The AXPONA 2023 Chronicles: Part 7
Many very exciting 6th floor sound systems at AXPONA.
Audio Expo North America 2023 Show Report By Rick Becker

Monarch Systems And Sierra Sound
The AMG turntable was shown here working with a free-standing ViV Lab Rigid Float tonearm with a carbon fiber tube ($7k). A version with what looks like an aluminum tonearm is available for around $4500. The tonearm has a non-slip base allowing it to be easily positioned without drilling a hole in the plinth, or to be used as a second tonearm on a table without such accommodations as shown here. Using a proprietary magnetized oil (ferrofluid) in an oil-float bearing it has virtually no friction. The zero-offset geometry eliminates the need for anti-skate control. It is available in 7", 9", and 13" lengths.

The Alluxity amp sitting next to the turntable was also very attention-grabbing. It appears to be the Int One MkII integrated amp, though most of their products (preamps and power amps) seem to use this same chassis. As I recall, the Alluxity brand is run by the son of the owner of Vitus Audio in Denmark and it seems to lean toward a more lifestyle approach in styling and hence price, while not compromising much in sound quality.

I cannot say much about the speaker as it was new to me. However, I thought enough about the sound it was putting out and the design, to deem it worth photographing. Unfortunately, the depth of field fell a bit behind the speaker, obscuring its quality appearance. I will keep an eye out for it in the future.

The Sound Organisation
The Sound Organisation, an importer and distributor in Arlington, Texas, put together a lovely-sounding room with modest electronics and an extraordinary speaker.

Most of us know that Fyne Audio is an off-shoot of Tannoy a few years back. The birth of Fyne has led to a blossoming of fresh designs rooted in Tannoy but bringing the look and the sound into the 21st Century. The turntable here was a Rega P6 which I've been told by retailers who sell the line that this model is the real sweet spot in terms of price vs. performance. A Bluesound streamer and something else was hiding on the middle shelf and presumably, that was an integrated amp on the bottom of the Quadraspire rack. Cables were by the Chord Company.

The Fyne Vintage Twelve speaker ($35k) was the star of the show. It is a two-way with a downward firing port so there is no hole in the back of the fine furniture grade cabinet finished in oiled walnut or dark burl walnut. And that's important for some people who care more about décor and quality furnishings than State of the Art technology. Coming from the furniture industry, I get that.

Yet the Vintage series also sports modern technology in the new design of the concentric drivers, cryogenically treated crossovers, and front-mounted presence control to tune the speaker to your room acoustics. Yet while the front baffle design plays to the vintage theme they embrace, the curved boat tail design of the chassis gives it a contemporary flair that didn't exist fifty years ago when this high-efficiency speaker style was at its peak. I'd call it a "mature contemporary" design that fits well in the tasteful home of people who can afford to buy in this price range. I could see this speaker playing very well with the Western Electric integrated amplifier, both in style and sound.

The Sound Organisation
A second room for the Sound Organisation was listed, but once again, I have no photos or video notes from it.

Martin Logan And Precision Audio Video
Over the past few shows, I've heard Martin Logan speakers with dynamic drivers and have always been impressed with their sound.

This room here was no different. They were driven by Anthem electronics that have taken on a little more upscale styling than I recall. It wasn't a world-beating combination, but it wasn't priced like one, either.

Hegel America, Clarisys Audio, And Shunyata Research
The music here took a significant step up but so did the price. Suncoast Audio in Sarasota, Florida, carries all these brands and they are also the importer (under the name Soundbuys Audio Distribution) of the Clarisys two-way speaker series presented here. The Clarisys line includes the Minuet Neodymium ($33.8k), the Studio Plus Neodymium ($58k), and the Auditorium Neodymium ($140k) standing at heights of roughly 4 feet, 5 feet, and 6.5 feet respectively.

The Minuet, shown here, combines a ribbon tweeter that goes down to 500Hz with double-sided bass ribbons that yield a frequency range of 28Hz to over 25kHz. The nominal impedance is 3.5 Ohms and efficiency is claimed at 88dB/W/m due to the Neodymium and rare earth magnets. This is considerably higher than most speakers of this type. The seats were all taken so I didn't get a good listen from the centerline of the room, which is where this type of speaker typically sounds best but others have said this room sounded really good. This doesn't surprise me from what I experienced off-axis.

I was able to step in front of people between cuts to snap a photo of the rig. With the huge Hegel power amp on the floor, I couldn't get close to check out the turntable and I suspect they didn't play much vinyl here. The second box below the turntable was a Hegel HD30 digital control center/DAC, followed by a pair of Shunyata Altaira grounding hubs, a Shunyata Typhon, and a Shunyata Denali. Without a chance to sit and listen, I moved on.

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