2023 Axpona
- Thread starter GW1800
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YEP! All three days.
So, ive never been to one but would like to. Its over a 5 hour drive for me though. Do many of you travel far to see these? Im wondering, they always seem to be in Illinois. Are they ever closer to Ohio?
Yeah, that's a long haul, so you'd want to stay in a nearby hotel. For me it's just 30-45 minutes depending on day and time of day.
I know some folks coming from out of state and are hotel-ing it.
I know some folks coming from out of state and are hotel-ing it.
Is it always in Illinois? Every year I look at it online it seems like it is.
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Can't make Axpona, but I will be at the Audio Advice Live show in Raleigh in August and the Capital Audiofest outside of DC in November.
Since about 2014 or 2015 it's been in Schaumburg IL, and before that I think it was in Florida.
Too bad they dont rotate through different areas of the country.
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Depending on the time of year, there are several really good audio shows going on in different parts of the country. Keep in mind that not every hotel wants the hassle of putting on a big audio show. That means taking beds out of guest rooms and having to deal with all the equipment showing up on thier loading docks. Once a show organizer finds a good fit, they normally stick with them.
Yes, I was imagining the problems with finding a good match. The show must bring in some good revenue though. A hotel about 15 minutes from my house had a fairly large pinball show. That was nice to have it here. The hotel I heard was booked solid and the bar/restaurant was packed the whole weekend too. Im not aware of any other audiophile shows like this one.
Went to the room and listened to music I was not familiar with. I listen to them in an optimized setup in a home and that sounded much better (different music) than what I heard yesterday. I blame the room, especially since they used great speaker wires. The electronics were on a shelf to the right. These speakers were not optimally dialed in like I am used to. It looked like a difficult room, especially for the lower frequencies. The room was cut out on the left and not rectangular too.
I bet it sounds better today!
I bet it sounds better today!
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No, it did not sound better today.
sleepysurf
Well-known member
I didn't attend this year, but looking at this video of the ML Renaissance setup, it's pretty clear they're poorly set up. They're clearly too large for the room, and too close to the window. I can't tell what amp or integrated they're using.
Looking at the Axpona 2023 website, I see ML is also listed in Room 672. Can anybody report on what's being demo'd there?
Looking at the Axpona 2023 website, I see ML is also listed in Room 672. Can anybody report on what's being demo'd there?
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Motion XT. Got that info from someone else in my group.
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By the looks it's a Luxman integrated amp
sleepysurf
Well-known member
That helps! Looking closely at the video, it's apparently a Luxman L-507Z... L-507Z | INTEGRATED AMPLIFIERS | PRODUCTS | LUXMAN | Seeking higher sound quality and retails for $8,995.
Class AB 110W (8Ω) and 210W (4Ω), which I presume is sufficient for that smaller room.
If it sounded bad, most likely due to poor speaker placement and/or ARC implementation.
mokumdirk
Member
The demo was terrible as it has been for the last 12 years in Las Vegas as well at Axpona Chicago.
Once again the electronics were incapable of driving the 15s and the room placement seemed haphazard
at best. There was one person sitting in a corner, playing random tunes from a streaming device at overwhelming volume.
It sounded very aggressive with no resemblance to my 15s, driven by all Audio Research tube equipment.
If I had to make a buying decision based on this demo, I would never have even considered them or any MLs.
It is a mystery to me why any manufacturer would take the effort and expense to participate in an Audio show so perfunctorily.
Dirk
Once again the electronics were incapable of driving the 15s and the room placement seemed haphazard
at best. There was one person sitting in a corner, playing random tunes from a streaming device at overwhelming volume.
It sounded very aggressive with no resemblance to my 15s, driven by all Audio Research tube equipment.
If I had to make a buying decision based on this demo, I would never have even considered them or any MLs.
It is a mystery to me why any manufacturer would take the effort and expense to participate in an Audio show so perfunctorily.
Dirk
The small rooms had two main layouts that each had its own resonance, one being at 61.5Hz and the other at 73Hz. The smartly arranged rooms knew this and severely limited the seating, or, angled the display to alleviate the condition, or, deemphasized the bass in such a way as to mask the condition, or, were simply upfront about not being able to overcome the resonance and show folks where to be to completely be free of any resonance which was the case in one of the Magnepan rooms. Once I was in that room I had a better idea of what to avoid and had a better experience in other rooms.
But yes, the room with the 15A was not setup well, nor operated well.
There were many rooms that were very well operated, and others just had the one-note bass.
There were two rooms with pristine sound, one was the room with the Wilson Audio Alexx V speakers, and the other was the WYNN Audio room which had the best imaging this year and last year but they also had the most open space around the speakers of any display. The Wilsons were crammed into the small room and still sounded fantastic with the one exception of not being able to compete with the WYNN's when it comes to keeping a center sound in the center even when sitting off-axis.
There were some dipoles with great sound which I'd never heard of before. Arion Apollo Loudspeaker with Apollo OB Woofer, and Clarisys Audio Minuet, each had great sound albeit with different presentation personalities. This is where having a lot of listening rooms in a house would come into play, so each speaker model could play what it plays well.
When it's all said and done, I'm very happy with my Expressions!
The only new items way over the horizon for me are the Audeze CRBN Electrostatic headphones and a LTA Z10E ELECTROSTATIC HEADPHONE AMP / INTEGRATED AMP. Simply wonderful together!
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Hey mate, that's a great write up into the show. Wish we had more of those higher end ones down unda, hardly any useful ones now. Apart from the usual one we have in Melb, I did an initial write up in Nov 2017 and nearly got shot! I was bit critical but I was just stating the truth... only to have upset the hifi Mafia! Good lord! Now I don't bother going, every one of them has been bollocks, according to all my mates who did attend.
There was a really good highend audio show organised from Sydney HiFi once a year, taking turns between Melb & Sydney but they shut down before Covid and never restarted. I guess they learned the hassles in organising such an event, and most shows don't offer high quality sound, the rooms are terrible. Then of course you have to factor in the $$$ elements; from a dealer / brand representative point, are you showing your gear to create awareness or make sales... if so, either way the hassle of engaging in such an event is costly and you may never recover that cost. Or it may take a few months to cover the cost, unless you were selling a 500grand pair of Wilson's.
Speaking of Wilson's, they always make sure their demos are passable... otherwise Daryl Wilson calls it off. They're very strict on their standards, and ensure that every person walking in to their room, will get a sense of what a Wilson top tier speaker should sound like. Of course when you listen to one properly setup, there's no doubt that there are no compromises at this level, hence the high price tags.
As far as I'm aware, it's only the Munich highend audio show that really gets things going. They set up the whole thing on a completely different level, and every room is optimally set-up with what they're given. So pretty much standardised without much flaws. For example, if the speakers are stats or panels, these are dipoles, so there's no point in placing damn curtains behind the panels! That'll kill stats! Similarly, when considering other types of designs, the Munich show organisers go the extra mile to get things right.
Something you mentioned just caught my attention, Clarisys Audio panels. These are the new ribbon panels done by Florian and his production team in Vietnam Hanoi. The Clarisys parent company is based in Switzerland with their R& D facilities based in Swiss as well. These look almost like Apogee refurbs but are a total radical design. The materials used are close to what Alsyvox ribbons use, very rare earth magnets, Neodymium's are used in every model of Alsyvox, hence the exhorbitant cost! Whereas, with Clarisys, they offer Neodymium's as an option. The price then goes up by 25%... still quite stiff: standard panels are around 30grand Euros and about 45grand for the neodymium version. Panel weight starts about 90kgs due to full steel frames and double sided bass panels on heavy duty plinths. This is the smallest model called the Minuet, which is the one you mentioned. That's about 60grand Aus dollars. I'm very keen to audition this but there isn't a single Clarisys model available here. Clarisys is yet to set up but our highend market is so damn tiny, I don't think the Clarisys range would ever set foot here, unless it was their smallest model, which is the Minuet.
The most affordable Alsyvox panels start at $AUD 125grand! And that's the Tintorento, which I've heard, wasn't that great but their Botichelli-X and Raffaello panels are superb! And so are their price tags (250grand to 400grand $AUD) so these are really big toys for the big boys!
At the end of the day, my inner passion with regards to sheer transparency, speed and inner detail will always remain true to well designed electrostats, and for that matter ML stats are superb! There's nothing quite like them. Just as another flavour though, it's always great to have choices, such as Clarisys. Once owned the Apogee Diva's, those were legendary panels.
BTW, if you can remember, how did you find the Clarisys sound? Was it worth 45grand Euros... or is it hard to justify this type of spend? Would like to get your thoughts, I think you're the only person so far who's heard these. ... anyone else?
Cheers, RJ
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I was there all three days. I live 40 minutes away from the Venue. The most interesting Martin Logan demo was actually done by Wendell from Magnepan. He used ML ESL 11’s or 9’s sorry I wasn’t 100% sure with the woofers removed and his concept 37” tall 8 drivers each x2 subwoofer towers with the ML’s the sounds was impressive no mention of the cost. Magnepan room with Martin Logan’s
