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 A  Joseph Audio, Cardas Audio, Doshi Audio, And J. Sikora Turntables
In the next large room, Jeff Joseph took a different approach by creating a more intimate setting closer to the front wall—like I had suggested for the large open space at the front of the hotel lobby. It may seem counterintuitive, but this is the more likely arrangement for people buying this or other models of Joseph speakers. The location of this large room certainly gives him prominence, but he partitioned it with a black curtain and placed the rig against the brick wall on the right as you enter.

The banners told most of the story here: Berkeley Audio Design DAC, Doshi tube amplification, J. Sikora turntable, Cardas Audio cables, plus an Aurender streamer and HRS rack, amp stands, and isolation base under the turntable. Under the spikes of the speakers, Jeff used footers from AV Roomservice, Ltd.

I see jazz singer Anne Bisson at the Canadian shows twice each year, and more recently she has been appearing at shows in the U.S., giving audiophiles a chance to compare live vs. recorded singing. It's always a treat.

On a table off to the side were two new entry-level Aspire turntables from J. Sikora in a form factor that didn't look like a small city. It also looks like it will be much easier to keep clean, and at 21kg, it is possibly light enough to mount on a wall. (It's unclear if that weight included the external power supply.)

The new J. Sikora Aspire was also shown in silver. A third option is white. It's €5,900 without arm, €7,500 with the Aspire arm, and €9,800 with the KV9 tonearm, which is shown here with the Kevlar tube in yellow (on the black table) and painted black on the silver turntable. It is a unipivot tonearm. Speed is adjustable from a pair of buttons on the plinth. Coming from Poland, we will have to wait to see if the prices hold under the weight of a tariff.

The next three rooms were each about a third the size of the large conference rooms along the wide hallway.

Serenity  Next Level HiFi, And Linn Products
Tucked back in the corner where the stairs coming from the 1^st Floor arrive on the 2nd Floor was the Serenity room, hosted by Linn and Next Level HiFi, a retailer in nearby Wayne, IL, who works by appointment only and also has an online presence. They feature only a handful of the finest brands. Here, they presented a moderately-sized, fine-sounding rig comprised of Linn components with Ansuz power conditioning from Audio Group Denmark.

Having spent years tweaking my vintage Linn LP12 with aftermarket products, I was delighted to see this vastly improved modern version with its orange metalflake-finished plinth. This is a turntable that will easily work on a wall-mounted shelf to avoid resonances and footfalls from the floor. And mounting it at shoulder height greatly facilitates cueing up LPs.

Prosperity  Rhythm Distribution, Luxman, Marten, And Jorma
Luxman is celebrating its 100th year in 2025, and I've sensed more energy around this brand at shows over the past few years. They put on a good show here with a Marten Parker Quintet Diamond speaker ($54k). Like Martin, Jorma is a Swedish company, and Marten uses Jorma cable inside their speakers.

The Diamond version offers a diamond tweeter and upgraded crossover and cable. Four Accuton ceramic mid/bass drivers run down the front baffle, and four aluminum passive radiators are mounted on the back side. Efficiency is 93dB, opening the door for lower-powered tube and solid-state amplifiers. The four finishes offered are matte walnut (shown), piano gloss walnut, gloss black, and gloss white. Marten was one of the first companies to partner with IsoAcoustics, from Canada, to incorporate their footers into Marten speakers, starting a trend that continues to grow.

The entire rig prices out just under $131k, not including the SolidSteel rack and amp stand (holding the AudioQuest Niagara 5000 power conditioner ($5,900) behind the rack).

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