Show Notes from AXPONA 2022
That’s a wrap! We had an excellent time at the 2022 AXPONA show in Schaumberg, IL a couple weeks back. Thank you to everyone who managed to visit one or both of our rooms on the fourth floor. We met and had great conversations with all kinds of interesting people: industry luminaries, long time Glenn Poor’s customers, hardcore fans of the brands we had on display, and tons of music lovers who sat and listened to entire records with us. We spun some great music of all genres and generally just jammed out. We are really appreciative of all who came to say hi, especially those who came from far away. A particular highlight was getting to meet Hiroshi Ishihara, the exporter of Hana cartridges, who traveled all the way from Japan to check out the show. We are also incredibly thankful to some former employees and long time customers who gave their time and energy to help us run our rooms, move gear in and out, and provided excellent snacks. Their help was invaluable, so thank you to Dean, Kevin, Thomas, and Brian!
We felt we had some of the best sound out of any of the rooms there. I personally feel very lucky that out of all the rooms, I got to spend all day spinning records on our Luxman/Harbeth and Technics/Balanced Audio Technology/Tannoy systems. They were just so easy to listen to and made no compromises in terms of scale and detail. We tried to avoid the problems of abrasive/fatiguing treble or overpowered bass that are common at shows like these due to non-ideal acoustic spaces. We had a lot of repeat visitors who came to hang out and listen for sometimes hours at a time, which seems like an excellent sign that the sound was right on.
In 442 we had a stunning system built around the brand new Luxman L-507z Class A/B integrated amplifier and Harbeth speakers. We used both speaker outputs to switch between a set of Monitor 30.2XD in Cherry finish ($6690/pr), and a pair of Super HL5 Plus XD in Rosewood ($8490/pr). These were all being fed by Luxman’s D-03x CD player ($4295) and their PD-151 turntable with their brand new LMC-5 moving coil phono pickup ($4995 for the table and $2695 for the cartridge). We were particularly impressed with this turntable and cartridge combination, and we found ourselves almost exclusively playing records. Much like the build quality, the Luxman sound is refined, elegant, and effortless. None of this gear does anything wrong, it just reproduces the signal accurately and looks good doing it. It was also interesting to see which pair of Harbeth people preferred, as we had a pretty even split between folks who liked the HL5s (airier top end and more open and deep bass) and those who preferred the slightly punchier and more mid-forward sound of the 30s. We were running Kubala Sosna Temptation cables and all of this was on a beautiful Critical Mass Systems “Sotto Voce” Sapele Mahogany rack. In our opinion, this system is proof that you do not have to compromise between a “fun” or “easy to listen to” sound and ultimate accuracy and fidelity.
Photo by Robert Harley, Absolute Sound, https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/axpona-2022-robert-harley-on-digital-sources-and-electronics
Next door we displayed some of our favorite high-end gear. At the heart of the system were the incomparable Balanced Audio Technology Rex III tube Pre ($30,000) and Power ($20,000) amplifiers. Anyone who has been to Glenn Poor’s knows how much we love the BAT stuff–more than anything else, it sounds absolutely correct. “Musicality” is a term that’s thrown around a lot. We tend to think it means “sounds the most like music,” which in turn means “sounds the most like the source recording.” The system we had on display in 444 was as “musical” as we’ve ever heard, and seemed to be that way for most of our visitors as well. We were feeding the BAT gear with two of the best front ends you can buy–one digital and one analog. The Playback Designs Dream System (MPD-8 DAC, $24,000; MPT-8 Transport, $23,000+) provided the digital side with music from CDs and a server. For analog, we were running the truly exquisite Hana Umami phono pickup ($4000, w/ Ortofon LH-8000 Headshell at $200) and the flagship Technics SL-1000R direct drive turntable ($19000), both running through the BAT P12 SE (replaced by the VK-P90 at $14,995). This may be the most speed accurate and quietest turntable ever built. All this was driving the stately Tannoy Kensington loudspeakers ($18,000) which are proof that even a classically styled wooden box speaker can sound like the best of the ultra-high end. Also critical to the system were the Puritan PSM 156 power conditioner ($2300), the Puritan Ground Master City grounding device ($290), a Lateral Audio AV Rack (~$5000), and Kubala Sosna Elation cables throughout.
If you didn’t get a chance to hear these wonderful products at the show, we have the vast majority of them on display at our store in Champaign, IL, so it would be well worth the visit to hear. Once again, we are very grateful that we had so many enthusiastic attendees and are excited for the future of the AXPONA show and for hi-fi audio in general! Hope to see you soon!
Glenn Poor’s Team
