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 

Innovation Room
Saturday Audio Exchange, AudioQuest, Kevro International, McIntosh, And Monitor Audio
Saturday Audio Exchange used to set up this room as a clearance center, selling their odds and ends inventory and trade-ins on a cash & carry basis. They have a brick & mortar store in Chicago that carries popular entry-to-mid-level brands. Their store hours are Thursday evenings, Saturdays, and Sunday afternoons, so their name is pretty accurate, if not conventional.

This year Saturday surprised me with two rigs of high interest. The Monitor Audio Hyphen speaker ($100k) is one of the very best at that price point. It was driven by McIntosh MC1.25kw monoblocks—an expensive choice, but this speaker likes a lot of power. A McIntosh C55 preamp was on top of the Pangea Vulcan audio rack. A Bluesound streamer was sitting on an IsoAcoustics zaZen vibration-absorbing shelf, and an Audioquest Niagara 5000 power conditioner was on the bottom shelf. Audioquest also wired the rig.

I've seen this speaker in both the black and white finishes, and the contemporary design looks great in either one. It sounded better at a Canadian show I reported on here at Enjoy the Music.com where it was driven by a different solid-state amplifier, but I suspect the streamer may have been holding this system back. Or possibly the cables could have been upgraded a level or two. Saturday Audio Exchange seems to lean toward more affordable gear, so it was a huge surprise to see the Hyphen here. This room raised my impression of their business.

The Monitor Hyphen features an array of drivers in the bridge that resembles Tekton
Design, and multiple opposed woofers in the vertical sections of the ‘clothespin' design are ported at the floor. If it appealed to you at the show, know it can sound even better with the right components and placement in the room.

In the hallway, heading toward the Convention Center, Saturday Audio Exchange had their cash/credit card & carry table filled with smaller items that folks could easily carry home. Among them were Wiim Amps, Record Doctor LP weights, IsoAcoustics loudspeaker stands and Orea footers, Golden Ear Aon 3 speakers, Grado and Sony headphones, and Pro-Ject headphone amps and phono stages.

Unfortunately, this table also distracted from the doorway, almost behind the table, with the easily overlooked sign saying "Come In." This was the small Inspiration Room.

Inspiration Room
Saturday Audio Exchange, AudioQuest, GoldenEar, And McIntosh Laboratories
You almost had to have had a premonition to discover this unobtrusive room tucked behind the Saturday counter in the hallway. If you did, and you were lucky enough to have heard this sweet little rig, you were probably glad you dropped in. I've heard the Monitor Studio 89 speaker ($2,499) both with and without the accompanying Monitor subwoofer shown here, and it is a winner either way. The small D'Appolito configuration with an AMT driver flanked by copper-colored mid/bass drivers, finished in gloss black or gloss white, with the brand at the lower corner, is outstanding.

The dedicated stand, fitted with IsoAcoustic footers, makes it even more so. The Monitor Anthra W12 subwoofer ($3k) blends with the monitor both acoustically and visually to make the music even more impressive and full-range.

Atop the Pangea Vulcan rack was a McIntosh MA352 200-Watt hybrid integrated amp ($7k), followed by a McIntosh MDA 200 DAC ($4k), a Bluesound Node Icon streamer ($1140), and an AudioQuest PowerQuest 707 power conditioner ($1299) on the bottom shelf. I expect AudioQuest cables were used here, also.

On a table across the room was a McIntosh MHA200 tube headphone amplifier ($2500) with a variety of headphone jacks that looked every bit as serious as their large amplifiers.

Schaumburg A 
PS Audio
Paul McGowan, CEO of PS Audio, is one of the great frontmen in high-end audio. Years ago, he brought on a professional to run the business end while he concentrated on developing the R&D and focused on branding. He developed the concept of the PS Audio Hi-Fi Family which now includes Forums, Paul's Posts (a daily blog with lots of participation from 'family' readers), Ask Paul (a video blog answering technical questions from audiophiles), The Daily Tips (suggestions to maximize your system), and more.

Hence, the "Welcome to the Hi-Fi Family" invitation as you approach the right side entrance to Schaumburg A, along with a display of the company's four speakers. I've heard all but the stand-mounted monitor at the Canadian shows and here at Axpona in prior years. I've thought they were decent when driven by PS Audio gear and better than decent on one occasion when driven by Accuphase electronics. But I was unprepared for what I heard when I stepped behind the room divider that enclosed the listening area.

The listening part of the room was darkened with a floodlight beaming up at PS Audio Power Plants sitting atop PS Audio monoblocks. Everything was PS Audio sourced, except perhaps the cables, which...AudioQuest would be a good guess. The big news here was the triple stack on the tall pedestal. This was the new Paul McGowan (PMG) Signature series that has finally lifted PS Audio into Best Rooms territory, competing with the very best rooms at the show. The large Aspen FR30 speakers ($30k) were playing at the time, and I was surprised they achieved such a high level of sound quality. Apparently, the digital front end and preamp had been holding the speakers back in the past, which raises the question: could a new PS Audio amplifier be next? I'd still like to hear them with top-shelf, all-tube amplification, but that will require a dealer in Canada to step up to the plate, as PS Audio sells factory direct in the USA. That's not likely to happen anytime soon, given the impressive showing of the new PS Audio components at AXPONA.

The PMG series includes four components. Shown here, from the top down, were the PMG Signature SACD transport, the PMG Signature 512 DAC with analog volume control, their Digital Lens technology, and built-in streamer, and the PMG Signature Preamplifier. The 4th component will be the PMG Signature Phono Preamplifier. The prices of all have been bumped up to $9k from the $8,500 price at the show, but generous trade-in allowances are offered for previous PS Audio models. I expect reviews will proclaim the PMG Signature Series to be very high-value components.

The PMG series is rolling out now through the end of the year. All the specs and functions are detailed on their website. The sculpted wave on the faceplate mimics the wave in their illuminated logo that serves as a power switch, and it reflects the level of sound quality you can expect from this new series. PS Audio typically sets up on the diagonal of this cubic room, enabling a direct comparison with previous shows. This year's presentation was stunning in comparison.

Whether it was the impressive response to their room at Axpona or the tariffs finally kicking in, prices for most PS Audio components have risen from what was printed on a handout card at the show. The FR10 speaker, probably the highest value of all their speakers, bewilderingly escaped the price increases. The FR5 was offered as a show special at what now can be seen as a killer price. It can pay handsomely to attend a show if you come prepared to buy.

On display at the other side entrance to the room was the fully balanced PMG Signature Preamplifier designed by Darren Myers.

On another pedestal was the PMG Signature DAC with a huge transformer.

The release date for the Phono Preamplifier is TBD, but with "dual inputs for both moving coil and moving magnet cartridges, and remote-controlled loading and gain options," this should be a component to keep on your radar.

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