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Some Axpona thoughts

Went on Friday. Always try to find great sounding speakers that are not TOO expensive. Ones that impressed me- Vapor Cirrus Black(4K),Kef Ls50($1500), Rega RS5($1500),Joseph Pulsar(not cheap at 7K but a special speaker),Sonus Faber Veneer 3.0(bargain at $3500), Legacy Aeris(12k), Acoustic Zen Crescendo(16K) and lots more. Two others intrigued me. 1)Newform Research line array.(10K) 84" Tall with about 12 drivers and about 3 feet of ribbons drivers mounted directly in front of the other drivers. It looks odd and you wouldn't think it would work,but it sounded totally transparent and with 4 subs and a cross-over thrown into the package- it wasn't a bad deal. The star of the show had to be the Tad Reference One. It was worth the price of admission alone. At 70K, totally unaffordable for me, but what a treat to listen to. They played a Master Tape on a reel-to-reel of a jazz recording. It was literally like the sax player was inside the speaker. The most accurate reproduction of an instrument and music I've ever heard. That's what cool about these shows. I would like to hear other people thoughts if they were there-especially on the Newform Research(am I crazy?) and the TAD(I can't be crazy).
jackmonster
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
6,996 posts
 
Papermill,
Thanks for your impression of theVolti. The Horning is a speaker I am very curious to hear. My guess is it sounds quite good.
Charles,
Ag insider logo xs@2x
drubin
3,240 posts
 
As always, I read these comments and discover I somehow missed a bunch of stuff I would have wanted to hear. Damn.

My favorite rooms:

Bricasti, with their M1 DAC and new monoblock amps, plus Tidal speakers. This was the sound I liked most at the show.

Devore Fidelity, showing the new Gibbon X and the O96. Wonderful.

Horning speakers in the High Water Sound room. Plus, Jeff Catalano is a really compelling guy.

Sadurni Acoustics horn speakers with the Merrill Veritas amps and International Phonograph tapes as source. Not exactly neutral, but perhaps the most gorgeous, luscious sound I recall ever hearing.

Tip of my cap to KEF. Their demo was the LS50s and the Blades, both driven by PrimaLuna electronics, showing that you don't have to spend a fortune to get high-end sound. I'll bet this demo yields a lot of LS50 sales, a few Blades and probably some PrimaLuna also.
mt10425
1,138 posts
 
I'm with Drubin on all but the Kef LS50. Hollow sound in a room too big for them. The Blades however...nice.
gocubs999
154 posts
 
Did Avalon display their speakers? Curious to know what Tidal & TAD models where on display.
essentialaudio
1,147 posts
 
04-27-14: Papermill
Sound Lab Millenium with Clarity Cable.
Thank you, glad you liked the sound.

Actually the speakers we demonstrated were Sound Lab Majestic 845s. (A review of this model was just published on EnjoyTheMusic.com) Power cords, power distributors, and digital cables were by Clarity Cable, while most of the analog interconnects and speaker cables were by Teo Audio.
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