Part 1: SWAF 2025 Highlights From The Upper Floors
Delightfully dynamic stereo sound systems at the SWAF 2025 audiophile show.
Southwest Audio Fest 2025 Show Report By Michael Harkins

  Even before the successful Southwest Audio Fest (SWAF) of March 2024, show organizers Lou Hinkley and Gary Gill vowed to keep it going in SWAF 2025 high-end audio event. Lou honchos the Pacific Audio Fest, while Gary does the same in D.C. for the Capital Audio Fest. The two of them team up for this event which may well become one of the nation's largest and most successful... but give it time. This is only year two.

The SWAF 2025 audiophile show started this year with a medium-sized, but lively and well-attended event at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas. One of the hotel's spacious atrium areas surrounded by many floors of guest rooms proved to be an excellent venue for the event. Adjoining the atrium on the first two levels are several large rooms that allow high-end audio manufacturers, stereo system dealers, and distributors to show off their audiophile ware. In addition, the atrium made for a fantastic marketplace area where everything from audio interconnects to vinyl LP records, vinyl cleaners, and immersive stereo headphones was on display.

One notable difference this year at SWAF 2025 was the number of large rooms used to house larger exhibits. These rooms surrounding the atrium area are one floor up on an easily accessible mezzanine. They were sufficiently large for the demonstration of products that breathe well into larger spaces.

Well above the atrium lobby level floor at the 11th through 14th (really 13th) floor were rooms surrounding the atrium filled with audio gear from a host of manufacturers, distributors, and dealers. In all, more than 60 rooms full of audio gear of every type and description gave visitors much to see and hear. Unlike last year, I made it a point to visit the high-up rooms on Friday since they sometimes get crowded on Saturday.

Where To Start
I thought it best to focus on those products that are reasonably priced and high value, but it is hard to separate things in that way. Although many vendors had show specials, the true bargains can be rarities. So, I will summarize those high-value items I observed at the end of this two-part article.

Room 1411   Matterhorn Audio Group (Distr.) / Kroma Atelier Matilde
Euphoria HiFi, a Texas dealer, set up this room to demonstrate a new speaker in the USA that is made in Spain. The speaker brand is Kroma Atelier and the new model being released in the United States of America is called "Matilde". Kroma Atelier has three lines (Classic, Signature, and Reference). The Matilde is the first from the Signature line and is a four-way model featuring an AMT tweeter, two 6.5" anodized aluminum drivers, one 8" anodized aluminum driver, and one 10" anodized aluminum driver.

They are 4 Ohm speakers having 90dB/W/m sensitivity and frequency response of 20Hz to 27kHz. The speakers retail for $66,000 in white Krion, but they can be painted in Aston Martin colors for an additional $1,870. They certainly are beautiful as their luxury heritage suggests. Krion is the material that is used to construct these ultra-rigid cabinets.

During my encounter with them in room 1411, I could sense that the use of two midrange drivers made the soundstage seem a little bigger and bolder. Their playing of one of my favorite recordings proved that bass response needed no augmentation, even for the lowest bass drum tones. I listened to a familiar Placido Domingo track and concluded that the vocals were real and had no artificial timbre to them. The placement of instruments in space seemed right.

A check of the Kroma Atelier website shows that $4,000 is not enough for speaker stands. Their least expensive model shown on the website is $12,600 with the top of the line priced at nearly $460,000.

Of course, these are expensive speakers, but I've heard it said that if there are $600,000 speakers on the market today, a $60,000 pair is a bargain, isn't it? Kroma Atelier has a full line of loudspeakers in several price ranges, but they are in the luxury category. They look it and sound it!

Room 1405   AGD Productions
Upon entering room 1405, the first thing noticed was the warm glow of vacuum tubes. But that glow is slightly misleading because the products featured contain Gallium Nitride MOSFET devices housed in glass tube containers. A nice orange LED in each "tube" makes them glow like the tube heaters we are all too familiar with.

Slight deception aside, these are Class D amplifiers which because of their use of gallium nitride semiconductors, can operate at higher switching frequencies with improved conductive characteristics allowing them to provide instantaneous high power when the program material demands it. They also run cooler than other Class D amplifiers, allowing for even better efficiency. Class D amps have come a long way, and these are certainly among the best.

Although power amps seem to be the forte of ADG, they do make other products using GaN technology including phono preamps, some of which include streamers. Some of their products on display were the AGD Solo monoblock ($23,500 per pair), AGD Gran Vivace MKIII monoblock ($19,000 per pair), Audion MKIII monoblock ($7,850 per pair), AGD Tempo di GaN MKIII stereo amplifier ($5,500). The Rosso Fiorentino speakers in the room were the Certaldo II model, which retails for $10,000 per pair.

Room 1423   Genesis Advanced Audio Technology
Joe Parvey from Jacksonville's House of Stereo demonstrated VPI's new Forever Model One turntable. The Model One, the first release in this "Forever" series, features a fully modular and upgradeable system, blending VPI's engineering excellence with future-proof design. I suppose that is why they call it "Forever". Once you buy it, you can and probably should keep it forever. And to prove it, VPI offers a 10-year warranty with this turntable. That is unheard of. The turntable is equipped with a 10" S-shaped tonearm with a flat top and triangular cross-section.

Speed accuracy and wow and flutter are spec'ed at 0.05%. It has a 10-pound aluminum platter, and some serious isolation built into the design, so vibration feedback won't be a problem. Priced at $5,700 including dust cover, this is a turntable to contend with the best out there. I was pleased to see they were playing a vinyl LP record in this SWAF 2025 exhibit room. The amplifier was a VAC Signature 202 iQ model. It features VAC's patented iQ Continuous Automatic Bias System and direct coupled Class A1 triode input and driver stages and delivers 100 Watts per channel in stereo mode.

Genesis is an old reliable speaker line founded by one of the industry's most respected speaker designers, Arnie Nudell, who developed the Infinity speaker line back in the 1970s. The G7s on display were the Minuet model, priced at $9,800 per pair. Superb sound!

Room 1401   Popori Acoustics
It was fitting that room 1401 was sponsored by distributor Unique Home Audio, LLC. The Popori Acoustics Hypersail speakers ($95,000) demonstrated in this room were certainly unique. This is an electrostatic loudspeaker shaped as its name implies with each powered by VAC Signature 202 iQ amplifiers ($22,000). The Hypersail model debuted at SWAF this year and it is so new that the Hungarian company says production models won't be available until this summer.

Their website makes no mention of this model either. In my experience, electrostatic panels with their spacious sound are always a thrill to hear. The lightweight membranes used are impeccable in capturing the most subtle transients in music while providing a unique "you are there" experience.

The speakers were said to go all the way down to 36Hz within the show exhibit room, and production models will go all the way down to 26 Hz or more. I noticed a couple of boxes that look like subs near the speakers, perhaps providing some extra bass response. Nevertheless, these speakers were a delight to listen to, and I couldn't help but linger in the room to enjoy them. Other gear in the room: VAC Master Line Stage Pre-amp ($30,000), Bacch SP audio stereo purifier with DAC ($30,000), ASC Tube Trap 13" X3 ($1,178/pair), ViaBlue cables and other peripheral gear (price not quoted).

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