Audio Thrills And Music Chills On AXPONA 2025's Second Floor
Let's continue the audiophile coverage with AXPONA part 10.
Audio Expo North America (AXPONA) 2025 Show Report By Rick Becker

Nirvana C  Convergent Audio Technology, And Essential Sound Products
As I entered the CAT room, I expected to see the Acora VRC in black granite. Ken Stevens had visited my listening room with one of his amplifiers a month before the show to hear how they mated with my Acora QRC-2 speakers. With so much money invested (and at stake) in presenting at Axpona, he wanted to be sure it would be a winning combination. But rather than one of the six standard colors for the flagship, Ken was showing the limited, rare upgrade Sunset Fire, which has been shown in previous shows over the past year. I had hoped to see it in black again, as it is such a universal and elegant color. Just think of all the exotic (or merely expensive) cars you see in black. The VRC base price is still holding at its introductory price of $218k.

In addition to the VRC in Sunset Fire, there was a circus of Acora speakers in the room, including a center channel floorstander, subwoofers in the front corners, and another pair of floorstanders at the rear of the seating area. Yes, a complete surround system. Well, not with speakers mounted in the ceiling. I couldn't get a seat in what looked to be the sweet spot for surround sound, so I sat a bit off to one side. I can't say I was impressed by any semblance of surround sound, but the music from the front of the room was certainly good, as you would expect from the flagship VRC speakers.

Plus, a CAT amp for every speaker…or so it seemed. The largest two seen here were The Statement HPA CAT flagship monoblocks at $250k/pair. Being pressed for time on this last day of the show, I didn't pay as much attention to the wiring as I should have. It looked like the usual VPI turntable, CAT SL Legend aSC preamp ($100k), and the vintage hot-rodded Audio Aero Capitole CD player in the rack, along with a mid-range (for them) Atlantic DAC from LampizatOr.

CAT uses their Black Path speaker cables and power cords in addition to power cords by Essential Sound Products (ESP). A surround sound source must have been off to the side. For those scared off by the price of the flagship monoblocks, CAT power amp prices begin at $35k for the stereo JL5HPA. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for one to show up on the used market, as that rarely happens.

The center channel was an Acora Acoustcs SRC 2 floorstanding loudspeaker in polished black granite, which gives you an idea of what the VRC would look like at its base price, although there are a handful of additional luscious colors at that same price.

Jim Anderson, a highly respected recording engineer, was on hand to present some master tapes that presumably were recorded in multi-channel.

Michael D. Griffin was on hand to promote his ESP (Essential Sound Products) power cords that are used in various parts of CAT systems at every show. His power cords run from just a few hundred dollars up to $20k, but the heart of his line is focused on cables for musicians in the $2500 to $4500 range. These feature molded ends with integral strain relief for musicians constantly plugging and unplugging their gear while on tour or even just attending practice sessions. ESP also manufactures some serious power distributors with hard-wired power cords. They are based in Rochester, MI, outside of Detroit.

Before I left, I had a chance to chat with Ken Stevens, who said people's response to his room has been extremely favorable. He was very glad he teamed up with Acora. I hope when I catch up with him again at Capital Audiofest, he reverts to a straightforward stereo presentation—or choreographs his presentation with the surround sound playing only at certain times, but that's just my two cents. 

Nirvana B  Credo Audio Switzerland, Audio Shield Distribution, Emm Labs, And Kimber Kable
In addition to the brands listed on the banner was Schroeder HiFi, a dealer in Elgin, IL, about 10 miles west of Schaumburg. They carry the Credo speakers and Emm Labs electronics shown here, and work by appointment only.

This seemed to be the same Credo LTM speaker I've seen in previous years, featuring four large side-mounted woofers (two on each side of each speaker) and the line array of tweeters and midrange drivers. The speaker seems to be constructed of three modules—the white front unit with the multitude of drivers, and two stacked bass units, plus some heavy-looking metal footers.

In addition to the two large Emm Labs monoblocks beside the HRS rack, there was a Dr. Feickert Blackbird turntable with a Kuzma 4Point tonearm fitted with a DS Audio Grand Master optical phono cartridge, sitting on an additional HRS isolation base with large footers atop the 4-shelf HRS rack. On the shelf below the turntable was an Emm Labs DS-EQ1 V2 phono equalizer for the DS cartridge, followed by an Emm Labs PRE preamp and a DA2i DAC with streamer. Audio Shield Audio Distribution carries both Credo and Emm Labs, plus Meitner Audio and van den Hul phono cartridges. Kimber Kable Select series wired the system, along with Kimber Palladian power cables plugged into IsoTek EVO3 Nova and V5 Titan power conditioners.

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