I went to the Axpona Audio Show in Chicago last weekend with VHF member Rockman Rock. Many thanks to Rockman to let me crash at his place, eat and drink everything that I could find.
If you've never been to a high end audio show, it's worth your time. Admission was only $20. I can't afford anything there but it was a lot of fun. There were listening rooms on five different floors in the Westin Hotel at O'Hare. It was much bigger than the Axpona Show in midtown Manhattan last year.
Here are my favorites:
Magico S-3 speakers, Pass Labs 1000 watt monoblocks. The speakers and amp would set you back a modest $60K. It would be worth it!
Wilson Alexia speakers and Dan D'Agostino monoblocks. The Wilsons are fabulous in every way. Dan was the former chief amp engineer at Krell for many years. His own amps are made from a solid billet of copper, machined to fit the descrete components inside. I sat down in awe listening to this rig.
Legacy Audio speakers and Nat Audio transmission amps. Check out those turntables!
B&W 802 Diamond speakers, unknown amps. Sounded fantastic!
Lawrence Audio "Chello" speakers. These looked exactly like cellos from the front, sides and back. I was chilling to Patricia Barber's Cafe Blue while listening to these. At around $20K, I won't be bringing these home.
Dynaudio speakers, two different sets. The big ones cost nearly $100K.
Focals, the picture doesn't give you a sense of scale. These speakers are at least six feet high
Rogue Audio electronics. The speakers sounded like shit!
Martin Logan surround audio powered by a very expensive McIntosh electronics. Complete with lava light, black lights, Dayglo posters. Don't bogart that joint my friend!
Salk speakers. Rockman Rock owns a set of S8s. These are not pictured here. The gold speakers were the world premier! Excellent sounding at 92 dB sensitivity
