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 

454  Sound Insight, Infigo Audio, AB-Tech, IsoAcoustics, And LampizatOr
Being a cutting-edge mid-1900's Boomer, when I think of Altec, their Voice Of The Theater (VOT) hornspeaker comes to mind immediately. To encounter this tall electrostatic speaker with an Altec brand on it was truly shocking. The stacked open baffle woofer I have seen before in various forms, frequently with one firing forward and the other firing back. Never have I seen them with such a high gloss wood veneer, and now I'm wondering if they were wrapped in clear plastic like they used to do with sofas in the 1950s. I think a grille cover makes them a lot more acceptable and less like they were put together in someone's garage.

The list price for the Altec Lansing Ribbonacci Reference speakers was $89k, and the pair of subwoofers with a 1000-Watt DSP amp was another $30k. The Show Special for the speakers plus the subwoofer system was $49k, leaving you with plenty of change to have them shipped home. You could even order more subs if you wished to create towers.

The room was sponsored by Infigo Audio (a manufacturer) and Sound Insight (a retailer) in Long Island, New York. The room sheet suggested there might have been a comparison going on here, too, with two different digital front ends. One featured an Infigo streamer, an Infigo USB cable, and an Infigo DAC. The other featured a Small Green Computer with Sonore Rendu Signature, a Triode Wire Labs USB cable, and a LampizatOr Horizon 360 flagship DAC.

You can see the components, cables, and prices below. It was not clear if they were trying to prove something, but there are some wide disparities in the prices of these components and cables. I didn't stick around long enough to experience any changes they may have been making. I'm also not sure which front end was playing at the time. Regardless, it sounds pretty good from my off-axis position.

Here's a look at the Infigo Method 7 streamer ($7k, in black) and Method 4 DAC ($35k in silver), both very attractive to my eye. The entire rig(s) are listed above.

460  Haniwa
Haniwa surprised me with three pairs of speakers, all with two drivers for the first time. The nearest and furthest seem to be the same size, with the one in the middle being slightly smaller. I've reported on news about the turntable in the past. There was no music playing or a room sheet describing the system. At some shows, I visit their room and I am amazed at what their system can do. Other times, it has been a disappointment. Everything from the cartridge to the loudspeaker is designed by one person and achieves such high quality is amazing.

The huge magnets on the drivers require a broad base for stability. In previous shows, they have presented single-driver speakers supplemented with a subwoofer below about 70Hz. Using a single driver eliminates phase problems, so it would have been interesting to hear how they approached this design with two drivers. There seemed to be a separate speaker cable going to each driver, so perhaps a crossover was built into the integrated amplifier. Hopefully, I will have better luck at Capital Audiofest.

464  Bel Canto, Cardas Audio, Harmonic Resolution Systems, Pure Fidelity, And YG Acoustics
When I think of a minimalist system, I typically think of one setup for streaming. The Bel Canto ACI 600 integrated amp (I think) from their Black series bucks that theory by incorporating a phono stage as well as a DAC, so you can go larger if you wish. The 600W listed is into 4 Ohms, but doesn't say if that's per channel. Regardless, it drove the YG Acoustics Haley 3 speakers very well, even though they were undeniably green. This was one of seven presentations at the show with YG speakers.

The wood rack was an anomaly from HRS, as they usually work in metal. The Pure Fidelity turntable was in many rooms at the show, too, and that was the motor/controller for the turntable on the bottom shelf. Cabling was by Cardas Audio. Their speaker cables are usually blue, but these may have been from the Clear Reflection series. If you need to go even smaller, you could check out the YG Carmel three speaker, a two-way, which I've heard sounds very good in the past.

472  Dutch & Dutch North America
Dutch & Dutch from Rotterdam, Netherlands, might be thought of as a one-speaker company, but they also make a studio version of this speaker with some differences. The Studio version uses MDF rather than solid wood, and it doesn't have built-in streaming. Otherwise, these two speakers are designed for near-field listening, so they present very well in the small hotel rooms. They are an active design and a full-range speaker. The black rectangle on the side is a port.

The secret weapon of the 8c is the two rear-firing woofers. Notice the AC power cord and XLR inputs across the bottom.

The specs hint at the technology within. I've heard this speaker on several occasions, and it is as good as every review says it is.

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