Bigger doesn’t have to mean overblown.
We know I’m a fan of the speakers from Germany’s Gauder Akustik—I reviewed the Elargo 200 (review) and Capello 100 (review) and both sit on my list of Favorite Speakers. For Axpona 2026 US distributor Axiss Audio brought in the big Gauder guns—the 7′ tall DARC-240 powered by the flagship Accuphase A-300 monoblocks externally bridged into a single 500W/8 ohm Class A stack—per side! Woof!
This was the last room I sat in at Axpona 2026 and as you might imagine I was not exactly at my freshest. But soon after I picked the first track to play, “Under” from Lonely Guest by Lonely Guest (aka Tricky) with Oh Land on vocals, I sat up very nearly fully refreshed. Next up was “Nature’s Child” featuring Bonnie “Prince” Billie on vocals from S.G. Goodman’s recent album Planting by the Signs followed by FKA twigs “Cellophane” from the album of the same name and this large Imagination room became an intimate energized place for my imagination to roam free. So damn good.
From my review of the Gauder Elargo 200:
When I find myself smiling, typically in unison with head shaking in the affirmative while listening to music on the hifi, I just know. I just know that this hifi is hitting my humanness hard, deep down inside to the point where all of me becomes moved by the music in play.
I did a lot of smiling and head shaking along with the music here too and left with a spring in my step. Nice.
The System
Accuphase A-300 Mono Amplifiers: (4) $24,975/each
Accuphase C-3900S Preamplifier: $39,975
Accuphase DP-770 D/SACD Player: $24,975
Accuphase C-57 Phono Pre: $13,975
Gauder Akustik DARC-240 Loudspeakers: $189,975/pair
Transrotor Rondino Nero Turntable: $20,975
Koetsu Onyx Cartridge: $15,495
Glanzlab MH-12 Tonearm: $39,975
Tara Labs Zero EV, Omega SP, Muse cable system (pricing example 8′ speaker cable $37,000)
Nihon Onkyo Engineering (L=large room package of 9 assorted diffusors in Black $21,065)
TAOC CSR racks and amp stands
Telos Master Tai Chi Power Station
Telos power strip, Telos power cords
Telos Foundation Ground Core