HiFi shows are many things but I think their most important function is one of introductions and reacquaintance.

Products of note. There were lots (and lots) or things at Axpona 2025 I wished I could get to know better having been bit by their charms during my fleeting time in their company.

In true go big or go home fashion, Fidelity Imports filled 9 rooms on the 12th floor of Axpona 2025 plus the ginormous Utopia D ballroom.

Somethings familiar, something new!

Audio Note is another company whose gear I’ve enjoyed for more than years. We’re talking decades.

I don’t know about you, but I like to look at hifi too. Between you and me, I also enjoy the feel.

While it’s nice to review components, I find it even more interesting to hear a system, especially when that system is largely comprised of a single company’s stuff.

I had the good fortune of seeing and hearing an early example of the Unison S6 Black Edition at the company’s HQ located near the nearly unbelievably picturesque city of Treviso in northern Italy.

I first met Jonathan Halpern of Tone Imports when I was auditioning a pair of Cain & Cain Abby single driver loudspeakers some 20 or so years ago.

I’ve owned a few pair of speakers from DeVore Fidelity dating back to the early 2000s including the Super 8, The NINES, gibbon X, O/93, and my current and main squeeze the O/96.

I fell hard for the Atoll DSA300 streaming integrated amp I reviewed back in December of last year and arrived at Axpona 2025 hungry for more.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Jeff Catalano’s High Water Sound room at Axpona 2025 joins every room of his I’ve had the great pleasure of experiencing over the years on my list of favorites.

Every pair of Marten loudspeakers I’ve heard have been the epitome of smooth refined sound including the wonderful Marten Parker Trio I reviewed back in 2022 about which I said:

I visited three rooms sponsored by Axiss Audio with Gauder Akustik’s exceptional loudspeakers and even though Room 1628 had the smallest floorstander, the Capello 100 which I recently reviewed (and loved), it grabbed my attention the mostest.

If you keep up with my reviews, you know I think very highly of the Vinnie Rossi Brama Integrated Amplifier as well as the Rockport Atria II Loudspeakers.

With each passing year and show, I try to re-think my approach to coverage as the landscape has changed over the course of the past 20 years.

Axpona 2025 opened yesterday with a bang–crowds upon crowds upon crowds of happy and enthused enthusiasts hungry for the sounds of music as re-presented by 200+ rooms filled with hifi in all shapes and sizes.

I count at least 10 premiers from Playback Distribution for Axpona 2025.

Fidelity Imports will be hosting 9 rooms (!) on the 12th floor plus the Utopia D Ballroom for Axpona 2025.

Accuphase, Air Tight, Gauder Akistik, Soulution, Yukiseimitsu, Transrotor and more. (yum x6)

Horns, tubes, and records.

I received an email from Fern & Roby’s Christopher Hildebrand that was short and sweet, “Here is our newest product that we will be showcasing in Chicago.”

I admit I don’t know two things about this post’s title: a) What the Ø Audio Icon 12 speakers sound like and b) how to pronounce Ø Audio. Ooh? Aah? Err? Urr?

I reported on the release of Dynaudio’s new Contour 20 Black Edition and Confidence 20A Loudspeakers last month which will be making their North American public show premiers at Axpona 2025.

Aliso Viejo, California-based ampsandsound are bringing their new Black Pearl XL SE amplifier ($19,000), Sasquatch speakers ($17,000/pair), and the OJAS DL-103o cartridge ($550) to Axpona 2025.