AXPONA 2025 Part 7: High-End Audio's Fantastic 5th Floor
Great gear reveals and audiophile trends for music lovers.
Audio Expo North America (AXPONA) 2025 Show Report By Rick Becker 

596  High Water Sound, Coherence Systems, Torqueo Audio Italia, ADD-Powr, Alieno, Cessaro Horn Acoustics, CODIA Acoustic Design, Dalby Audio Design, Stein Music, And TW Acoustic
Jeffrey Catalano put on another stunning display with a luscious sound. His rooms are typically among the Best Rooms at any show, so this was not unexpected. I've seen Cessaro Horn Acoustic speakers in his rooms before, but not this one, the Mendelssohn ($65k). The Codia Acoustic Design  7000 Titanium rack caught my attention with its flared rectangular posts and double-layered shelves separated by some sort of vibration-absorbing device. This company from South Korea makes a wide range of very attractive racks that are imported by High Water Sound. I can highly recommend the two less expensive, elegant versions I reviewed. Silent Running Audio vibration-absorbing boxes were used under the Alieno gear.

Analog is the source of choice with Jeff, as he is the North American distributor of TW Acoustic. Seen here was the Raven LS-3 Copper turntable ($25k) with Raven tonearm seen here in black (10.5" @ $6k, and 12" @ $6.5k, are available), and two silver Glanz MH1200S tonearms. The Glanz arm playing was fitted with a DaVa Soul Field cartridge. Fuuga, Red Sparrow (Top Wing), and Miyajima Infinity (mono), cartridges, all from Japan, were also present during the show.

Note that the DaVa Soul Field cartridge is a field-coil cartridge with magnets and coils at the stylus end of the cantilever. If there is enough resolution in the published photo, as the one I submitted, you will see two extra tiny wires wrapped together around the tonearm, as the cartridge has six pins. BTW, that's a real Shun Mook record weight in use here, but unless Jeff is keeping a box full of them as his retirement fund, they are no longer available.

The Alieno electronics here were new to me, reminding me of that Bruce Springsteen song, "Blinded by the Light." The room was on the darkish side, but my camera responded to the decorative lights on the amps and made it look even darker. This gives you an idea of what listening in the dark would look like. And no, Alieno is not the same company that produces hyper-electric cars in Bulgaria, though to look at the prices, you might think otherwise. The 6H30 Line Stage MkII ($75k), 250 LTD SE 300B amp ($80k), and Phono Extremo ($60k) are off the table for me, as they utilize Russian tubes.

You can make your own decision. The 250 LTD amp is something that every tube fan should look at closely. It is an OTL-OCL (Output Transformer Less & Output Capacitor Less) single-ended, class A design that achieves 250 Watts per channel, with a couple of Western Electric 300B tubes. The circuitry is unique, and you can read more about it from various sources on the web.

I'm curious about what was under each of the Alieno chassis. They look like handleless curling stones, but are probably the latest voodoo from Stein Music in Germany. I also noticed the little black boxes on rods standing in the room's front corners, likely from Stein Music as well. The cables were also said to be from Stein Music.

The music sounds superb, as always, here, and while it was very expensive for most audiophiles, you can tone it down with less expensive models from most of these companies. Plus, a bit of tweaking and careful setup can take you a lot farther than you might imagine. Jeff Catalano is an expert at that. I look forward to another chance to visit his room at Capital Audiofest 2025 in November.

That's AXPONA 2025 Audiophile Show Report Part 7
This wraps up Part 7 on the 5th Floor. Part 8 will be out next week with full coverage of the 4th Floor.

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