One of the most interesting things about visiting the rooms on the ground floor of T.H.E. Show was you never knew when you would walk up on a beautiful car like the Ferrari pictured here. You just don’t see these at other audio shows!
The first person I went into the market expo was Ricky of ESS showing off their incredible headphones that have been getting rave reviews, including from The Audio Beatnik. We have had the privilege of review all three of the ESS headphones. If you missed these reviews, the ESS 422H review was published earlier this week, and the review of the ESS 242s was published in April.
I was hoping the headphones with the full-range AMT drivers would be ready, but Ricky said they weren’t ready quite yet. When they are ready, you’ll see a review on our website.
While in the market expo, I ran into Jim Whithorne of Butcher Block Acoustics showing the most beautiful Michigan Maple amp and turntable stand you could imagine. I ordered two on the spot. We are going to do an article on this company as we love hearing stories of environmentally sustainable businesses.
Amphion Loudspeakers didn’t have a room, but they did have a booth in the market expo where they were reintroducing their speakers to America. This Finnish company is making a comeback in the United States.
This gorgeous gray beauty was the car that caught Becky’s attention today. It was made the same year that she was born. She says it’s held up a lot better than she has.
Here is Charles Kirmuss of Kirmuss Audio with his new, reasonable priced ultrasonic record cleaning machine. He said since AXPONA these have been selling faster than they had ever dreamed that they would.
The MBL room featured a full MBL system with their 101E MKII Radialstrahler speakers. The unique design of these speakers blends direct and reflected sounds that the company refers to as “live sound”.
Now what exhibit of classic and exotic cars would be complete without a Little Red Corvette? This one was pristine.
The ALMA Music & Audio room featured brands this high end dealer in San Diego carries like the YG Acoustics Sonja XV Jr. speakers. We had the opportunity to visit the YG factory last year in Boulder. You can read that article here.
The Alma Music & Audio system also included a room full of D’Agostino electronics and the new reference Technics Sl1000R direct drive turntable.
In the Royole room, they were showing their immersive experience 3D personal home theater. This company was started to address comic con fans but has expanded to audiophiles. They also had an interesting interactive smart writing pad.
The Audio Association room featured Evolution Acoustics speakers, darTZeel electronics, and a Wave Kinetics turntable with a Durand tonearm.
The Ocean Way Audio company showcased their Monterey speakers exhibiting along with electronics from ADG Productions.
The Audio Concepts room was very hard to photograph, but the sound of the Vandersteen speakers and McIntosh electronics was sounding nice.
This little McIntosh integrated amp looks like I remember McIntosh amps looking like back before the blue meter craze. This look is just classic.
