The AXPONA 2023 Chronicles: Part 12
The one, and only, 1st Floor.
Audio Expo North America 2023 Show Report By Rick Becker

MoFi Distribution, BAT (Balanced Audio Technology), And Piega
MoFi Distribution had a conventional layout with the speakers widely spaced along one wall, rather than on a diagonal as others have done in the previous room, and the results were considerably more successful. It was also a much more expensive system, particularly if you factor out the power conditioners in each system.

The tall Piega Master Line Source 2, Gen 2 speakers ($120k) were making their North American debut here. The look, in all-black here is rather technical, but there are other options including Zebrano wood veneer on the sides that can transform their visual appeal — as well as full-length grills that conceal all the drivers.

The dominant feature is the four rectangular ribbon symmetric line source drivers that cover both the midrange and tweeter frequencies. Furthermore, they are di-poles, radiating to the front and rear. Behind these drivers are diffusers designed to reflect the rear waves creating a greater sense of depth and allowing the speaker greater flexibility of placement — even close to the front wall. As a line source, music is radiated evenly in the horizontal dimension, allowing for a wider listening area.

Bass was handled by two aluminum cone woofers plus two passive radiators on the rear. Overall efficiency was 92dB/W/m with a 4 Ohm impedance. Recommended amplifier power was 20 to 500 Watts so even a good tube amp might work well with these speakers.

In this large room, they did not go small with the amplifier, however, employing a BAT Rex 500 dual mono amp ($22k), seen on the floor in front of the rack. Clockwise from the top right was a Thales Compact II turntable, a Whest PS.40RDT MM/MC Phono Preamplifier ($10k), and a BAT Rex3 tube preamplifier ($30k) along with its separate power supply to the left. Above that, in silver was an Ideon Absolute Time clock ($12k), and on top was a HiFi Rose RS130 streamer ($TBD), reveling in its North American debut, sitting on an Ideon Ion DAC ($20k). The rack itself was a Finite Elemente Carbon HD12ED ($38k).

An Isotek V5 Aquarius power conditioner ($3k) was used along with Audience speaker and signal cables and Isotek power cables.

Here is a top view of the Thales Compact II turntable ($14k) equipped with a Thales Statement tonearm ($20.5k).

The phono cartridge was an X-quisite ST ($14k) from the Connaisseur line with silver coils and a titanium body from Switzerland, as is the Thales turntable.

Last, but not least, in my book anyway, was a Nessie Vinylmaster vacuum record cleaning machine. I reviewed the less expensive Vinylcleaner Pro model at this link and bought the review sample. While it does an excellent job of washing and vacuuming, what I value most is its quiet operation. The serenity of my listening sessions is no longer disrupted by the roar of my previous machine that rivaled my Shop-Vac. While these German machines are not cheap, the serene experience is priceless.

Rutherford Audio, Rockport Technologies, Acoustic Arts, And Acoustic Signature
Rutherford Audio, based in Englewood, CO, is a premier importer of several fine lines. Last year they featured a Burmester rig here that was very impressive (and expensive.) This year they drew from several lines to put together another very fine-sounding rig.

Using the new Cygnus speaker from Rockport Technologies, they combined an Acoustic Signature turntable with Acoustic Arts electronics.

The Cygnus lies in the middle of the Rockport line. With a sensitivity of 90dB/W/m and a 4 Ohm impedance, an amplifier of at least 30 Watts is recommended, though it was driven here by Acoustic Arts Mono VI monoblocks ($90k) that put out 900 Watts @ 8 Ohms, 1500 Watts @ 4 Ohms, and 1600 Watts @ 2 Ohms. Dual mono stereo amps are also available. The frequency response of the Cygnus is 20 Hz to 30 kHz (-3dB). Rockport makes its drivers in-house and the technology used in the speaker is impressive. Check out their website.

Atop the Solid Tech rack was an Acoustic Signature Typhoon Neo turntable. Below it was an Acoustic Arts new Player IV with XLR, coaxial, optical and USB inputs, and both single-ended and balanced outputs. No SACD capability was mentioned.

Below that was the Tube Preamp V Phono which is a fully balanced preamp with headphone capability. On the bottom shelf was a black component that may have been a DAC with an Acoustic Arts Power II ($12.5k) or Power III integrated amp below it.

The Typhoon Neo turntable ($18k) was fitted with a Gold Note Tuscany cartridge.

Esprit cables, another brand carried by Rutherford, were used throughout.

Estelon, The Audio Experience, And Vitus Audio
I covered this room extensively in my AXPONA 2023 Introduction when I attended a presentation for the Press on Thursday evening. My writing was a little more upbeat than I'm putting out now, some seven weeks after the show.

I'm still in awe of the speakers and the music put out by this rig.

As a brief reminder, the HRS racks were filled with Vitus Audio gear, and the front ends of this rig were run off-grid from the StromTank sitting between the racks.

The Ascona Neo turntable is listed at $50k. It is a three-motor design weighing almost 196 pounds and it is also available in silver.

As I worked my way to the other side of the Schaumburg Ballroom this poster for the Mon Platimon VC One speaker driven by a Peachtree GaN 1 amp caught my eye. I suppose a lot of attendees never get beyond the first two floors of the show to investigate gear that is a lot more attainable in the hotel tower.

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