The AXPONA 2023 Chronicles: Part 4
The 12th floor was filled with glorious sounds.
Audio Expo North America 2023 Show Report By Rick Becker

Fidelity Imports
They mixed it up a bit with Perlisten stand-mounted monitors and a pair of Perlisten subs. That's a Gold Note turntable (also from Italy) with a Gold Note integrated amplifier.

The Perlisten sub has two drivers in a push-pull configuration. Those are vents on the lower sides and front of the subwoofer. This was an interesting design that goes against the norm.

Fidelity Imports
This was an exciting room for me as I had heard the Diptyque 107 ($7k to $8k) at Capital Audiofest 2022 last November and really liked it. Then, I heard the larger and more stylish 140 at the Montreal show in March. And here was the Reference model ($50k).

The build quality is considerably higher than Magnepan, plus, being French, they've added some style to increase your pride of ownership.

As you can see, the Diptyque was driven by massive Audia Flight Strumento No 8 monoblocks and preamp. The amp starts at 500 Watts @ 8 Ohms and doubles as you go to 4 Ohms and doubles again to 2 Ohms. And that looks to be a larger Michell turntable on the rack as well as an Aurender server on the bottom. All-in-all, this was a fine rig and a very interesting speaker.

Harman International And Music Direct
Harmon International is one of the giants in this industry and they put together a rig from two of their companies.

On what looks like a SolidSteel rack, was a rig of Mark Levinson electronics, except for the Audioquest power conditioner hiding behind the Dark Side of the Moon. Those were tower speakers from Revel at the side.

Driving the Revels were Mark Levinson ML-50 monoblocks, taking the low and long format that is currently in fashion, along with a see-through top that lets you inspect the lighted interior. And no, that's not a turntable platter near the front of the amp, but it's about that size.

Harman International And Music Direct
Across the hall, in the second Harmon International room was a rig that pulled at my Boomer heartstrings.

Dressed in piano gloss black was a JBL L100 Classic, a modern rendition of what we lusted for in our much younger days. Tilted back on a tubular steel stand, just like in the old days, it was a stunning presentation that was all too familiar, yet appealed to the more formal and mature stature I've achieved at this point in my life.

Driving it was the JBL speaker was a JBL SA750 integrated amplifier bearing styling cues of receivers from back in the day. While you might have trouble talking your wannabe audiophile buddy into a pair of the $75k Marten speakers earlier in this report, for around $2500 or maybe a little more for the piano gloss finish, here you have an alternative that already has one foot in the door. I was deeply moved by these speakers when they first came out and I saw them at the Montreal show. This was like an instant replay in formal attire.

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