7th Heaven Unplugged: Where AXPONA 2025's Audio Dreams Soar!
Immersing yourself in the magic of music at a high-end audiophile event.
Audio Expo North America (AXPONA) 2025 Show Report By Rick Becker 

704  Affordable Audio Room, All Elite Audio, Advance Paris, Cambridge Audio, Eversolo, Parasound, Audio Technica, Audiolab, Chord, Dual, Mission, MoFi, Ortofon, Rega, TEAC, Yamaha, And SVS
With a look slightly reminiscent of Crazy Eddie's, the Affordable Audio Room was a bit of a mystery. Neither "Affordable Audio Room" nor "All Elite Audio" was listed as an exhibitor. All Elite Audio took me to their site online for a store opening on May 31st in Timonium, MD. The room was filled with an amalgam of more affordable brands represented by a single component from each brand, likely to be floor samples at their grand opening. My brother-in-law lives in Timonium, so there's a chance I might stop in to check them out.

705  Audio Solutions And Playback Distribution
The Audible Solutions and Playback Distribution room was a wayward sheep from the flock of Playback Distribution rooms up on the 12th Floor. I've been a fan of this speaker brand from Lithuania since I first heard them at RMAF back in 2018 when Oz Turan was the importer. They are a very high-value line, and the presentation here confirmed that. Be sure to check the size measurements of the model that interests you, as they tend to be larger than you would guess, given their prices. The fit and finish are excellent. Notice the two-tone finish on the sides—a style they have maintained throughout the years. They are truly worthy of fine electronics like the Esoteric components in this rig.

709  Chesky Audio And Benchmark Media
The Chesky Audio presentation was nicely improved from Capital Audiofest. A suite of respected Benchmark components was on a small rack that didn't overpower the small monitor. There was a textured black scrim across the front wall, and an informative banner featuring the logo for Enjoy the Music.com's Best Of Capital Audiofest 2024 Blue Note Award, awarded by one of our writers. Another writer covered this room in detail here at AXPONA 2025, so I'll simply add that it looks like Lucca Chesky is making all the right moves with his fledgling company. It sounded pretty good here, too. I look forward to visiting Capital Audiofest 2025, where I'll have more time to listen.

712  Gershman Acoustics, Cardas Audio, LampizatOr, And Pass Labs
After hearing Gershman Acoustics speakers in large rooms at the Montreal and Toronto shows each year, I have to lower my expectations at the US shows, where they typically have smaller rooms. It is not because they team up with lesser components, but because the longer reflected sound times of larger rooms allow you to hear how truly good their speakers are. Even their Studio Xdb stand-mounted monitor is a stellar performer.

Here, they featured the 30th Anniversary Grand Avant Garde speakers ($19.5k). This modest-sized speaker can fill even large rooms. Don't let your ego tell you that you need something larger. It was driven by a Pass Labs Integrated 250 amplifier ($13k), though you can drive it with good tube amplification if you prefer. The front end was a LampizatOr Gulfstream server ($9.5k) feeding the new LampizatOr GENYA DAC ($17.5k, base price). The cabling was Cardas Audio Clear Beyond, which they always use.

The mysterious black box on the floor between the rack and the right speaker with three interconnects attached is a Vividuszwo (two) ($13.6k with two ground cables from Subbase Audio in Germany. This device is said to harmonize high-frequency noise among the connected components, thus improving the sound quality of the system. The music was very good here, but that's not unusual in Gershman's rooms.

The new LampizatOr GENYA DAC is the consequence of an upgrade program for the Horizon 360 DAC, which netted 40 of the Horizon-1 H99 engines that were subsequently refurbished. So the GENYA is a limited production design. It is named after Lukas Fikas' mentor, Ukrainian engineer Evgennyi Kreminski (nickname "Genya"). The GENYA is basically a stripped-down Horizon DAC for about a third of the price. There is no volume control, display, or remote—just a kick-ass DAC for use with a streamer or CD transport. It has balanced and single-ended outputs, but it must be used with a preamp or integrated amp with analog volume control. The only option is a gold-plated PCB for the tubes that comes with an outrageously expensive set of NOS tubes.

The GENYA is the unit on top in black, the only color available. The silver LampizatOr unit below is their Gulfstream server.

715  Holm Audio, Magnepan, Ranieri Audio, Rogue Audio, Rega, Lumin, Puritan, JL Audio, And Salamander Designs
Mr. Ranieri (I presume) was busy swapping tubes in the Ranieri Audio Labs Varieta preamplifier when I entered. This is the first universal direct-heated-triode (DHT) preamplifier. I decided to hang in and see what this was all about. Tube rolling is one of those side hobbies I've taken little interest in.

Beside the rig was this decorative display of a large selection of tubes, which was obviously the man's pride and joy.

The internal circuitry is designed to adapt to a wide variety of tube types. You select your tubes, insert them in the sockets, rotate the disc on top to select the circuit for the tube you have installed, and turn the preamp on. Just when you thought you'd seen it all....

The Varieta supports a wide array of four-pin medium-base DHT tubes, including the 300B. It is tube-rectified, self-biasing, and features a zero feedback topology. There is also a remote control. Pre-production price is $7500, and it is due out in late summer or fall. Mr. Ranieri is based in Chicago, and this preamp will be available at Holm Audio.

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