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 

442  ARCAM, JBL, Revel, And Nordost
I'd love to listen to the JBL Classic L100 speakers Mk II ($4800) being driven by some higher-class amplification like I did at Montreal a few years ago. Unfortunately, the rig here was comprised of corporate bedfellows with the ARCAM Radia SA35 streaming integrated amplifier ($3k). A JBL Classic TT350 direct drive turntable ($999) was on top. The JBL Classic L100 MkII can be an emotionally gripping speaker with rock music when partnered with higher-end amplification.

Below the ARCAM SA35 streaming integrated amp was a JBL Classic CD350 CD player ($699) and Classic MP350 streamer ($799), not in use. Cabling was by the very well-respected for crafting outstanding quality Nordost.

448  Odyssey, Magnan Cables, Graham Engineering, And Symphonic Line
Klaus Bunge was up to his old tricks with a candlelight listening session. This can be a rather ethereal experience the first couple of times you experience it. Be sure to use fake candles at home if you try it.

Klaus came up with a new speaker modeled after classic Greek architecture. It is a gorgeous design, and it sounds as good as his conventionally styled floorstander.

This is for the person who wants a great speaker that doesn't look like a speaker. It will blend in perfectly if your listening room has columns on either side of the entryway. The thinking may be outside the box, but the sound quality was amazingly good.

452  Orchard Audio And Creative Sound Solutions
The Orchard Audio room was set up at one point as a comparison of the blue and wood veneered CSS Criton 3TD-X speakers. The wood veneer speaker ($6k) was a traditional model with an internal crossover. It was powered by a Starkrimson Stereo Ultra DMC 2.5 amp putting out 500 Watts. The front end for both systems included a PecanPi+ Premium streamer ($1500). The system (without cables) with the wood speaker was $11,750, a very nice entry-level rig.

The blue Criton speaker ($5500) had no crossover. It utilized a Danville Signal dspNexus 2/8 ($3800) that divided the signal and fed it to two Starkrimson Mono Premium monoblocks ($1062 ea., 150 Watts ea.) per channel and one Starkrimson Mono Ultra Premium ($2125 ea., 500 Watts ea.). Using the same front end, this tri-amp'ed system came to $19,300.

The idea was to compare the basic speaker with the internal crossover with one that had separate amps for the tweeter, midrange, and the two bass drivers. At the hour I visited, just the blue tri-amp'ed speaker was playing. It was high-resolution and very dynamic, as you would expect. The attack of the notes was sharp, which is impressive at first, but may become tiresome during long-term listening sessions.

Positioning the amps by each loudspeaker meant simply stacking them without any apparent vibration-absorbing footers. The front end was placed on what looked like a home furnishing accent table. This can be a workable solution, but coming from that industry, I can assure you that some are better built than others. Using footers beneath the components and under the feet of the table would take it to the next level. That's the Danville Signal processor sitting directly on the floor. The cable management here leaves something to be desired, but they probably had their hands full switching cables during the comparison demonstrations.

I've heard numerous speakers with individual amplifiers for each driver, and combined with DSP room correction, this approach can produce some amazing results. The audiophile has to consider how much control they are willing to surrender to the technology when taking this route. Many of us are into playing with the gear as much or more than enjoying the music.

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