Part 2: SWAF 2025 Highlights From The Large Rooms And Marketplace
Southwest Audio Fest 2025 high-end audio / audiophile show was a resounding success!
Southwest Audio Fest 2025 Show Report By Michael Harkins

Travertine Room   Rockport Technologies, Boulder, dCS, Aurender, Nordost, HRS, Audio Research, VPI, My Sonic Lab
The Travertine room sponsored by a dealer, Reference Analog, featured Rockport Technologies Orion loudspeakers ($148,000), Boulder 2160 Stereo amplifier ($71,000), Audio Research Ref6SE Preamp ($22,500), and Ref3SE phono stage ($22,500), VPI Avenger Direct turntable ($36,000) equipped with a My Sonic Lab Signature Gold cartridge ($9,000), an Aurender N30 Streamer ($25,000), and several Nordost cables priced from ($17,999 to $143,000) plus equipment racks made by HRS ($31,400 and $8,000).

The room was nearly square in shape, producing an acoustical sound that emphasized the bass even though they had bass traps in the corners. That famous Geoff Castelluca recording of "Sound of Silence" boosted his bass voice to the max in this room, although the recording itself accentuates the bass vocals a bit. The Rockport speakers did a commendable job in this room when coupled with the powerful Boulder class A amplifier's 600 Watts continuous into 8 Ohms. Impressive sound!

Marketplace
The marketplace is a highly trafficked part of any audio show. This one was particularly well-placed near the registration desk in the open atrium area at Lobby Level. Several booths were set up for show attendees to peruse through bins filled with stacks of records, CDs, cassette tapes, etc.

Marketplace / Bob's Devices, STAX, Anne Bisson, Wally Tools, And Kirmuss Audio
One place that caught my attention was Bob's Devices. Bob Sattin was the proprietor, and he specialized in step-up transformers for moving coil cartridges. Bob has several models customized for specific MC cartridges, but he mostly sells the ones with a step-up of 20 to 1, which accommodates most. They are configured for RCA inputs and outputs, but Bob also makes them with balanced outputs, if required. Bob is well-versed in analog playback devices and how to cure any of the ills that are possible when you start at the sub-millivolt level using MC cartridges. His website has good information on how to use his products for best performance. He also markets other products including VPI turntables, Hana cartridges, and other items of interest to analog aficionados.

Anne Bisson was again present at the Southwest Audio Fest. Anne's booth features her extensive catalog of high-quality recordings she has made over the years, available in vinyl or audiophile-grade CDs. She also performed at the show in the Stemmons Ballroom and elsewhere backed up by prerecorded accompaniment. It's unusual to hear the unamplified voice(s) for non-operatic singers. But Anne obviously loves to sing and is very generous with her voice. She told a story about a trip to Dubai in which a gentleman asked about her profession and she responded that she was a singer. When asked to sing something, she immediately started singing her well-known "September in Montreal" and the gentleman responded "Annie Bisson! You're Annie Bisson!" Yes, even in Dubai, they know about her.

Another marketplace vendor was the ever-present J. R. Boisclair, who now manages the Wally Tools brand of setup gear for turntables. J. R. has often responded generously to my inquiries, so if you have any questions about turntable setup, he is the go-to guy. Wally Tools markets several devices that can help users set up their turntables using the correct setup parameters to produce the absolute best sound.

Charles Kirmuss is another ever-present member of the marketplace. The Kurmuss products he has designed and recommends for record cleaning are said to produce measurable improvements in the level of background noises that are heard on vinyl recordings. He tirelessly provided a continuous series of demonstrations at the show.

STAX electrostatic headphones (earspeakers) were also on display with models extending from lower-cost models to their flagship SR-X9000 model selling for $6,200. I'm fairly sure they are the pinnacle of headphone listening (or maybe it's earspeaker listening).

Of course, it's hard not to buy anything in the marketplace, especially when it comes to recordings. I ended up buying a CD from Todd Garfinkle of MA Recordings, who has produced many audiophile recordings in several musical genres. The recording I bought was of an Argentine group of musicians. It was called "Sera unaNoche".

A trip to the other side of the marketplace took me to a large vinyl collection displayed by Black Star Records and I chose a 1984 release of the Zombies' "The Best and the Rest of the Zombies". Rod Argent, who was the group's leader, suffered a stroke last year and is no longer performing, but his legacy lives on in vinyl!

Seminars
There were nine seminars available to attendees of this year's Southwest Audio Fest. The topics covered ranged from obtaining good stereo imaging to setting up turntables. Unfortunately, I was so busy checking out the rooms and gear that I missed them all. One of interest to me was Dan Wright's talk on the role of negative feedback and phase in amplifier circuits. Fortunately, I was informed that even though I missed the seminar, it will soon be found on Modwright's website.

SWAF 2025 Epilog
The Southwest Audio Fest 2025 was a resounding success, and I know next year's event at the end of March will be equally compelling. This year's event featured more turntables being played than I recall seeing last year. People like it even though one often hears those telltale record pops in nearly any room playing vinyl discs.

On the other hand, it's much more convenient to just stream from a local source or a streaming service like Qobuz, one of the show's sponsors. But alas, some vendors had streaming problems as is often the case when one tries to stream from a crowded internet space. Perhaps one day, with AI supplemented with quantum computing, greater efficiencies will result in audio nirvana without the quirks. Nevertheless, even with a few drawbacks, I found it easy to just... enjoy the music!

---> Continue to Michael Harkins' Best Of SWAF 2025 Blue Note Awards.

---> Back to the SWAF 2025 show report homepage.