Southwest Audio Fest 2026 Show Report: The Rooms, Systems, & Moments That Defined This Year's Show
A detailed listening journey through SWAF 2026 festivities' most engaging setups, breakthrough designs, and unforgettable musical experiences.
Southwest Audio Fest 2026 Show Report By Paul Schumann

Audio Note UK
Audio Note once again had a great room at SWAF. This year the star of the show was the OTO Phono SE Silver Signature 35th Anniversary Edition. This integrated has a built-in MM phono stage. It implements EL84s in parallel to produce 8 Wpc. Audio Note UK's OTO was driving a pair of AN-J/SPe Hemp Speakers. A TT-Two Deluxe Turntable with an IO 1 Moving Coil Cartridge and Arm Three/II, and an AN-S3 Step Up Transformer provided the analog front end. A CD 4.1x/II CD Player did the digital thing.

One thing you have to say about Audio Note is that they have a definite sound. It's a sound that I happen to love. I got to spend some time at the end of Friday in the Audio Note room as they played a variety of songs. No matter what we listened to, the music was fun and engaging. The designs of the Oto SE integrated and Audio Note speakers may not be new, but they always make fantastic music. If you've never heard music played through Audio Note UK gear, I recommend you try it out. It will be worth the effort.

Bandwidth Audio
Another newcomer to SWAF was Bandwidth Audio. They are based out of Austin, and a company committed to building high-quality tube-based amplification. The system they had set up comprised an Aurora One preamplifier, a Kaskode One phono preamp, and a pair of 2845 monoblocks driving Devore Fidelity Oragatan 0/96 speakers. The phono stage was their Kaskode One. On static display were their 2283 and 288 monoblocks. I loved the no-nonsense look of the Bandwidth Audio gear with the flat gray finish. This system would fit in with any decor.

The sound of this system was free-wheeling with no compression. If you associate SET gear with rolled-off highs and lows, this system would surprise you. While I was in there, a Muddy Waters was playing, and I marveled at the amount of inner detail. I am really impressed with what Matthew Beardsworth has accomplished, and I'm looking forward to hearing more of their equipment in the future.

Krystal Klear Audio-Video And Playback Distribution
Krystal Klear Audio-Video had two nice rooms at the show. One of the rooms featured an all-solid-state stereo system from Germany.

The other room Krystal Klear Audio-Video showcased featured Playback Distribution and their Esoteric electronics. The Esoteric gear was the N-05XE Network Streamer/DAC, the N-05XE Stereo Amplifier (Enjoy the Music.com reviewed the Esoteric S-05XE Class A stereo / monoblock amplifier within this month's Review Magazine, and the G-05 Master Clock. Audio Solutions Custom Figaro Speakers were making the air in the room vibrate. This was another room that invited me to linger longer than I had planned.

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