LATEST ADDITIONS

AXPONA 2024
MoFi, HiFi Rose, Piega, Leak
Rogier van Bakel  |  May 06, 2024  |  0 comments
I counted more than 40 audio products in the MoFi Distribution Schaumburg B ballroom. How to cover such a cornucopia? Making my job easier was that only eight of them were hooked up. The others were there to be oohed and ahed over, perhaps prodded and poked, but they’d (re)produce no music at the show.
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AXPONA 2024
Fidelity Imports, the Listening Room, Diptyque, Audia Flight, Titan, and QED
Rogier van Bakel  |  May 06, 2024  |  1 comments
High-flying Fidelity Imports occupied seven rooms at AXPONA 2024—probably a show record. Since starting the company in 2018, industry veteran Steve Jain has signed up a bevy of brands from Italy, France, England, Japan, and beyond.
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Audacious AudioSolid State Power Amp Reviews
Linn Klimax Solo 800 monoblock power amplifier
Jason Victor Serinus  |  May 06, 2024  |  2 comments
For reasons that have as much to do with why the creek does or doesn't rise as anything, almost all the UK-manufactured electronics I've reviewed over the years were from dCS of Cambridge. Through 2023, no electronics from Linn or a host of other UK-based companies have crossed the threshold of my music room.

That situation changed when, soon after New Year's, a pair of Linn's 60lb Klimax Solo 800 monoblock amplifiers ($90,000/pair) arrived from Scotland. Right away, they delighted me with their ease of maneuverability, handsome, uncluttered look, and relative compactness. Given their impressive power output—400W into 8 ohms, 800W into 4 ohms, and a whopping 1.2kW into 2 ohms—the Klimax Solo 800s set a record for highest price per watt and per pound among class-AB monoblocks I've reviewed.

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AXPONA 2024
Linn, Linn, and did I say Linn?
Jason Victor Serinus  |  May 05, 2024  |  2 comments
It was great to finally meet Joe Rodger, a member of the young Linn team with whom I coordinated my review of Linn Klimax Solo 800 monoblocks ($90,000/pair) that appears in the May 2024 issue
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AXPONA 2024
Bayz Audio, Chord Electronics, Aurender, Shunyata Research
Rogier van Bakel  |  May 05, 2024  |  0 comments
Going to an audio show is a bit like being a finalist in that old Monty Hall show where your prize is behind one of three identical doors. At AXPONA, there are more than 200 identical doors.
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AXPONA 2024
JMF Audio, Ideon Audio, Stenheim, and ictra design
Jason Victor Serinus  |  May 05, 2024  |  0 comments
Audio Skies and Fidelis AV teamed up to present some of my favorite emerging stars of the Audio Highlands. It was a joy to re-experience some of the special sound I heard in my music room when I reviewed JMF Audio monoblocks.
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AXPONA 2024
Porzilli Audio, Laufer Teknik, and darTZeel America with Liquid Cables
Jason V Serinus  |  May 05, 2024  |  0 comments
It was good to see Sam Laufer again after several years. It was equally good to hear how fine Mark Porzilli’s Porzilli Audio speakers plus subwoofers ($35,000/pair) sounded in the company of the fabulous darTZeel LHC-208 Mk II integrated amplifier with DAC/streamer ($27,585), a Laufer Teknik Mini Memory Player 64 ($7500), an SVS 3000 Micro subwoofer ($899), and Liquid Cables.
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AXPONA 2024
Mon Acoustic speakers, Accuphase, Metronome, TAOC, and more
Jason Victor Serinus  |  May 05, 2024  |  0 comments
In room 1126, I encountered one of many marriages of convenience between brands and distributors that prove to be matches made in audiophile heaven. In this case, it was the union of new Mon Acoustic PlatiMON VC One bookshelf speakers ($6000/pair) on top, joined by jumpers to the PlatiMON VC Two bass module ($11,000/pair), mated with components from AXISS Audio distributors and other companies.
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AXPONA 2024
Fine Sounds America, Rotel Michi, Sonus faber, Pro-Ject, and Cardas
Rogier van Bakel  |  May 05, 2024  |  0 comments
My only regret about visiting the Fine Sounds America room was that I went there at 10 in the morning. Considering how excellent the system sounded, this set the bar for the rest of the day almost impossibly high, and I like to ease into things. Despite the fact that I hadn’t had my morning coffee yet, I was instantly awake.
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AXPONA 2024
Vandersteen + AudioQuest + AMG + Lyra + Audio Research + Aurender = Music
Jason Victor Serinus  |  May 05, 2024  |  2 comments
In the quiet inner sanctum of Ultra Fidelis’ two-room suite with Vandersteen, AudioQuest, AMG, Audio Research and more, I sat enthralled before one of the most musical systems I encountered at AXPONA.
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