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’d like to say time flies but experience suggests time is not that predictable. What is predictable is you’re going to hear great music sounding great when you hang out in a Tone Imports room.
Axpona 2025 was no exception, with Sam Cooke and Ren offering soulful if dissimilar stunners. The system in play featured my, well not mine but you know what I mean, Leben CS600X paired with a Shindo Monbrison preamp w/phono—as Jonathan said, “Why not?”— driving a pair of the low slung Revival Audio Atalante 5 loudspeakers all told looking like a scene from the Golden Age of HiFi. When it was cool.
Back in the day, c. the latter 2000s, I owned an earlier version of the Shindo Monbrison preamp, a Shindo Cortese F2a amp—a newer 300B-based version was on silent display here–and I got to play with an Auditorium 23 modified Nouvelle Verdier turntable (only available in Germany) with a Shindo Mersault RF-773 12-inch tonearm and Shindo SPU cartridge for a few years. Familiarity breeds nostalgia.
But there was nothing nostalgic about the sound from this system except perhaps its relaxed and natural presentation standing in stark contrast to many of the more overtly aggressive-sounding systems at Axpona 2025. Has subtlety become obsolete? Lost in the meaningless mire of constant connectivity? Asking for a friend.
The System:
Revival Audio Atalante 5 Loudspeaker: $5,395, Optional Stands available for $495/pair
JC Verdier LaPlatine Magnetic Bearing Turntable: $14,000
EMT 997 Tonearm
Musikraft Moving Coil Phono Cartridge: Starting at $2,950, Bronze Patina as shown $3,650
FonoLab Qvattor Classic MC Cartridge Step Up Transformer: $3,995
Shindo Laboratory Monbrison Tube Preamplifier w/Phono: $12,900
Leben HiFi CS600X Tube Integrated Amplifier: $8,995
Box Furniture HD3S Heritage Audio Furniture: $5,500
Shindo Laboratory Mr. T 6 Outlet Conditioner: $2,995
Cables by Tone Imports
Also On Display
Sugden Audio IA4 Class A Integrated Amplifier w/MM phono: $6,995
Shindo Laboratory Cortese 300B 8wpc Single Ended Amp: $15,000
Leben HiFi RS28CX Tube Preamplifier w/MM Phono: $7,995