The Only Complete Coverage Of Cutting-Edge Audio At AXPONA 2025
Rick's first floor coverage features top-level audiophile gear & innovations!
Audio Expo North America (AXPONA) 2025 Show Report By Rick Becker 

Buff showed me a photo of their ‘vintage' model with darkened edges, and they also have a subwoofer to go with their monitors, as seen in the previous photo.

Chicago, like Montreal, Los Angeles, and a few other large cities, is large enough to have an active audiophile society. Here, they were actively seeking new members to bring more cookies to their meetings.

Patrick McCarthy (left) and Michael McCarthy, of Audio HiFi Solutions, were chatting up their heavy metal cable risers with an enthusiastic visitor.

Steven Huang of Audio Sensibility in Toronto is a regular at the Canadian shows. He does a lot of business south of the border, where the strength of the US dollar amplifies the value of his moderately priced cables. Additionally, he was offering 20% special show pricing. I've reviewed many of them very favorably. Steven also produces many specialty cables that larger manufacturers cannot economically offer, plus parts and accessories. I highly recommend exploring his website.

Renee Evans of Saturn Audio in Ontario, Canada, is another frequently seen manufacturer making his first foray to a US show. Saturn Audio is well established in Canada and makes affordable, straightforward products without any fluff.

Keith Richardson is the founder and CEO of Darlington Labs, who offer a variety of small-scale components as seen on their banner. They are out of Iowa and Boston, MA.

Of particular interest from Darlington Labs is their series of phono stages, ranging from very affordable to still modest prices.

If you're building a dedicated listening room, Kinetics Acoustic and Noise Control are people you should investigate. Established in 1958 as industrial consultants focused on controlling sound and vibration, they can supply room treatment and parts as well as provide consultation on your project.

A miniature display illustrated some of their products and techniques for constructing a dedicated listening room. The booth was unmanned at the time; I wish I could have had an elevator pitch about this display.

That wraps up the Expo Hall. But I still had time to peek into the Car Audio Showcase and jump upstairs to Danville Signal Processing to learn more about the open baffle subwoofer.

Car Audio Complex
I like to think I'm somewhat of a car guy, but in reality, that comes down to just doing my own oil changes. I'm certainly not a car audio guy. In fact, the only time I listen to music in my car is when I start to get drowsy—mostly after I've been driving 8 to 10 hours. So, stepping into the Car Audio Complex was a little like Alice in Wonderland.

It was relatively quiet in here, despite looking like the service center of a car dealership. Cars were set up on display, headlights to the wall, so owners could open the trunk and show you their built-in subwoofers. The brand names were almost all unknown to me, and the people dressed up like they were going to a parking lot, which is kind of like what the whole experience was like. At some point, I suppose some of the cars played music. There were battery chargers and voltage inverters to keep the systems playable throughout the weekend.

The most impressive thing I saw in the Car Audio Complex was this subwoofer from Cymatrix in Elk Grove Village, between Schaumburg and Chicago O'Hare International Airport. I set my briefcase beside it to give you a sense of scale. It was a Giga Titan 99 home theater subwoofer with infrasonic capability and a frequency response of 12Hz to 100Hz. Maximum output is 142dB at 1 meter, assuming you've got an amp with peak power of 20,000 Watts and a 200A line for peak current. Nominal impedance is 0.7 Ohms, and that is a 30" driver. Jerry Garcia would have loved it.

Prelude To Part 12
I'll be back with Part 12 to mention some of the Most Fun, Important, and some Best Rooms, at the show, along with a story or two and some final thoughts. Look for it within a week. It will take me some time to read through my coverage and come up with the gems. In the meantime, stay cool and enjoy your music. Maybe kick back and tap your toe to some Mungo Jerry....

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