VIDEOS & PHOTOS: Live from Axpona 2013 High-End Audio Show

AXPONA. March 8-10, 2013, Chicago

Thomas Mulready of Cool Cleveland spoke with some key industry figures and a few leading manufacturers at the 2013 Axpona high-end audio show in Chicago, the first in the Midwest in 13 years. It was the place to be if you wanted to learn more about some of the finest audio equipment being designed, manufactured and sold today. Videos are embedded below, and you can view the PHOTOSTREAM here.

VIDEO: Steve Davis of Axpona

Audio Expo North America (AXPONA) was organized by Steve Davis, who has put on similar shows throughout the US. The show attracted over 3500 attendees, most from the Midwest states by my anecdotal survey. Most attending audiophiles listen to CDs, but a large number listen to vinyl. Outrageous high-end turntables and speaker were evident everywhere you turned, and the crowd was almost all male.

In addition, we attended one of the informational seminars, “Discussions on What Attracted Us and How To Attract A Younger Audience For The Future,” which featured John Atkinson, editor of Stereophile magazine, and Robert Harley, editor of The Absolute Sound magazine, among others, and was moderated by Besflores Nievera of Music Direct. Interviews with each of these folks appear below. Other sessions addressed the future of high end music, the re-emergence of reel-to-reel tape, how a phono cartridge works, the promise of downloading studio masters, a vinyl ripping session, and a seminar on transcendental meditation.

VIDEO: John Atkinson of Stereophile magazine

VIDEO: Besflores Nievera of Music Direct

VIDEO: Robert Harley of The Absolute Sound

In seven hours, we visited three of the five floors of the show at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel near O’Hare Airport in Chicago, visiting what we estimate to be less than half of the 90 hotel rooms that had been turned into exhibit rooms. Davis estimated that he could have sold 175 rooms, all of which, in case you were wondering, had their beds removed. In addition, the show featured about 74 table displays and 30 booths, representing equipment from over 400 manufacturers.

We interviewed 16 people who represented manufacturers of high-performance audio equipment. In some cases, we were talking with the designers of some of the most advanced sound equipment every produced. Often we spoke with the founder and owner of the company. These interviews appear below.

The field of high-end audio is in rapid transformation from the recent era of CDs and SACD (Super Audio CDs), to a resurgence of the vinyl LP, as well as the maturation of high definition digital files. Much of the action was in showcasing exorbitant speakers and amplifiers, some costing six figures and up. And many of them were certainly impressive, especially considering the challenging conditions of relatively small hotel rooms, questionable power supplies, and even a gratuitous fire alarm, during which hundreds of pasty-faced geeks were forced to walk down 9 floors and wait for the fire department to give the all clear sign. It was obviously the only exercise most of us had all weekend.

VIDEO: Dana Earl of Audio Power Labs & Daniele Coen of Leonardo Speakers.

But the real excitement was in newer technologies such as the ribbon-planar design of Italian manufacturer Leonardo Speakers, in which an array of micro-magnets surrounds a super-thin but extremely large sheet of aluminum foil laminated to a thin plastic diaphragm. We were attracted to this room not because of the technology, but because of word-of-mouth buzz among attendees. We were rewarded with remarkably life-like audio reproduction, with surprisingly smooth response from the very highest highs to the lowest lows, with no distortion or strain ($65,000/pair). In fact, the entire AXPONA show could be experienced without understanding a bit about any technology, but by simply moving from room to room and using your ears.

Those same impressive Leonardo Speakers were being driven by Audio Power Labs 50 TNT amplifiers ($47,500/pair for stereo), based in Columbus, Ohio. They suggested we go down the hall and visit a competitor who was showing another impressive rig. And so we travelled from room to room and floor to floor, occasionally interviewing some of the owners and engineers and designers, and even a self-proclaimed audiophile with no industry affiliation.

VIDEO: Audiophile Fred Dalrymple

VIDEO: David Solomon of Peachtree Audio

The other area of excitement is in digital and streaming options for high quality sound. David Solomon of Peachtree Audio offered an impressive demo of their modestly-priced Decco integrated amp that connects digital sources such as CD or DVD players, plus an analog input for a turntable. He was demonstrating his complete rig with their Decco 65 integrated amp, D4 speakers and an Apple TV unit, which allows streaming via an iPhone using Spotify or MOG at a higher bit rate of 320 kbps. The complete rig would run you $1700 plus $10/month for the streaming audio, and while the D4s don’t go down super low (only to about 58Hz), the organic completeness of the sound was pulling people in from the hallway.

VIDEO: Brett Bargenquast of audioengine

While most of the equipment will be purchased by the 1% of the 1%, technology has opened up the lower price points to some shockingly good sounding stuff. audioengine’s powered speaker and low-priced Digital Analog Converters (DAC), designed to be attached to a laptop or iPhone, selling for as little as $199/pair.

VIDEO: Mark Waldrep of AIX Records

One of the most impressive exhibits was hosted by Mark Waldrep of AIX Records, who went against the analog-loving grain by insisting that high definition audio can’t possibly come from vintage analog recordings. So he starts with new hi-def recording sessions, with artists like Rita Coolidge, Albert Lee and Mark Chestnutt, which he records live in 96 kHz/24-bits, then mixes them for 5.1 home theatre surround as well as 2-channel stereo, and then releases these live concert DVDs on his own label, AIX Records. He confounds traditional modern engineering and production techniques by recording all band members and singers in the same room, with no baffles to maintain track separation. The results are nothing short of breathtaking, if a bit unnerving. With the massive projection screen, performers were larger than life size, and using mics just inches from performers’ instruments and mouths, the listener feels almost like they are touching the musicians. Not recommended for those who have issues with their personal space.

VIDEO: Leland Leard of Music Hall

A new breed of retailer is evolving that offers reasonably low priced audiophile components and accessories such as turntables, reissued 180 gram vinyl LPS, phono stages, and accessories. Brands such as Rega, Pro-Ject, Music Direct, and Music Hall offer a line of affordable products that serve as an entry point to a wider constituency. While the panel we attended approached the topic of developing new audiences somewhat theoretically, these manufacturers are selling more and more product each day to those very newcomers who would keep the stereophile flame burning. While they will never buy a speaker that costs more than their house, they will show the way beyond the ridiculously compressed MP3 music files, iTunes insanity and tinny earbuds that will be a part of Steve Jobs’ legacy.

All in all, it was a BYOE affair: Bring Your Own Ears.

http://www.Axpona.com