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Axpona 2019

scibry

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Starting to plan my trip up to see Axpona this year. Any interest in a listener meetup at some point? @amirm planning on coming this year?
 

RayDunzl

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Exhibitors: Full Brand List (436 Entries)

http://www.axpona.com/exhibitors.asp?list=brand

For names that get a little traction here at ASR. Maybe have missed some, but, still...

Don't see Kii, Harman (or JBL), Hypex,

Do see ATC, Benchmark, Ess, iFi, Lyngdorf, Revel, Schiit, Soekris, Technics,

Western Electric !?!?...

Wiki: "As of 2013, the stylized Western Electric brand name survives as the trademark of the Western Electric Export Corporation, a privately owned high-end audio company in Rossville, Georgia." Pffff.
 

RayDunzl

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The Harbeth room made my ears stand up.

Go by there if you can and give me a second opinion.

I looked up my local Harbeth dealer - Appointment Only. Looks like they set up 'the" listening room with what you want to hear. i won't waste their time, though I might ask them to tell me when they do have it set up for some other sucker,, and see how that goes.
 

Hugo9000

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Exhibitors: Full Brand List (436 Entries)

http://www.axpona.com/exhibitors.asp?list=brand

For names that get a little traction here at ASR. Maybe have missed some, but, still...

Don't see Kii, Harman (or JBL), Hypex,

Do see ATC, Benchmark, Ess, iFi, Lyngdorf, Revel, Schiit, Soekris, Technics,

Western Electric !?!?...

Wiki: "As of 2013, the stylized Western Electric brand name survives as the trademark of the Western Electric Export Corporation, a privately owned high-end audio company in Rossville, Georgia." Pffff.
Harman International is listed among the "Over 50 New Exhibitors"

https://headphone.guru/over-50-new-exhibitors-at-axpona-2019/
 

TitaniumTroy

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I've seen and heard the Kii speakers at the show before, maybe they partnered with some another exhibitor for the room. I wish Harmon would demo my speakers at AXPONA, JBL 4367's, but will probably be L100 Classic's with Quadrex foam grill.
 

MattHooper

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The Harbeth room made my ears stand up.

Go by there if you can and give me a second opinion.

I looked up my local Harbeth dealer - Appointment Only. Looks like they set up 'the" listening room with what you want to hear. i won't waste their time, though I might ask them to tell me when they do have it set up for some other sucker,, and see how that goes.

I really love Harbeth speakers. I owned the SuperHL5plus models for a while and they were superb. (It just turned out I thought my bigger speakers were even better, so I sold the Harbeths. But when I hear Harbeths playing, I still feel that tug...)
 

ahofer

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The Harbeth room made my ears stand up.

After a lengthy and frustrating search, I have just replaced my Thiel CS3.6 (25 years old!) with Harbeth Super HL5 Plus Anniversary speakers. They've been in my system for about six weeks.

I heard a lot of speakers up to $20k, many I liked reasonably well, few that actually were as good as my old Thiels. I knew the reason I had kept the Thiels so long was how un-fatiguing they are, which can also mean they don't stand out in a showroom or multi-speaker demo. So I really tried to listen and select for that attribute. I'd recommend the same to anyone - the tipped-up soeakers that pop as having more detail in a showroom are not necessarily the ones you want to come back to each night. The worst offender I found in that regard was the Paradigm Personas. Attention-grabbing, but likely to be painful (and you can see it in their measured Frequency Response).

I went out of my way to audition the Harbeths, just because the semi-cult following is similar to the vintage Thiel (pre-buyout) fan world. It's a good sign that buyers have been happy in the long run. The dealer here in NYC hadn't been particularly friendly or helpful initially (I got the usual "are you good/rich enough" vibe, which I hate), but when I called up and asked to demo these specific speakers, and sent him a qobuz playlist, he calmed down and let me make up my own mind.

I just haven't heard speakers as lush and with such life-like timbre, particularly with strings, where I have a lot of live reference (my wife is a violist). Despite being somewhat old fashioned-looking boxes, they have a big, open sound, yet a stable, enjoyable image. I feel silly even saying it, but this has been a bigger step up than I imagined it could be.
 
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