The AXPONA 2023 Chronicles: Part 4
The 12th floor was filled with glorious sounds.
Audio Expo North America 2023 Show Report By Rick Becker

PMC Speakers
Speaking of Montreal, I had just last month heard these PMC speakers sitting atop their supplementary bass units driven by an Accuphase integrated. Part of the problem at Montreal was likely that the midrange and tweeter were way too high when perched atop the bass unit in a small room. Save that idea for when you have a large ballroom.

Seen at the top-of-page is the PMC MB2/SE ($34,500, including stands) were raised upon very attractive dedicated stands set upon some unusual footers. The midrange and tweeter were close to ear level and the sound was much better. Another factor here was a rack full of Soul Note electronics and the large monoblocks driving the speaker.

The unusually large footers were the Delta Extreme (with hole) from a company called Wellfloat. The Delta Extreme, along with the Babel Ultimate isolation base and some vibration-absorbing shelves, are from Wellfloat in Japan and marketed in the USA by Metavox, Inc. I met David Hyman, an audio industry veteran with some impressive experiences, who founded Metavox. He extolled the virtues and construction of these complex and expensive footers. The Delta Extreme sells for $1090 each, so right away, there's an additional $8720 to support the speakers. Each unit will support 250 kg, so weight is not usually an issue. Was this the source of the major improvement I heard in the PMC monitors? A review would have to answer that question.

The Babel Ultimate uses similar technology in a round form factor that sits beneath (and between) a component and the shelf it would normally sit on. With the Babel, which is just under 7" in diameter, you use only one. It sells for $7,990 and would likely be most effective under a front-end component or a tube preamp with a flat bottom. While this is considerable money, one could easily spend as much on a component upgrade in search of sonic excellence. Again, these are questions for a review to answer, not a show report, but it certainly raised my curiosity. This was the US debut for these products from Metavox.

Atop the rack was a Holbo Mk II air-bearing turntable system, also from Metavox, that has received some very favorable endorsement from the British press. Below that is the Soul Note E-1 phono stage, Z-3 Network Transporter, S-3 Reference Super Audio CD player, and P-3 preamplifier. Soul Note is from Japan, founded in 2004 by former members of Marantz Japan, so while it is a young company, it comes from a long tradition, not unlike Fyne has evolved from Tannoy.

LCH Audio  (Low Country Horns)
LCH Audio (for Low Country Horns) out of Houston, TX, caught my attention with a pair of subwoofers with a radical internal structure that put out some nice, tight bass from a very efficient 16" cube. The driver is completely hidden from sight, looking more like a piece of furniture, adding to the spousal acceptance factor. They are passive designs, so they must be powered from a separate amplifier, or your main amplifier in conjunction with a quality attenuator to balance the level with your main speaker. Founded in 2018 by Mark Menendez who has an extensive scientific and technical background, the company holds patents and has patents pending around the globe. This is a company to keep an ear open for.

Endow Audio
Endow Audio maximized their signage with two poster boards that are sure to appear in the photo of anyone who took a photo with their cell phone. You could read them from your seated position (and many people were seated at the time) without having to get up close and interrupt the listening of others.

And both of their rooms were well worth listening to. Their unique omni-directional design at real-world prices was something to behold. Shown here was the Bravura 7 monitor with a mid-woofer and their multi-driver omni-directional "horn" for $6900. While the appearance was unified with a flat black finish on the stand, box, and multi-driver horn, I could easily see options for alternative looks to fit multiple décors.

I was so busy enjoying the holographic music here that I failed to note the Orchard amplifier and streamer, which have to accrue high marks by association. Scroll down for their next room with a larger speaker.

Endow Audio
The sound became fuller and extended deeper with the floorstanding Bavura 12 ($14,900) with dual sealed 12" woofers. Their room at the Tampa show earlier this year received a Best of FLAX 2023 Award, and I can understand why.

While the fit and finish were excellent here, and flat black goes exceedingly well for home theater or listening in the dark, I can easily envision and justify optional customization, even at extra cost.

The ‘horn' unit has a ring of identical dynamic drivers as well as an identical driver inside the horn facing the listener. With all the reflected sound from the ring of drivers, there was no ‘cupped-hands' sound as you might expect from the horn.

The Bravura cable used in their rigs keeps the price of the system down and seems to get the job done very well. It is so helpful that they publish the place, year, and room number on their poster. Other vendors should take note, even if they only print out a simple fact sheet or print the information on large-size glossy postcard stock as a few dealers have begun to do in recent years.

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