Axpona

I enjoyed the MBL room (as I did 2 years ago) but the big surprise for me was the Lawrence Audio/Rowland room. Excellent speakers from Taiwan.

I spent too much time in the Ear Gear room and did not go to the 12th floor. Looks like I did not miss much based on the comments here. I was impressed with the MrSpeakers Ether headphones. A great way to test out all the latest headphones.

I agree with much that has been said. I enjoyed speakers from Raidho, MBL, HHR Exotics, and Kaiser Acoustics as much as any others.

I liked the Magico M Project speakers in a small room more than the big room setup. The Q7's were highly detailed, but not moving me. I think part of it was the music selection I heard while there. I felt like I was almost listening to sound effects tracks at times.

My favorite speakers from the more budget-friendly priced options were from Odyssey, Emerald Physics, and Tyler Acoustics.

I agree with DMS1. Unless you just had a heavy meal and were looking to nod off, you made the right move.

The Ear Expo was great, but a little gross if one bothered to think about it, which I tried not to do. Lots of amps and top end headphones to try. I really like the Ether, more than LCD-X. I never heard of Mr. Speakers before that day. They are more comfortable and lighter than the Audeze, but I think the LCD-3s have me because of their fuller sound. Stax SR-009 was also great to finally try; still preferred the LCD-3. Dana Cable proved themselves in an A/B setup with their cable versus stock headphone cable on the same headphone model. The difference was such I would be compelled to buy theirs over using stock cords. Fun.

Merrill Wettasinghe was kind enough to respond to me and provide clarification on the pairing of the VERITAS amps and the horns. He graciously allowed me to post his reply, which is included in part below.

"The VERITAS was partnered with the Horns due to the sonic qualities of the horns that were dicovered accidently by the Sadurni during a city shutdown because of a snow storm. In the listening sessions, The VERITAS Monoblocks were toyingly and reluctantly replacing a high end Tube amp. Much to everyones surprise, and to the surprise of Sadurni also, it was better. I was not in that listening session and was called later to listen it them which I reluctantly did as I care much for the horn sound. I was surprised also at the sound from the horns which has no horn sound but all the dynamics and punch.
Here is the reviewer's write up.
http://dagogo.com/sadurni-acoustics-staccato-speakers-review-part-ii-the-sound/2"

BG

Milpai. What was it about the Vandersteen Treos that you found disappointing?