AXPONA 2025 Highlights, Must-See Audiophile Innovations, And Top High-End Audio Trends
12th And 14th Floors: Schaumburg's annual high-end audio event for USA audiophiles.
Audio Expo North America (AXPONA) 2025 Show Report By Rick Becker 

1202   Geshelli Labs And Niel Blanchard Designs
Neil Blanchard teamed up with Geshelli Labs at Capital Audiofest last fall. I called out his mass-loaded transmission line speakers for their good sound, clean design, and the exposed layers of plywood along the beveled edges at Capital Audiofest 2024 high-end audio show last November.

I wanted to complement Neil, seen in the red over-shirt, but he was focused on the potential customer seen with him, and I didn't want to spoil a sale.

The Geshelli Giuseppi preamp, Dayzee DAC, and Z-Blok monoblock amplifiers were well-known components to the Geshelli cognoscenti. I included the photo to remind you of the novel wood chassis, shown here with a contrasting stained strip running across the top and down the side of the dovetailed construction. The contrast stripe is optional.

1204   Geshelli Labs
Geshelli got their start in small electronics — headphone amps (starting at $220) and DACs (starting at $250), and they offered a long table full of opportunities to try them out. They are offered in wood chassis with Plexiglas faceplates, perfect for desktop or dorm room use. This room typically draws a large crowd of younger audiophiles, but the crowd was light at the lunch hour on Friday.

1205   Geshelli Labs
I learned that Geshelli Labs has teamed up with Fidelity Imports to distribute their larger products, though the smaller ones, and custom orders will be handled directly by Geshelli.

Those larger items include the preamp, monoblocks, and DAC seen above.

1206   Fidelity Imports, Acoustic Energy, And Geshelli Labs
Fidelity Imports has been expanding, and their presence at AXPONA included nine rooms on the long straight hallway that made up this floor.

This TORC DAC from Geshelli is a new product.

1210   Fidelity Imports, Wilson Benesch, And AVM
This room was considerably more expensive with the Wilson Benesch monitor and AVM electronics from Germany.

At $30k, this monitor from Great Britain is on the elite end of the spectrum. Their tallest floorstander was seen at some point over the past year with the magnet end of the drivers facing the listening position. They are all very contemporary and expensive.

Wilson Benesch also makes turntables, but the AVM model shown here is among my favorite designs, with the illuminated platter reflecting into the polished plinth.

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