Notes from AXPONA 2019

Al Stewart

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May 14, 2017
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Alex: I heard LZ in your room on the Galder/Odin rig. It was terrific. Then you played Dire Straits' Reid Across the River and that was great too. Your room excelled at letting folks request music and you delivering it either via LP or through the Innous Statement. BTW the Statement is seriously good.
Kudos
Al
 

asiufy

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Jul 8, 2011
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Thanks, Al!
I had more goodies planned, but only one of my LP crates came... But we had the Innuos there for greater diversity :)
I'm back at the store, and I seriously miss the Statement, as ours is making its way back from Chicago...


cheers,
Alex
 

cjfrbw

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Apr 20, 2010
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"but why listen to a half million-dollar rig when you can listen to a million-dollar rig?"

Heh, Heh! LOL!
 

caesar

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May 30, 2010
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Marty,
Great writing! It takes talent and time. Thank you for doing it.

As an interesting note: the woman guitar player you refer to, thought that the big Avantgarde system at the last year's show was the best system there - by far. Everything sounded as slow as molasses in comparison. Maybe it has changed now and she prefers Gryphon now, but I would be surprised. Nevertheless, it's interesting what musicians like...

As for me, I also liked the Avantgarde system for its dynamics and immediacy and MBL for its 3D and smoothness. Adjusting to box speakers after hearing horns wasn't easy.

I also heard the Magnepan 30.7 driven by Boulder at a dealer after-show party, and thought it bested anything and everything at the show. I am sure people who heard their favorite flavors disagree, as Magico fans who heard the M6 system in open space (I guess they couldn't get a room), in 95 db noise thought it sounded great. Go figure.

Cheers
 

spiritofmusic

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Jun 13, 2013
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Did anyone hear the Sadurni Acoustics Staccato GT horns?
At $33k for a system that runs big lower mids/upper bass horns for 1/3 cost of AG Trios, and a proper worked out tapped horns solution for low bass, this might be the only spkr alternative that sways me from my Zus.
 

asiufy

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Ron Resnick

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Mike Lavigne

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Apr 25, 2010
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asiufy

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Thanks, guys!
We have been getting such great sound of the Bergmann here in the store that we felt we should show it at AXPONA, if only to make more people aware of it.

cheers,
Alex
 

Blue58

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Jan 20, 2013
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Hi Alex,
Any comments on the Macchina firmware upgrade for the Aqua Formula now it’s out in the open. I believe the official launch is Munich.
Cheers
Blue58
 

asiufy

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Nothing, I believe they have just wrapped it up. I do know these guys never stop developing, and they have a cool device coming later this year too, perhaps to be announced in Munich as well. We'll see :)
I'm trying to work out a factory visit too, while I'm in Europe...
 

Blue58

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Thanks Alex, enjoy Europe.
 

AudioAnalyst

Industry Expert
On Saturday night Greg Weaver spun some disks for VSA in the Ultra 11 room just after the Leif reset the VTA for probably at least the 5th time, not because there was something wrong with the arm or cartridge, but because someone kept changing it verified by pictures.

Russ, thanks for coming by. It is always great to see you, and I'm glad you had as much fun as seemingly everyone else in attendance.

However, VTA was changed at MY direction after playing one of my LPs to test... Bass was lean and had little impact, dynamics were compressed, and most notable, mids were harsh and edgy. The arm was too high at the pivot point. We dropped it -- over two lowerings -- until the bass impact and definition came back and the voices sounded corporal again!
 

sbo6

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May 18, 2014
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Nothing, I believe they have just wrapped it up. I do know these guys never stop developing, and they have a cool device coming later this year too, perhaps to be announced in Munich as well. We'll see :)
I'm trying to work out a factory visit too, while I'm in Europe...
I just sent my DAC sent to Italy and had it upgraded to xHD, now they roll out another upgrade!? ;-) Any idea if this requires shipping back to Italy?
 

Blue58

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I just sent my DAC sent to Italy and had it upgraded to xHD, now they roll out another upgrade!? ;-) Any idea if this requires shipping back to Italy?
I understand it’s a user replaceable board with new firmware so shouldn’t require a RTM.
 

asiufy

Industry Expert/VIP Donor
Jul 8, 2011
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I just sent my DAC sent to Italy and had it upgraded to xHD, now they roll out another upgrade!? ;-) Any idea if this requires shipping back to Italy?

The Munich announcement I was talking about is the new, outboard device, the LinQ. It's basically their take on adding network capability to their DACs. I thought it was interesting, as it interfaces with the Aqua DACs via I2S.
I will ask about board changes/firmware...

cheers,
Alex
 

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