2023 show coverage.

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