The AXPONA 2023 Chronicles: Part 8
The fascinating 5th floor of premium audio gear.
Audio Expo North America 2023 Show Report By Rick Becker

Auranas, Plasmatronics, And Superior Audio Systems
Superior Audio Systems is a retailer just a little NW of the heart of Chicago. Auranas manufactures a server with storage that minimizes the possibility of future loss of material. And Plasmatronics is the company that developed the plasma tweeter, way back when?

The rig itself looked like a cross of a college dorm room and a science lab. The more familiar components included a conrad-johnson ET6 SE preamp ($6750), conrad-johnson Classic 62 SE power amp ($7500), Eminent Technology LFT-8c speakers ($4500), Soekris DAC ($900), Audioquest DragonFly Cobalt DAC / amp ($350), Ferrum Hypsos power supply ($1195), Audioquest cables throughout, Audioquest Niagara 5000 power conditioner ($5900) and a bunch of other stuff like those tall black tubes and the little doobie perched on top.

And then there was this plasma tweeter in a cage to keep cats from suicide along with some sundry boxes on the floor behind it. Oh, and did I mention the big green cylinder of helium lying on the floor in front of it all?

I'm not going to begin to describe plasma tweeters. Instead, jump over to this YouTube invitation to come to hear them at AXPONA. A guy who was involved with the project will briefly walk you through the history within this video.

I can't remember where I've seen this tweak before, but I know I have.

Sitting in the front row was Dr. Alan E. Hill, a laser scientist and inventor of the plasma tweeter we were listening to. He had come to AXPONA 2023 from his home in the Southwest just for the show and he was steadfastly entranced with the music. And for good reason. The midrange and treble were very pure and grain-free as well as exceptionally easy to listen to. This was an extraordinary treat for attendees.

Gestalt Audio Design
I've been impressed with the design and sound quality of the Wolf von Langa SON speakers from Germany in the past and they've received a very favorable review. The AMT tweeter mounted in the acrylic open baffle atop the woofer's chassis has a not-quite elegant look in gloss black with the tweeter's cable arcing in the open air behind it. A photo of the speaker in light wood veneer is more casual and the exposed wire is less objectionable. The large driver is a field-coil driver of their own manufacture. The price in gloss black is $18k and a limited selection of wood veneers adds $1k.

The TW Acoustic Raven GT2 turntable was $12.5k with another $6k for the Raven 10.5 arm. The Stein Music Aventurin 6 cartridge was another $6.5k. The turntable was sitting on a Silent Running Audio (SRA) base. The small gold component was a Konus Audio Vinyle 3000MC phono preamp at $6.4k.

The amplification included the New Audio Frontiers Stradivari line stage ($16.5k) on the right end of the equipment bench and the New Audio Frontiers Ultimate 211 Stereo amp ($25k) sitting upon another SRA base on the floor. This was a gorgeous amplifier.

That is a Massif Audio record weight made from an exotic wood that adds inner detail on analog rigs capable of high resolution such as the TW Acoustic shown here. The black component on the floor beneath the turntable is the power supply for the field-coil drivers in the speakers.

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