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 

1214  Fidelity Imports, Perlisten, And Primare
A Primare preamp with streamer was tuned to Qobuz, feeding a pair of Primare monoblocks driving Perlisten S5t floorstanders, accompanied by a modest Perlisten subwoofer. Perlisten is designed in the USA and imported from China.

1215  Fidelity Imports, Perlisten, And Audia Flight
This was interesting with the larger Perlisten S7t SE speaker supplemented with a large subwoofer tower in the middle, not unlike what Wilson Audio did many years ago, though the design of the sub is substantially different from Wilson's.

A pair of Perlisten ceiling speakers graced the counter.

1218  Fidelity Imports, Diptyque, And AVM
The Diptyque electrostatic speakers are among my favorite rooms at the Montreal show each year, often powered by tube amplification. Fidelity Imports pairs them up with AVM solid state electronics from Germany, and doesn't achieve the same excellence. At Montreal, the room is also dressed with room treatments that are always absent from the Fidelity Imports rooms. The Diptyque shows a sensitivity toward style, has great build quality, is a little pricy, and plays better in the right system than I heard here.

1221  Fidelity Imports, Ruark, Knosti, Goldring, QED, And Milty
What seems to be a decorative table here was, surprisingly, a complete rig from Ruark. Note the remote control and the selection knob on top, as well as the screen on the front baffle with the date and time.

This is one of a few pieces I've seen over the past year aimed at the person who is more interested in décor, but also wants something better-sounding than Alexa. The circular all-in-one speaker from Marantz and the Cabasse Myuki, both seen at Montreal, come to mind.

Fidelity Imports has also picked up ViaBlue Cables, footers, and cable risers from Germany.

1222   Fidelity Imports, Opera, And Unison Research
Opera Quinta V2 speakers have a sophisticated look for their $6,900 price, and sounded quite good driven by the tube-powered Unison Research S6 Black Edition integrated amp. This is a popular combination of brands, both companies coming from Italy. Using three KT77 Russian tubes per channel, it puts out 40 Wpc.

1225  Fidelity Imports And Michell Audio
I like the stand, and I like the speaker, but the combination makes me nervous about it falling over. Maybe if a smaller speaker were used on this stand...?

Michell turntables have been around for a long time. John Michell was making models back in the 1960s when he met Stanley Kubrick and subsequently built the spaceship 'Discovery' for 2001: A Space Odyssey.  This ultimately became the impetus for him to design the GyroDec turntable.

The black Primare streaming integrated amp is hiding in the cubby beneath the turntable, a Gyro SE with a T8 tonearm fitted with a CUSIS S MC cartridge. All totaled, this was a reasonably priced rig.

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