AXPONA 2022

We shall be making the trek out to the wilds of Schaumburg, Illinois to bring you coverage of all the latest and greatest in high-end audio at what currently is the biggest North American audio show scheduled this year. Hosted at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel, it will be three days and well over 100 rooms full of audiophile goodness to be discovered and reported on. Keep a weather eye on both our Instagram and Facebook feeds (@hometheaterhifi) as we will be uploading images and content throughout the show. A proper “old-school” show report will appear on these pages once we return and have come down from the audio-induced high.

Carlo Lo Raso
Co-Editor-In-Chief

AXPONA Opening Day. Let’s get this show on the road!

Local Chicago dealer, Saturday Audio Exchange was running a number of display rooms at AXPONA. This one featured audio delights from GoldenEar Technology, Parasound, and AudioQuest. I took a good listen to the BRX/SubX 2.2 setup they had going and the Triton Reference loudspeaker pair. Both sounded fantastic. Dave and Tiago from Audioquest and Chris from Saturday Audio Exchange set up and ran a fine-sounding room.

Saturday Audio Exchange had another room featuring PSB and NAD equipment. PSB’s Paul Barton was there running the demo on the flagship PSB Synchrony T600 tower speakers. The speakers sounded clean and very dynamic with a variety of musical material. On the other side of the room was a 2.2 setup anchored by the PSB Synchrony B600 bookshelf speakers and supported with dual SubSeries 450 subwoofers. NAD electronics kept everything under tight control.

2022 marks Paul Barton’s 50th anniversary as the chief designer and engineer of PSB Speakers, the company he founded in 1972. Paul not only is a brilliant speaker designer and pioneer, but he is also one of the most humble people you will come across in the audio industry. He is an “Audio Sensei,” freely giving of his time and wisdom to audio journalists, educating us over the years, in turn helping us to become more knowledgeable and better at what we do. From all of us here at Secrets, Happy Anniversary and Congratulations to you Paul! May your best design be yet to come!

Local dealer Audio Video Interiors of Chicago had a very moody red room with a lovely pair of Bower & Wilkins 802 D4 loudspeakers mated to a stout pair of JL Audio subwoofers. The digital source was from Aurender, control and amplification electronics were from McIntosh, and bass management was performed via a JL Audio CR-1 electronic crossover. A very potent combination!

A little video of those fine B&W 802 D4 in their very red room.

Dealer Quintessence Audio Ltd was showing off the magnificent Sonus faber Aida MkII loudspeakers. These Italian beauties were being driven by Boulder electronics with digital sourcing courtesy of DCS. Analog playback came by turntables from Clearaudio with a DS Audio Grand Master optical phono cartridge set. The Aidas were chaperoned to the AXPONA ball by the affable Will Kline, National Brand Manager at Sonus faber. Wickedly pretty things with a beguiling sound to match.

The Sonus faber Aida MkII doing a little singing at AXPONA.

Harman Luxury Audio had two rooms at the show. The first featured the Revel F328Be ($8,800/each) sourced and powered by Mark Levinson electronics. A clean and powerful sounding system. A sonic sledgehammer in a three-piece suit.

The other Harman Luxury Audio room featured the JBL SA750 Anniversary Edition integrated amplifier ($3,000), with 130 watts per channel into 8-ohms (Class G amplification) and Dirac Live room correction, playing through a pair of L52 Classic bookshelf monitors ($1,000/pair). A little bit of retro-cool for your listening room or office.

Distributor Fidelity Imports was hosting Perlisten in one of their rooms on the 6th floor of the show. But when I got there, not just any Perlisten speakers were set up and playing mind you, they were demoing the very pair of S7t towers ($9,995/each, custom finish) that I reviewed late last year! Once I was convinced that there was no reasonable way that I could abscond with these speakers without being seen, I sat down and took a good hard listen to them again. Did I still think they were as good as I thought they were when I had them in my studio? Yeah… yeah, they were. The S7t were performing the same kind of imaging magic that they did when I had them. They still exhibited (even in this hotel room) that same wonderfully balanced sound coupled with producing effortless kick-ass bass when called for. The speakers were powered by the Unison Research Unico 150 integrated amp ($6,000), a lovely-looking tube amp from Italy.

The S7t ticks every box for me, and I think they are truly one of the more brilliant passive speaker designs to come along in a long while. Speaking a bit with CEO Dan Roemer, we discussed a little about how far Perlisten had come to this point, and he mentioned a little about where they were going. That was mostly shown in the form of the new custom in-wall speakers they had at the show along with the new smaller S5t mid-size tower ($6,9995/each, piano gloss finish) that Dan seemed particularly proud of. Perlisten’s team of CTO Erik Wiederholtz, CEO Dan Roemer, and CSO Lars Johansen are a very interesting and driven group of cats. I suspect more cool things will be coming our way from these guys and this brand very soon.

Focal Naim America had what seemed like a ginormous presence at AXPONA this year. The aptly named “Utopia B” ballroom was chocked full of gear from every corner of the company’s portfolio. From the Maestro Utopia floor-standing speakers ($37,999/each) run by a Naim Statement 3-piece system ($389,997) to 1000 Series Utopia In-walls ($7,599/each) to a whole headphone listening bar, and still more! But in case you weren’t aware, Focal Naim America also distributes brands like Thorens turntables, Sound Performance Labs, and Musical Fidelity to the North American Market. It was an impressive visual and sonic statement, and I haven’t even gotten to the backside of the room yet! That’s in the next couple of posts.

A panorama shot of the Chora-based 7.2.4 Dolby ATMOS system that was demonstrating content in the back of the Focal Naim America room!

Focal Naim America had set up an effective 7.2.4 Dolby ATMOS demonstration area in the back of their display room. The system was comprised of their full line of Chora loudspeakers for each channel along with a pair of subwoofers. The whole shebang was controlled by a Focal Astra 16, 16 channel processor/amplifier and sourced via Apple TV streaming some of Tidal’s Dolby ATMOS content. The demos were frequent and almost always packed with attendees.

As a side note, FOCAL is running a Spring 20% off special on their current Chora line inventory. The sale runs until supplies last.

• Chora 806 – $399 each
• Chora 816 – $719 each
• Chora 826 – $959 each
• Chora 826-D – $1199 each
• Chora Center – $631 each
• Chora Surround – $399 each
• Chora Center Stand – $119 each
• Chora Stand – $231 pair

A little taste of the Dolby ATMOS demo in the FOCAL Naim America room.

Also distributed by Focal Naim America is IsoAcoustics which specializes in isolation devices and platforms for speakers, subwoofers, turntables, and audio electronics. Having recently reviewed the IsoAcoustics Gaia II isolation feet for loudspeakers, I was very impressed with the overall looks and performance of the products along with the design and engineering behind them. I got to meet and chat with company founder and chief designer Dave Morrison and his son Paul, who is head of sales. As a former Toronto kid, I enjoyed hearing Dave recount his experience working with the CBC when they were building the (at that time) new broadcast center in downtown Toronto in the early 90s. Much of the experience gained from that project was directly applied to the concepts that IsoAcoustics products are based on.

It was a pleasure to be a part of SVS’s Audiophile Happy Hour this past Thursday and I dropped back to the room during show hours to see what was new and exciting. The SVS team had an impressive 5.2.2 channel ATMOS setup in their room based on their Prime series loudspeakers and it was constantly packed with attendees during all the demos. In terms of new products, the company was touting their recently announced Prime Wireless Pro active loudspeakers which are a larger and more capable version of the existing Prime Wireless models. Additions to the Pro versions include an HDMI ARC connection, a new front display with improved visibility and information, and an overall increase in performance and connectivity. SVS VP Nick Brown and CEO Gary Yacoubian were modeling some lovely and fashionable SVS cables for me because SVS recently announced some new additions to their SoundPath line of high quality, affordable cables. The newest additions are the SoundPath Balanced XLR and optical digital cables giving customers more ways to get high-performance interconnects, with great quality and aesthetics, without breaking the bank.

Demo in the SVS room. I think the volume level overwhelmed the mics I was using!

Pro Audio Design Inc is the new North American distributor for TAD Labs of Japan. They had a number of the current models on display in their main room. I got a chance to listen to the smaller ME-1K Micro Evolution monitors that our own Jim Milton recently reviewed, and the larger CR-1TX Compact Reference standmounts. At $14,500 and $85,500 respectively these aren’t speakers for everyone, but TAD loudspeakers simply ooze quality and craftsmanship and their sound never fails to impress. There is nothing quite like them.

As its name implies, Pro Audio Design Inc has made its reputation serving the pro recording industry for many years. President Dave Malekpour told me that there has been some interest in adapting some of their professional monitoring products for home Hi-Fi use. To that end, they were demonstrating their Augspurger MX-65 2-way Minimax active reference monitor mated with a pair of 12″ active subs. The speakers feature a 1.4-inch Beryllium compression driver, behind a CNC hard maple horn waveguide, and a custom 6.5-inch midrange driver. All crossover, DSP, EQ, phase, and various other parameters are handled by the SXE3 3-way custom amplifier. The Class D amp provides 300 watts (per channel) to the horn, and 1000 watts to the midrange and can be configured for an additional 2500 watts (per channel) for subwoofers. The speaker system with an amp is $10,995. Adding in a pair of 12-inch subwoofers will take it to $17,500.

The system sounded clean, powerful, and dynamic, particularly when listening in the nearfield, and offers a load of flexibility to configure for a given room.

I had a chance to catch up with Andrew Jones at AXPONA both a little before and after the official announcement of his new role at MoFi. It looks like that new arrangement will be an opportunity for Andrew to have complete creative and technical control over the speakers that MoFi will ultimately release. It also looks like it will allow him to return to the higher-end sphere with his initial creations for them. It’s the kind of situation that most people would probably dream of and MoFi made it happen for this happy-looking fellow. And for those who may have been concerned about any bad blood with his now-former employer, Andrew and ELAC are on very good terms with his departure, and ELAC is well-positioned with some serious speaker design talent to take over where Andrew left off.

And just to prove there are no hard feelings, Chris Walker, VP of Product Development at ELAC joined in for a photo and some good-natured ribbing! I wonder if it was a plan that ELAC and Mo-Fi had their rooms practically next to each other at the show?

Canadian manufacturer Muraudio had a very simple but excellent sounding room with their electrostatic/dynamic hybrid speakers, the SP1 ($14,700/pair) powered by a Hegel H390 integrated amp ($6,000). Chief Designer Murray Harman described to me how the special curved electrostatic array allows for a much wider sweet spot than what a traditional flat-panel array could achieve. The four traditional mid-woofers were custom designed to provide significant output but at a much lower level of distortion in order to match the panel’s performance level. True to his description, and just like when I heard them in Florida, the Muraudio SP1 provided an exceptionally transparent presentation with extremely wide imaging that gave great results even when well away from the traditional listening position. Bass output and reach were surprisingly robust and exceeded expectations.

It was great to see Legacy Audio at AXPONA with a full presentation of their line. The newest addition to the Legacy Audio family is the Signature XD, shown in a rich brown walnut finish. An updated active version of the longstanding Signature model. The new XD version comes with 650 watts of onboard amplification (per speaker) that can be assigned to either power an entire speaker or just the bass section, allowing the use of an external amp to power the mids and tweeter. Price is between $10,800.00 to $12,646.00 depending on the finish.

Secretly tucked away in an unmarked room on the 5th floor was Magnepan who was showing something new to those who received advanced invitations. The new thing was the LRS-plus, an updated version of the entry-level LRS. The updated panel featured snazzy new (albeit prototype) riser feet that lift the LRS-plus a few inches of the floor, similar to some aftermarket products like Magna Risers.

But the panel and risers weren’t all that was new. A prototype pair of tall, triangular totems that were actually open baffle subwoofers, were inconspicuously tucked away behind plants and a wine rack. These prototype subs used 16 smaller drivers in each stack to effectively extend the low end of the panels and the open baffle design aids in a smoother integration with the panel’s dispersion pattern. Bass management was provided via an external electronic crossover box. Wendell Diller of Magnepan was acting as DJ and played a number of tracks for my listening session. The LRS-Plus had that trademark Magnepan imaging with just a wicked amount of clarity. On a track or two, I found the female vocals to be almost a little too intense. But when the classical stuff came on, just wow!! A huge presentation with precise localization of the instruments. It was something else, and the subwoofers handily filled in a good chunk of the lower octaves with authority. The price is to be around the $995.00 mark and the company offers a generous in-home trial on these speakers. Look for availability around summertime.

Geshelli Labs brought their headphone amp and DAC awesomeness to AXPONA and their room was jam-packed every time I passed by. I was able to grab a few words with co-founder Geno Geshelli between him greeting attendees and answering their questions. It sounds like they have been super busy keeping up with demand as lots of people have found a lot to love about this great little company and its high-performing, high-value products. Geno mentioned that they will be bringing some new stuff to market later in the year including a speaker amplifier and a choice of AKM chips for their DACs along with their standard ESS choices. I snapped a few pics of this lovely Geshelli stack alongside some equally lovely headphones from ZMF. Outside I caught up with Geno’s better-half (and co-founder) Sherri Geshelli as she was chatting with Randy Messman aka The Cheap Audio Man. Super cool people and Randy’s not half bad either!

ATC speakers were featured in two rooms at AXPONA. The first room was sponsored by North American distributor, Lone Mountain Audio. Featured here are the ATC SCM40 sealed passive tower speakers ($7,999/pair) along with the ATC CDA2mkII preamp/DAC/CD player ($4.999). It was all powered by an ATC P2 300-watt per channel stereo power amp ($4,999) and sourced by a digital front end courtesy of Perfect-Bit and MUTEC. The sound coming from these ATC speakers was dynamic and clear with an incredibly punchy low end for a sealed, passive speaker. They were also displaying a cross-section of one of ATC’s famous midrange dome drivers.

I’ll just call this “Turntable Porn” from the fine folks at Triangle Art!

Things were consistently hopping at the HiFiMAN booth. Lots of fun stuff to listen to.

A truly luxurious and over-the-top system by Aries Cerat from Cyprus. The Aurora horn speakers appeared to be an open-baffle design with 4 massive 12” bass drivers arranged in an “X” pattern around an equally massive compression driver in the mouth of the horn. The electronics are all handmade by Aries Cerat (except the streamer by Pink Faun) and look beautifully designed and built to last a lifetime. This was a spectacle system with a lovely sound to match.

MartinLogan had their Statement 40XW in-wall speakers set up in custom enclosures and stands in order to be demonstrated at the show. They were mated to a pair of the company’s Dynamo series subwoofers and controlled by an Anthem STR integrated amp with ARC Genesis room correction. These sounded impressive, and well they should have for the $40K per pair price tag. I personally liked the enclosures and think the company should offer them as an extra-cost option. With a nice wood veneered or painted finish, you could have yourself a crazy cool pair of line arrays.

Paradigm had their Founders 120H loudspeakers ($8,500/pair) with active bass section and built-in ARC Genesis room correction playing with Anthem STR electronics. I reviewed these speakers recently and concluded that, for the money, very little else sounded as good or was as flexible in the $10K per pair price bracket. These speakers come in well under that range and I still stand by that claim.

ELAC’s room was running a demo with their Concentro S 507 loudspeakers taking center stage. The S 507 ($7,500/each) is the first tier in the Concentro line featuring ELAC’s JET 5 AMT tweeter set concentrically within a midrange driver using an aluminum sandwich construction. The mid-bass and side-mounted bass drivers are also aluminum and were able to hit some serious low notes in the demo. The elegantly canted back enclosure was a nice departure from the usual standard box shape. The Concentros were powered and controlled by a stack of ELAC’s Alchemy electronics. Those electronics were plugged into one of ELAC’s new ProTeK PR-91W surge protector/power conditioners. The PR-91W is highly configurable with its own app and has 10 total power outlets plus 4 USB ports. It’s the top unit in the ProTek range at $599.98, but there are a number of lower-priced models to fit various needs too.

The Sound Organization room was showing a pretty snazzy entry-level system for the budding Hi-Fi enthusiast. The Rega System-One is an all-analog system comprised of the Planar 1 turntable (with MM cartridge), the io Integrated amplifier, and Kyte bookshelf loudspeakers. I say it’s an all-analog system because the io Integrated amplifier has no onboard digital resources. But the 30-watt per channel amplifier has a headphone amplifier, a built-in MM phono stage input, and two additional line-level inputs. The System-One sounded very appealing in what was essentially an untreated room. The Kyte speakers put out a better-than-expected soundstage with plenty of detail and more than acceptable bass output. For $2,150, it makes for a heck of a nice turnkey system that would work in any dorm, bedroom, or small apartment. Nice job Rega!

Luxman set up residence in one of the larger ballrooms with a fine selection of their gear and an imposing pair of Magico M6 loudspeakers. All the Luxman components reeked of impeccable quality and it’s the sort of gear that many of us lust after and aspire to own. The sound was pretty sweet too! Of course, the Magicos helped a little!

The new Klipsch Jubilee. They are big. They are bold. They are DSP controlled. Featuring a large format compression driver with a 5″ Titanium diaphragm behind that top horn and a 12″ bass driver in a fully horn-loaded enclosure. At $36K for the pair, you best not be saving them for a second system in the guest bedroom! Heck, I’ve seen air raid sirens that were smaller!

German brand T+A had a large presence at AXPONA. They have set up a US distribution arm and it looks like they are definitely making a significant push into the US market. Fine by me as I have loved the design, build, and sound of their components since I first discovered them at the Munich show in 2018. The faceplate of one of their components was made of solid milled aluminum and felt like it weighed at least 10 pounds alone when I picked it up. I could do arm curls with it!

The elegant Estelon Forza loudspeakers ($160,000/pair) mated to Krell and MSB electronics, in particular, a new prototype Krell amp (weighing in at 160 lbs.) called the KSA-i400. The amp is slated to cost $35,000 when officially released later in the year. It is spec’d to put out 400 watts/channel into 8-ohms, double that into 4-ohms, and double again into 2-ohms. Great-sounding room.

Alta Audio had recently announced their new Adam 3-way loudspeaker and here it is in all its glossy rosewood glory ($18,000/pair). The speakers were powered by a Rogers KWM-88 Integrated amp. Digital was handled by Jay’s Audio CDT3 Transport and a Mojo Audio Mystique X DAC. In the group photo (L to R), Arjuna Das from Mojo Audio with Michael and Maryann Levy from Alta Audio.

Another lovely sounding room.

AV Luxury Group International had two rooms featuring products by Margules, Scansonic HD, Raidho, Brodmann, and RSX. I was especially taken with the tube gear by Margules, specifically the new ARCH-3 Hybrid Integrated amp ($4,000), and U-280 SC 30th Anniversary Class A Amp ($10,000). I got to listen to the ARCH-3 through Margules’ own Orpheo speakers and a pair of U-280 SC in mono were powering the Raidho TD3.8 speakers. Glorious sounding stuff!

Aretai loudspeakers were showing off their little Contra 100S bookshelf speakers powered by the Benchmark LA4 preamp and a pair of AHB2 power amps in mono. Digital sourcing was via an Aurender N200 Streamer going through a Benchmark DAC3 B. In listening the compact system soon proved to be quite the overachiever with crystalline highs, a balanced midrange, and some surprisingly deep bass. The rear-facing 6″ driver is not a passive radiator but a full driver that works in a bipole configuration along with the matching front driver. A highly resolving and potent compact system.

Popped in to visit with Joseph Perfito of Clarus Cable to catch up on all things cable and power. I currently have a set of Aqua cables and a Sextet power center in for review, so I enjoyed picking Joe’s brain for a little background detail while at the show.

So, this had to be one of the most effective 3D sound-coming-from-only-two-speakers demonstrations that I’ve ever heard. The Bacch-SP adio Stereo Purifier took standard two-channel music content, in this case via digital or analog input, and combined with advanced processing and head tracking technology will create a thoroughly convincing 3D soundscape around me. Once the attached webcam locked on to my head location, the sound tracked my head movements and adjusted accordingly. The creator of the technology, Dr. Edgar Choueiri was running the demonstration and as soon as the first binaural audio tracks from Chesky records started, the auditory results were uncanny. That track where David Chesky is in a church, about 30 feet away, and walks up to your left ear and whispers in it? Creepy real! Then came Dark Side of the Moon, I have never been that enveloped by that music before until now. It was eerily real! The speakers used in the demo were the JansZen Valentina, but I was told that any two speakers would work to achieve the same effects. Impressive!

MoFi had four different rooms at the show but this one particularly caught my eyes and ears. Manger P2 floor-standing speakers ($21,995/pair), Dr. Feickert Blackbird turntable with Schick 10.5 tonearms ($10,695), Koetsu Black Goldline phono cartridge ($2,295), Whest Two.2 phono stage ($2,495), HiFiRose RS250 Wireless Network Streamer ($2,495), and the Mastersound Compact 845 integrated amp ($10,495). Beautiful imaging out of this combination.

Distributor Wynn Audio’s room had all manner of audio goodness on demonstration. The very green Vimberg Mino D Loudspeakers ($58,000/pair), a Kalista DreamPlay X CD Transport ($68,800), Metronome AQWO CD Player/DAC ($20,000), Thales Compact II Turntable with Simplicity II tonearm ($25,000), X-Quisite Fire phono cartridge ($11,140), Karan Acoustics Ph Reference Phonostage ($27,000), Karan Acoustics LINE a Preamplifier ($41,000), Dual Karan Acoustics Power a Monoblocks ($106,000/each), and Entreq Olympus Ground Box ($18,000). A powerful statement in both looks and sound.

For those that are reel-to-reel geeks, I bring you a little RTR porn in the form of the United Home Audio Superdeck. That is $90K worth of analog tape goodness for the absolutely committed. Save your shekels, campers!

As seen in one of the MoFi rooms on static display, the Hifi Rose RA180 integrated amplifier. I love the look of this thing! Its lab equipment meets Steampunk, meets NAGRA, all in one. What we know about this unit is that it can possess up to four channels of Class-D amplification (4 x 200 watts into 8-ohms) that can be configured in a variety of ways. Onboard, crossover resources help with that too. It also has a built-in MM and MC phono stage. Price is said to be $7495.

Video of the Hifi Rose RA180 doing its thing!

Two great Cambridge Audio-based systems, the larger one featuring Q-Acoustics Concept 500 speakers. I thought these two systems neatly book-ended both ends of the price spectrum of what normal people might spend on a good audio system. Both sounded great.

The Vinnie Rossi Brama Integrated amplifier. A 200-watt per channel piece of sublime audio sculpture, I mean look at those gorgeous dials! While I wasn’t exactly a fan of the speakers they were using in the demo, I kinda didn’t notice. I was too mesmerized by the Brama’s beauty to care.

Some zesty tube gear from Zesto Audio with a Dr. Feickert Analogue Blackbird turntable playing through a pair of Tannoy Kensington speakers. Just delightful sounding!

Dan Wiggins and Ben Webster of Periodic Audio are two of the most fun and knowledgeable guys in the biz. Straight-talking and unpretentious, they have updated all of their IEMs, Nickel amplifier, and Rhodium DACs for this year. I’ve listened to them all and liked what I heard so we will probably review them in the near future. Great fun to catch up with them!

Distributor Audio Excellent had some lovely examples of French audio to share with the AXPONA crowd, in the form of electronics by Atoll and speakers by Atohm. The speakers were from Atohm’s GT series, from largest to smallest, they are the GT3-HD ($12,999/pair), the GT2-HD ($7,499/pair), and the GT1-HD ($4,499/pair), all are designed and assembled in France. Atohm designs all their drivers in-house to very tight tolerances, combined with some elegant cabinet work to make a very pretty set of speakers with very appealing sound quality. The three new Atoll electronics on hand were the ST300 Signature Streamer ($5,000), The SDA200 Streaming Integrated Amp ($4,300), and the AM300 power amplifier ($3,900). All the Atoll equipment looks understated but very robust and solidly put together.

Fancy a French twist to your audio enjoyment?

Gryphon Audio Designs had a static display at AXPONA, but they pretty much brought all their “big iron” to intimidate any passers-by scurrying between demos. Of particular note are the massive 2-chassis Gryphon Commander Preamp and backup generator-sized Apex power amplifier. When it comes to Gryphon, if you know…….you know.

Warwick Acoustics brought their new Bravura electrostatic headphones to the show but not only that, but they also brought a little pop-up, 2-person quiet room to listen to the headphones in. I’d sampled the company’s original Sonoma electrostatic headphones years ago, so I was curious to try these new ones. They are designed to be used with the Sonoma M1 amplifier only. The comfort was certainly there. The sound quality was airy and effortless, as most good electrostatics will do, but the bass punch was also there too, something that is less consistent in these types of cans. I’d like to secure a pair of these for further exploration at some point!

The fine folks at Meze Audio brought a more refined version of a prototype headphone that I heard previously at CanJAM NYC. The name it’s been assigned for now is the 109 PRO and I very much liked the look and feel of these open-back cans. Initial impressions were of a nicely balanced sound but with a good amount of bass punch for an open-back headphone. Fit and finish, even for a prototype, were first-rate. The price will be about $700 with availability in June. Patiently looking forward to reviewing the final versions!

Ted Denney and Dave Weintraub were conducting a demonstration of the different layers of grounding, filtering, suppression, and isolation benefits that Synergistic Research solutions offer to the audiophile. They had a meticulously set up room with all manner of their products in use and both Ted and Dave methodically went through and turned off and on a particular Synergistic product with those of us in the group listening to before and after samples of the same music track to see if we could tell any difference by ear. Now I’ve been to a few of these types of demos from other companies in the past and my experience has informed my opinion to be generally suspect of claims of big, noticeable sonic improvements with these sorts of products and tweaks. Most in the audience claimed to hear noticeable differences at each stage or layer of the demonstration and I have no reason to doubt their impressions. In some cases, I thought I noticed a difference in sound. Usually, a change in focus or clarity, in favor of the Synergistic product under test, but they were very subtle differences to my ear, not night and day, at least for me. Could it be confirmation bias, or could it be my expectations fooling with me? Perhaps. Would I feel like I still heard differences under a double-blind test situation? I don’t know. In any event, I don’t have a beef with any of these products or the fact that many seem to find genuine benefit from them in their systems. If they do, more power to them. My advice to anyone who is considering experimenting with these sorts of solutions, from any manufacturer, is to make sure your system and your room have been treated and perfected to the point that you are happy with their current state. Treating your room and changing your speakers will always make the biggest and most noticeable improvements in a system. When that has all been optimized, only then would I say to go ahead and try these sorts of products out to see if they help wring out every last bit of performance from your rig.

My thanks to Ted and Dave for their time and efforts. It was an interesting experience.