Geoff’s Thoughts on Axpona
Well, it’s over.
AXPONA 2022 was a three day festival of HI-FI and music - some great, some good, some not so good - like all shows. However, there were some exceptional set-ups as reported back to me by people whose ears I trust. Our team captain, Kavi, spoke highly of the Linkwitz room, which was also given kudos by Thomas. The Magnepan LRS + room was, as expected, pretty amazing - especially given the announced price point of $995/pair. But, let’s be honest, Maggies are always amazing! I heard good things about our old pal, PJ, and his Bel Canto set-up. In fact, I stopped in for a few minutes to listen, and the sound was fluid, smooth and natural, and that was before PJ turned on the tunes…….
I also did a quick tour of Quintessence’s three rooms with owner Mick Survance as my guide, and was particularly impressed with his set-up of Wilson’s versatile Sasha DAW. The Sasha’s are a really marvelous loudspeaker, and one of my favorites here at Glenn Poor’s. In fact, just thinking about it, we may have too many “favorite” speakers here…..
Which gets me back to our two rooms at AXPONA where we demonstrated Harbeth in one room and Tannoy in the other. We paired the Harbeths (30.2 XD or Super HL 5XD) with Luxman, while Tannoy Kensingtons were driven by BAT’s majestic REX 3 linestage and REX 3 Power. Playback Designs “Dream” digital system and Technics’ SL-1000 RE-S turntable, fitted with Hana’s brilliant Umami MC cartridge, provided the sources for digital and analog playback, respectively. Of course cabling from Kubala-Sosna was very important to the great sound we had in both rooms. Our systems would not have sounded so natural were it not for my old friend, Brian Tucker, who is Puritan Audio’s N. American distributor. The Puritan products are better than advertised, and made the difficult AC power available in the hotel rooms much cleaner. Kavi’s “Show Report” goes into more detail regarding our set-ups. Admittedly, I didn’t get around to see many exhibits, but, based on reports from folks who visited our rooms, we must have represented pretty well. I’m glad our sound was so good, frankly, because that’s where I was for three days…….
A shout out needs to go to singer/songwriter Lori Lieberman who performed with the terrific Jeremy Kahn jazz quartet on Saturday night. Lori’s excellent performance featured mostly covers - which was unique in that, before that concert, I’ve only ever heard her perform her own compositions, such as “Killing Me Softly”, before. Lori’s husband and producer, Joe Cali, is an old friend who is always fun to talk to. It was really nice that Ann and I were able to hang a bit after the concert, and chat with them before they went back home to LA. Which leads me to another AXPONA bonus. Shows like AXPONA are a good place to see and talk with old friends - friends whom we tend to lose track of otherwise. Everyone is just too “busy” in this crazy world.
Shows can also be a beating - at least for me. It’s intense having to load, transport, unload and set-up in one day, then work the rooms for three days, culminating in a tear down and drive back to Champaign on Sunday where we got in around midnight!!! By the time Ann and I got home, I could barely walk! Please, no “old” jokes”! We were truly lucky to have such a good team. “Captain” Kavi did a great job organizing and demonstrating, while we were fortunate to be joined by Glenn Poor’s alumnus (and current Shure design engineer) Thomas Satrom along with good friend Dean Thompson who was really helpful with setup and teardown. Also, Dr. Brian was a real pal for bringing wine, cheese crackers and jam. I was especially lucky to have my great friend and “Brother From A Different Mother”, Kevin McCann, volunteer. Kevin spun most of the tunes in our BAT/Tannoy room. Some of you will remember Kevin when he was the managing partner of Glenn Poor Chicago. Kevin is a true devotee to THE MUSIC as well as the equipment that reproduces it. Thanks, Kev.
We’re currently booked for next year’s AXPONA (Rooms 442 & 444), so I hope to see you there.
See ya,
Geoff
