Third Floor Fantasies Of Hi-Fi Home Audio Gear
The continuing journey traveling through AXPONA 2025.
Audio Expo North America (AXPONA) 2025 Show Report By Rick Becker 

  After a recess to attend the nine-day Rochester International Jazz Festival, motorcycling up to the Adirondack Mountains for an extended family vacation, and a brief interlude to celebrate our wedding anniversary, I return to those thrilling days of yesteryear and my coverage of AXPONA 2025. The third floor at AXPONA 2025, located at the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center, is where Enjoy the Music.com found curated home audio / hi-fi listening rooms, offering kids both young and old the opportunity to enjoy great tunes. Audio demos featuring high-end audio equipment showcases is the rule of the day.

According to AXPONA 2025's official exhibit maps, this floor hosts rooms numbered in the 300s. Audiophiles often tackle the third floor first—heading directly to the top and working back down—to avoid elevator congestion, especially during the busy Saturday sessions when turn-over is high. Each room was carefully engineered by brands, retailers, and/or distributors to showcase fully integrated home audio stereo sound systems, letting attendees experience everything from all-analog chains to state-of-the-art modern immersive digital setups within acoustically treated environments. Hi-Yo, Silver interconnects, away!

302  Bowers & Wilkins And Marantz
Marantz was showing the round speakers that intrigued me at the Montreal show two weeks earlier. They seemed to be collaborating with Bowers & Wilkins on the rooms at both shows. The Crutchfield website identifies the smaller one as the Marantz Horizon, a wireless powered speaker system with Apple AirPlay 2, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and HEOS Built-in for $3500.

The larger version is the Marantz Grand Horizon for $5500 each. It is seen as a way to bring quality music back into the home environment in a décor-friendly way. This could very well be a gateway drug to the high end.

304  Marantz And Bowers & Wilkins
In the adjacent room, a complete rig was set up with Marantz separated driving a gorgeous pair of B&W flagship speakers.

A table running down the side of the room was filled with Marantz components, with their chassis opened for all to see the build quality and copious use of copper plating.

I'm not an electrical engineer, but to my eye, the build quality looked impressive. On the table was this unit displaying dual mono construction. I lifted the chassis cover seen on the right of the photo and discovered it was surprisingly heavy.

Seen on the floor next to the rack was the Marantz Model 10 ($15k), their new reference integrated amp with 250 Wpc, with MM/MC phono stage, and copper-plated chassis. The 10 Series also includes the LINK 10n network audio player ($14k) and SACD 10 ($14k), a SACD player with premium transport.

312  Elite AV Distribution, Furutech, Kieth Monks, Kuzma, And L'Art Du Son
Scot Markwell's double room looked very familiar and not unlike the one presented at Capital Audiofest. I immediately recognized Furutech's flagship NCF Power Vault power conditioner and power cable that I reviewed very positively back in November. Seen here were vintage Chapman speakers that still sounded decent, supplemented with an older REL subwoofer. A Manley black box was on the floor to the left of the rack, along with a Furutech distribution box.

On top of the rack was a Kuzma turntable on a Kuzma platform. A Manley Labs Steelhead RC phono stage and Jumbo Shrimp preamp were on the shelf below. Manley Labs has recently been sold, and fans are excited about what new products might be forthcoming under the new ownership. An Allnic A2000 25th Anniversary tube power amp on the bottom shelf was likely the only Allnic amp at the show.

In the outer room of this small suite were tables displaying various Furutech connectors and a Furutech destat III ($371, show special $278) that "Removes static by efficiently neutralizing the static charge with just the perfect blend of negative and positive ions."

---> Next Page.