When AXPONA 2019 opens this Friday, April 12, in Chicago’s huge Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center. This is the 10th anniversary of AXPONA, and it will be the largest ever with 197 exhibit rooms, 54 booths in the huge Expo Hall, and 36 exhibitors in 58 booth spaces in the Ear Gear Expo.
With such a huge show, there is no way Becky and I can cover every room and booth. We will do our best to cover the rooms we feel you, our readers, are most interested in. Sorry if we miss something you want to hear about.
It was busy here today, and appeared to be a little chaotic for most exhibitors. We’re not sure why, but we heard many exhibitors who said they would be up most of the night to be ready to open tomorrow. A room where most of the boxes were unpacked was an exception, and a room that actually had music playing by late afternoon was rare.
LTA/Daedalus Room
Because of the significance of the AXPONA show, many of the exhibitors have tried to show as much gear as possible, and several are showing different systems in multiple rooms. This LTA/Daedalus room was further along than most early Thursday afternoon.
By the way, the cabinets on these speakers are simply stunning. They captured our attention right away, and we can’t wait to hear them tomorrow when they have had time to be broken in.
Focal Room
Boxes and crates were stacked in this room when we went by. I mean just look at all this to unpack. They will have it together tomorrow morning, but it looks like a long night ahead.
Ear Gear and Marketplace
This area will be wall-to-wall people this weekend as the ear gear is always popular. We will be looking around ourselves to see what’s new and what we might want to review.
Likewise, the Marketplace will be busy. Last year, we found a couple of items in this area that we reviewed. Can’t wait to see what’s new.
Something New from Technics
Well, the latest from Technics is certainly pretty enough for a picture. Here’s the SL-1500. We’re looking forward to listening to this turntable tomorrow.
Classic McIntosh
Even without the banner, you’d know this was the McIntosh display from the blue dials. It’s simply classic.
There’s More to Come…
Becky and I are looking forward to bringing you more coverage over the weekend. If you have specific questions, we invite you to email me jack@theaudiobeatnik.com and we’ll answer as many as we can.