AXPONA 2025: Inside the 4th-Floor Sonic Playground
Gear, great grooves, and perhaps some juicy gossip too!
Audio Expo North America (AXPONA) 2025 Show Report By Rick Becker

  "From Rick's exceptionally detailed report below, AXPONA's buzzing 4th floor seemed like a self-contained city of high-end audio, where every hallway bend revealed another system vying for 'best-in-show' bragging rights," says Enjoy the Music.com's Creative Director Steven R. Rochlin. "From boutique vacuum tube and solid-state amplification to floorstanding and stand-mounted flagship loudspeakers, the rooms here proved that innovation and indulgence can coexist in seriously photogenic style. Let's all dive into Rick's excellent room-by-room report for the gear highlights, sonic surprises, and insider gossip you might've missed!"

402  Harmonia Distribution, Cabasse, Fyne Audio, Pathos Acoustics, Prima Luna, Sbooster, And Phi Audio
Harmonia Distribution out of LaVerne, California, in conjunction with local retailer Quintesence Audio (who had multiple rooms on the 1st Floor), put together a very nice sounding system with Fyne Audio F701SP stand-mounted monitors ($9k) in gloss black driven by the Pathos Acoustics InPol Remix MkII tube hybrid integrated amp ($5895) shown below.

The front end was a Grimm Audio MU2 media player / streamer / preamplifier ($17.5k) that was seen multiple times throughout the show. Cabling was supplied by Cardas.

404  Harmonia Distribution, Cabasse, Fyne Audio, Pathos Acoustics, Prima Luna, Sbooster, And Phi Audio
In a second room, I spotted this Sbooster BOTW P&P ECO MkII linear power supply ($399). These are available in a variety of voltage ranges for those seeking to replace switch-mode wall warts that come with many components. I'm tempted to pursue one of these for review with my Charisma Audio turntable.

412  Klipsch, Top Shelf Audio, Innuos, Perlisten, And TEAC
Room 412 was a two-room suite sponsored in part by Top Shelf Audio in Paducah, Kentucky. They are primarily an internet dealer specializing in Klipsch and Perlisten speakers, though they carry many other brands and have a brick-and-mortar showroom in their large warehouse. They carry Klipsch Reference, Heritage, and Professional series speakers. The inner room featured Klipsch Cornwall speakers. Below the Unison Research amp was a TEAC UD-701N USB DAC / Network Player Preamplifier ($4300). On the bottom shelf was an EnergeX power conditioner reading 114V, 1.5A in service, a little on the low side for the voltage.

A Unison Research S6 Black Edition integrated amp featured three EL34 tubes per channel. It delivers 35 Wpc, making it a real muscle amp for the high-efficiency Klipsch Cornwall speaker. The rack was a Gold Note Galileo Walnut rack ($7100).

In the other half of the suite were the new Klipsch LaScala AL6 speakers ($15k) that premiered at the Montreal Audiofest 2025 two weeks earlier. With some new drivers and the new crossover, this can be driven by a single amp, or by using the new external Klipsch crossover, it can be tri-amp'ed.

Using the same TEAC UD-701N DAC / Headphone Amplifier / Preamp along with three TEAC AP-701 power amps ($4k each), these speakers were being tri-amplified. The Klipsch external crossover was on the top right, and a Roon Nucleus ($499) was on the shelf below. Another SurgeX Eliminator Series power conditioner ($1300) was on the bottom shelf; this one showed only 112 V.  The rack was a Gold Note Galileo Black XL ($8600).

418  Zesto Audio, Cardas Audio, Dr. Feickert Analogue, Ortofon, Stillpoints, Tri-Planar, And YG Acoustics
George Counnas went with a Dr. Feickert Analogue Blackbird turntable ($9,900) fitted with a Tri-Planar VII-U2 classic 9.8" tonearm ($7.5k) fitted with the newish Ortofon 90X cartridge ($5,500) as the analog front end. The Zesto Andros Deluxe II tube phono stage ($8,300) was on the third shelf down. Below it, on the bottom shelf, was the Zesto Leto Ultra II preamp ($11,900). A pair of Zesto Eros 500 Select class A monoblocks ($35k/pr.) drove the YG Acoustics Hailey 3 speakers ($63.4k).

Stillpoints Ultra 6 V2 isolation feet ($1,127 each) were listed, but I don't notice them in my photo. The Stillpoints ESS42-26-4 with four Acrylic shelves was $13,788. Cardas Audio cables were used throughout. 2-meter Clear Beyond speaker cables were $10,750. Clear Beyond 1m interconnects were $4,750 pr. Clear Beyond XL 1.5m power cords were $3,100 each. A 1m Clear Beyond Dual Phono cable was $5,120. And a Cardas Nautilus power strip was $2k.

George Counnas (right), talking with a dealer.

The new item here was the Zesto Athena DAC ($15k) seen just below the turntable. On silent display were an Andros Allasso step-up transformer ($3,600) and an Andros Spirit MM / MC phono stage ($4k) that should appeal to a wider audience. I've come to appreciate the newest generation of YG speakers, and hearing them driven by the outstanding tube gear here was a real treat.

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