Part 2: AXPONA 2025 Show Report 15th Floor
A fantastic voyage filled with musical fun.
AXPONA 2025 Show Report By Rick Becker

1534 ATC Loudspeakers
In the ATC room, I found the world premiere of the SCM20ASL 2-Way Active Stand-Mount monitor with a more unusual finish than I've ever seen on an ATC speaker. They offer the usual variety of standard finishes at $10k, plus premium and high-gloss finishes that can take the price up to $13.5k. They are all custom-made to order in Great Britain. The sealed speaker uses a proprietary 6" midrange / bass driver and a 1" dual-suspension tweeter. Onboard class A/B MOSFET amps that hang out the back side deliver 200 Watts to the mid/bass driver and 50 Watts to the tweeter. A second-order Linkwitz-Reiley crossover is used. If I had to guess, I'd say this is the Pippy Oak finish, though you can change the look dramatically with other choices. There is also a grille to cover the divers if you're so inclined.

1539 Tien Audio, Magico, Stillpoints, And KECES Audio
I've seen and heard Tien turntables and KECES electronics before, either on silent display or in more basic rigs. These two companies from Taiwan pulled it all together in a very nice presentation on a Stillpoints rack and using Magico A3 speakers from mainland China. I was surprised at how good the music was here.

The large Tien turntable, like the black one on the right, was seen elsewhere at the show in red, but the one in a traditional wood plinth with a uni-pivot tonearm was much more approachable. On the next shelf down on the left was a KECES preamplifier with a balanced headphone jack. To its right was a streamer. Further to the right was a DAC and amplifier with balanced and unbalanced headphone inputs, plus adjustable gain and volume control.

On the next shelf down was a pair of S300+ monoblocks. On the bottom shelf was an S4 linear power supply sitting atop an Isolated Quantum Resonance Power Conditioner (IQRP-3600). To the right was a P6 linear power supply on top of a P14 linear power supply. Finally, on the far right was anXeron Vision Ethernet Switch.

1540 Kubala-Sosna, Grimm Audio, MolaMola, And Vivid Audio
In a room that looked like it could have been sponsored by GTT Audio, I found MolaMola preamp and monoblocks along with a Grimm MU1 music player on an interesting rack driving a Vivid Audio Giya (G3?) speaker in a luxurious dark mossy green.

With Joe Kubala looking healthy, and given the banner in the room, it is safe to assume all the cabling was from Kubala-Sosna. All top-shelf components here.

1545 Rockport technologies, Madison Audio Labs, Stillpoints, And Purist Audio Design
After many years, it was a pleasure to encounter Paul Wakeen in his Stillpoints room. I had written their first review of the Stillpoints footers (and ERS paper) back in 2003, and the original version of the component stand, seen under the Viola amp on the floor, back in 2005 when we first met. The original stand back then was $800. This one is $2000, or as shown with 4 Ultra 10 footers, $8k. Time has taken its inflationary toll, and technology has taken us to new heights in resolution.

I've heard the Rockport Technologies Atria II speakers ($38k) at least twice before, but this presentation was immediately more impressive. Chalk that up to Stillpoints Ultra 10 footers under the speaker ($12k) and the better components. The Viola Audio Labs 2-chassis Sonata Preamp ($33.8k) and the Viola Cadence stereo amp ($35k) certainly pulled their weight. Madison Audio Labs Eclipse AG silver speaker cables and balanced interconnects were used throughout.

What intrigued me was the Stillpoints Aperture acoustic treatment squares ($960 ea.) and the Aperture stands ($719 ea.), particularly the ones placed behind the speakers to catch the sound emitted from the ports. These units come in several combinations of cloth and wood. They are also three technologies wrapped in one — an absorber, a diffuser, and a resonator. The tall ones deflect/absorb sound waves heading for the side walls. I also noticed extensive use of cable risers. A lot of attention to detail was paid in this room, with excellent results.

What escaped me at the time were the Stillpoints ESS racks that look quite different from the one used in 1439 with Tien Audio and KECES Audio, with the shelves suspended on stainless steel wire. You can glimpse the ESS Ultra 34 rack beneath the tape deck. The Ultra 34-40 was $44k, while the Ultra 34-20 was $31,445.

Here was the red Tien Audio TT5 turntable with vacuum hold-down and Viroa arm ($22k) with a Phasemation PP200 cartridge ($8k). In the photo, you can see a rebuilt Revox PR99 Mk III tape deck that was augmented with an Analog High Fidelity Phono/Tape head preamp ($18k). A Bricasti M1 SE Mdx DAC with a network card delivered the streaming source.

More AXPONA 2025 Show Coverage Coming Soon!
That's it for the 15th Floor. I'll be back with Part 3 on the 14th Floor in about a week as I have to return to my Montreal report that is still in progress. So many great shows at this time of year.

---> Onward to Part 3 of Rick Becker's AXPONA 2025 show report.

---> Back to the AXPONA 2025 show report homepage.