by Kevin OBrien on April 13th, 2025
YFS AXPONA 2025 SHOW REPORT
It was fairly chilly this go-around for one of our favorite times of the year: AXPONA. If the weather was not going to cooperate, that's OK, because we were going to be stuck inside a hotel for several days. Unfortunately, my father could not make the trip, but I was joined by my good friend Tom, and his good friend Mark. We all share similar tastes in musical presentation when it comes to HiFi, so this is a great group of folks to see what the Windy City has to offer as far as high-end audio is concerned.
There are a few rooms in particular that we wanted to write about, as we were impressed to say the least. As always, EMM Labs was working the 'Nirvana B' room at the Schaumburg Renaissance Hotel & Convention Center, just like the last time we were in town. But, they weren't sharing the rack with anybody else, this was just their electronics, which was great to see. The only exception being DS Audio of Japan, as they provide the optical phono cartridge for the vinyl playback. We ran into John McGurk of Audioshield, who was flanked by Shahin Al Rashid and Amadeus Meitner. These guys know how to set up one serious system, and they did not disappoint with their latest installment. We were lucky enough to step into the room right before Amadeus cued up Live at Massey Hall, by Neil Young. All we could say was, "WOW". Talk about being in the room with the musicians. It felt like Neil was playing a personal concert for all of us, and that's the exact idea behind this hobby. We are all trying to get as close as we can to the 'real thing' when dumping money and time into our systems. Well done EMM Labs / Credo Audio Switzerland!
Amadeus Meitner was showing off the latest DA2i and DV2i, along with the new version of Ed Meitner's monoblocks, the MTRX2 V2. The EMM Labs DS-EQ1 V2 was on display mated to a DS Audio optical cartridge. We did not hear this combo but we have heard something similar a few years back, and we are sure this was also another great pairing. We remembered how the optical cart did not pick up nearly as much surface noise as your standard phono cart. Pretty neat and a nice change from all the crackles and pops we are accustomed to. Another win for EMM Labs and DS Audio.
We spent several days at the Renaissance Hotel, but we still could not take in everything this massive show had to offer. It's nearly impossible to get to all the rooms on our list, let alone the rooms we just happened to stumble upon. One room we were glad we did end up in was the ELAC room. This was a total surprise to everyone in our group! That's actually an understatement. The speakers / equipment in this room left every one of us wanting more. We spent the majority of our time in this room because it was simply that good. We want to tip our hats to Jim Pelech, Sr. VP of Sales, and Chris Walker, VP of Product Development. They were kind enough to entertain our requests for more information, mainly pricing and availability of all the goodies in said room.
The floorstanders, specifically the ELAC Concentro CFS507, were making absolutely beautiful music in Room 328. We couldn't get past the detail, soundstage, and overall presentation of the music. Bass filled the room, almost too much bass, so much so we could easily imagine what these unique transducers could pull off in a much larger room. The real treat was the smooth, laid back presentation, despite the Class D amplification in the room, which was all ELAC's doing as well. Peter Madnick is responsible for the design of the ELAC electronics, who you may recall from Constellation Audio fame. We have worked with Peter in the past, showcasing his creations alongside our YFS products at past RMAF shows, and he is a class act. The real surprise came in the form of the ELAC Vela 2.0 VBS403.2 bookshelf speaker, which situated itself adjacent to the floorstander in the pics, dressed in a walnut finish. We were so smitten, we decided to pull the trigger on a pair of similar, yet different bookshelf solutions. This would be the ELAC Vela 2.0 VBS404.2, the 403.2's slightly larger brother. We will let you know how that goes in the upcoming months. We also have a pair of ELAC Concentro S 503 coming our way, which is the white speaker pictured, but with the bass portion cut off, turned into a bookshelf version. This is EXACTLY what we were looking for! Don't get us wrong, the extra $4,500 is steep, but we want a "micro 3-way" with concentric tweeter / mid drivers, so we're willing to pony up.
Aside from the ELAC room, we also enjoyed several other rooms. The Marten Acoustics room was sounding great, especially dynamic, with great detail retrieval. They better sound good for the price, as we noticed their Diamond Tweeter was on full display. When we run into some real money, we will give them a shot, but not in this current state of the economy. This makes ELAC's quest even more noble. We love affordable, great sound, as everyone is on a budget these days.
We have to mention the T+A room, as they always present something worthy, and we are fans of their DACs, so here it is. We did not get the specifics of the equipment in the room, but we know what we heard, and its nothing to balk at. Do not let this manufacturer slip past your sights. Indeed, T+A is here to stay, and they never left the scene in their 45+ years of doing things right, as a major HiFi staple.
If you haven't noticed, we have a thing for German Engineering (that includes automobiles AND audio, including ELAC and T+A). Anyway, that's just us. We hope to see you all at next year's 2026 AXPONA, because we'll be there for sure. Chicago hosts some of the finest food and entertainment the world has to offer. Come check it out, you won't be disappointed, we promise.
Thank you for reading.
- KOB