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

Room 1203   Charney Audio
Upon entering room 1203, I found myself staring at two Darth Vader-like monoliths. These were the Lumaca speakers from Charney Audio. These speakers utilize one full-range driver that creates all sound from the lowest bass to the highest overtones. The horn-loaded bass uses a Tractrix theory model which incorporates a long tube extending over the top of the speaker and through a large opening at its base. Amazingly, this is one reason the speaker's sensitivity is 106dB/W/m at its 8 Ohm rated load. That makes it easy to pair with even the lowest-powered tube amps rated at less than 5 Watts. Several configurations of the Lumaca are available from Charney Audio, ranging in price from $61,000 to $95,000 per pair.

These behemoths here at SWAF 2025 look aggressive but sing with amazing clarity. Certainly worth a listen. Charney also makes super-efficient loudspeakers ranging in price down to $2,900. Although Audio Note amplifiers were in the room, Charney offers their own models including a 300B stereo amp at $6,500 and a 300B monoblock at $8,500.

Room 1241   Audio Research
Dropping down a floor, room 1241 displayed Audio Research's new products. I met with Allan Haggar who is the VP of sales at Audio Research. They have a new line of products debuting in April and May this year, and we got a preview at SWAF 2025. Audio Research is a well-respected high-end brand manufacturing mostly tube-based electronics in the USA. These new products bring in some lower-priced models that would appeal to buyers who want the best but have a limited budget.

Due to trade issues, the final prices quoted here are estimates and are subject to change. In the photo, their LS-2 Tube Preamplifier ($8,450 to $9,950) is shown at the top left on the component rack. It has several input types, and the higher price is for a fully loaded model with a DAC card and phono card. At the top right in the photo is the I/70 ($9,950 to $11,450) Vacuum Tube Integrated Amplifier which puts out 70 Watts of power per channel. At the lower left in the photo is their S100 Solid State Amplifier ($9,450) which puts out 100 Watts per channel and operates Class A / AB. The streamer at the lower right is an Aurender A1000 (approx. $3,500), which was their digital source for the show.

Sound emanates from the two Acora MRC-2 loudspeakers, which are priced at ~$13,000 a pair.

Room 1224   Audio Note UK And Audio Note Texas
I stopped in room 1224 where Audio Note products were featured. Audio Note UK is one of a few companies featuring field coil speakers that use direct current as a means of forming a magnetic field for the driver's magnet structure. This allows for more uniformity as the speaker's voice coil moves within the magnetic field. The sound was excellent, but I thought their setup was a little off since the tape reels were producing some annoying noise.

They featured the following: Meishu Konzertmeister integrated amp ($65,000) driving AN-E / SPX LTD Field Coil Speakers ($65,000). The room setup included a TT-Three Turntable and power supply unit ($9,412), IO 1 MC cartridge ($5,028), Arm Three/II tonearm ($2,465), AN-S5 MC Step-up transformer ($10,685), CD 4.1x/II CD Player ($14,331). Audio Note's brand of interconnects and cables were used throughout.

Room 1211   Planet Venus
Ron Meyer of Planet Venus presented at this year's show to demonstrate his remarkable solution for audiophiles wanting to improve sound reproduction by eliminating some inherent noise found in many recordings. He does this utilizing a process he designed that finds and extracts the noise occurring at non-harmonic intervals in the music. The amount of reduction of this type of noise can be adjusted by the user to allow a more coherent and stable sound to emanate from loudspeakers or headphones.

Ron informed me that he is teaming up with a Florida company that will produce a hardware product that incorporates this innovative approach to improve sound quality. We'll have to check back with Ron in a few months to see how that is coming along and to determine more details of what this new partnership will provide for audiophiles.

Room 1129   Vanatoo
I enjoy going to a room with value-priced products that perform well above their cost. Room 1129 featuring Vanatoo-powered loudspeakers was such a room. These tiny, powered speakers use DSP to tune their response for excellent sound from speakers of their size. There are two models, the Transparent One Encore Plus and the Transparent Zero Plus. What are the pluses compared with previous models from a few years ago?

The new models have different amplifiers designed for lower energy consumption and more efficiency. They also have improved Bluetooth capability and added a smart connection to subwoofers which sets a suitable crossover point for the sound to transition smoothly to the sub, thus enabling the best possible sound. Of course, like most speakers of their size, they don't hit that lowest octave, but with a sub-connected, ultra-low bass fundamentals can be reached. The drivers are the same as previous models, but the Transparent One Encore Plus now has a specially designed waveguide to allow it to work well in larger spaces.

These could be the bargain of the SWAF 2025 show. The Vanatoo Zero Plus is just 7.5" high by 4.5" in width and is priced at $450 per pair. The Vanatoo One Encore Plus is 10" high by 6.5" in width and is priced at $650. You can add your own powered subwoofer to them as I mentioned, but without a sub added the bass response goes down to about 55 Hz for the Vanatoo Zero Plus and 45 Hz for the Vanatoo One Encore Plus.

They work well for your computer desktop or wherever small, high-fidelity speakers are desired. I should mention that there are several other models from Kanto, Klipsch, KEF, and other manufacturers playing in this game, but I have to say that the Vanatoos are certainly strong contenders, especially when one considers their cost.

Room 1127   Chesky Audio
I didn't have to go far to find another bargain in the realm of low-cost speakers. Chesky Audio's room featured their small bookshelf speakers which they claimed as the best value at the show for $498 per speaker. They are not self-powered. They are quite small and nearly cubical in shape. And they sounded amazingly good for their size. Proudly displayed in the room were some of the awards given by high-end audio publications. I was happily greeted by Lucca Chesky, the designer of these speakers and CEO/founder of Chesky Audio. He explained some of the speaker's features.

They are 3D printed and the They have drivers on either side and the front of the speakers. The speaker enclosure is less than one cubic foot, and it is very solid. Lucca says he spent a lot of time getting the cabinet right. The speaker front panel holds a bass/mid driver with a 1" dome tweeter surrounded by a dispersion pattern designed by Chesky to eliminate diffraction effects. The two large side-mounted drivers are passive radiators allowing the speaker to produce solid bass.

After a few minutes of listening in the "sweet spot" chair, I noticed the sound seemed a bit rolled off at the top end. So, I got up and stood behind the seats in the room and got a much better impression of their full-range sound. The soundstage seemed to open and appear more real. These speakers go down to a solid 50 Hz, but they won't do a low C organ pedal. They are certainly worth considering if you want true high fidelity at the lowest cost possible. The speakers were powered by a $2,199 Cambridge EXA integrated amplifier, making the cost of the entire system less than $3,200, assuming you already have a sound source.

---> Next Page.