Connoisseur Corner

AXPONA 2026 - Room 744 - DreamScapes AV Brings It..!

2026-06-06T08:51:12.487-07:00

DreamScapes AV brought a cool setup to room 744 at @AXPONA 2026. Linear Tube Audio electronics were featured, with speakers by Sound Lab Electrostats, and a Grimm Audio player. Christian McBride's bass on Blues Connotation sounded appropriately quick and had excellent tonal color. Nice!

Cheers..!

AXPONA 2026 - Room 739 - Turnbull Sings!

2026-06-02T17:20:11.601-07:00

The Turnbull Audio folks curated a system in room 739 at @AXPONA 2026 that looked the part and sounded the part! Turnbull's signal and power gear connected a Vitus Audio integrated amplifier, powering lovely Aequo Audio speakers. Sing, it did..!

Cheers..!

AXPONA 2026 - Room 727 - Michi Mega!

2026-05-22T19:00:20.756-07:00

Rotel's uplevel Michi electronics were making music in room 727 at @AXPONA 2026. The Michi line is quite excellent and was making great music paired with B&W speakers.

Cheers..!

AXPONA 2026 - Room 724 - Red Rocks!

2026-05-21T18:45:16.951-07:00

Room 724 at @axpona 2026 was the rocking red room, to be sure. Rosso Fiorentino speakers with a foundation of AGD electronics and a swath of red lighting set a visual and audible mood. Most excellent!

Cheers..!

AXPONA 2026 - Room 723 - Rotel

2026-05-18T18:29:26.619-07:00

Audio stalwart Rotel brought a room full of electronics to @AXPONA 2026 in room 723. Paired with Monitor Audio loudspeakers, the sound was lovely as you would expect with this gear. Nicely done!

Cheers..!

AXPONA 2026 - Room 704 - Rockhopper Rocks!

2026-05-17T15:23:02.145-07:00

The diminutive Rockhopper active speaker debut was dang cool! These little rascals, hanging out in room 704 at @AXPONA 2026, were impressive. This is a great lifestyle speaker targeting the younger crowd. Just connect your phone, and you are off and running... er... listening!

Cheers..!

Boxenstopp - Porsche at Palladio

2026-05-17T11:07:24.786-07:00

Porsche owners invaded the Palladio in Folsom, California, this morning. Here is a look at all of the beautiful German metal.

Cheers..!

AXPONA 2026 - Room 318 - A Devialet Duo!

2026-05-17T09:12:48.099-07:00

Room 318 at @AXPONA 2026 was hosted by Devialet, rocking a pair of their sleek Astra integrated amplifiers through some lovely Wilson Audio speakers. Vinyl was the music source in this excellent room!

Cheers..!

AXPONA 2026 - Room 340 - Radiant Acoustics Rocks!

2026-05-16T15:35:00.671-07:00

It was debut time in room 340 at @AXPONA 2026! The folks from Radiant Acoustics were showing their spanking-new Clarity 66 floorstanders to good effect. These are priced just under 10K, and worth a listen if that is in your budget. Good stuff!

Cheers..!

AXPONA 2026 - Room 364 - CAD and more!

2026-05-16T13:31:50.380-07:00

Computer Audio Design (CAD) in room 364 at @AXPONA 2026 had a sweet setup, including a pre- and power amp from Aesthetix and Stenheim loudspeakers. Me likey!

Cheers..!

Vision BMW Alpina - Banger!

2026-05-15T15:18:16.246-07:00

BMW's now-official sub-brand Alpina previews the Vision BMW ALPINA at this year's Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este, in Cernobbio, Italy. Consider this a look at things to come from the Alpina line. This design study looks to be fairly close to production, with some structural roof and minor interior changes likely in the offing. I like... no... love what I see. Presence and intention. This strikes me as the proper way forward for Alpina and targets a void in the BMW lineup. Agree?

Cheers!

AXPONA 2026 - Room 368 - Precisely!

2026-05-15T11:07:56.547-07:00

Precision Audio Video brought the goods to room 368 at @AXPONA 2026. Built around Constellation Audio's new Statement stereo amplifier, the system sounded excellent playing Boz Scaggs. Equipment from Aurender, Esoteric, Luxman, and Magico rounded out this powerhouse.

Cheers!

AXPONA 2026 - Room 390 - Fyne Sounds!

2026-05-13T19:28:19.626-07:00

Room 390 at @AXPONA 2026 had nice gear from Fyne Audio, Eversolo, Vincent Audio, and Pangea Audio, all hooked up and sounding dandy!

Cheers..!

AXPONA 2026 - Room 394 - Saturday Audio Exchange

2026-05-12T19:09:00.000-07:00

Saturday Audio Exchange had some high-value gear in room 394 at @AXPONA 2026, including the new Paradigm Premier Series V2 speakers. Throw in Anthem electronics and AudioQuest cables, and you had a winner of a system.

Cheers..!

AXPONA 2026 - Room 418 - YG and Zesto Audio Wow!

2026-05-11T18:20:00.000-07:00

System synergy was occurring in room 418 at @AXPONA 2026. A bevy of electronics from Zesto Audio fed YG Acoustics speakers over Cardas Audio cables. The room was busy, and the jazz sounded sweet! Wow...

Cheers..!

Biba Bolognese - Feldy-style

2026-05-10T16:07:00.000-07:00

Biba Caggiano was one of the first great celebrity chefs from the Sacramento region. Her lasagna was legendary! Here is my take on her Bolognese Ragu. Ground beef chuck, ground pork loin, and diced pancetta form the base of this amazing ragu. Should you want the full recipe, you know where to find me.

Cheers..!

AXPONA 2026 - Room 434 - Monarch Systems Mayhem!

2026-05-10T15:11:00.000-07:00

In room 434 at @AXPONA 2026, distributor Monarch Systems had a full showing of their arsenal of audio equipment. Speakers from Chario and Audio Physic, and more gear from B.audio, Garrard, SME, VinnieRossi, and Siltech Cables were all on hand. They were even spinning some Ozzy on vinyl in the demo room. Great stuff!

Cheers..!

AXPONA 2026 - Room 472 - Dutch & Dutch 8c

2026-05-10T10:22:00.000-07:00

The Dutch & Dutch 8c was showing out in room 472 at @AXPONA 2026, making good music. The 8c is the bigger brother to the 6c and will easily work in larger rooms. The Dutch & Dutch team is on a roll..!

Cheers!

AXPONA 2026 - Room 460 - AVM Invasion!

2026-05-09T14:58:00.000-07:00

Germany's AVM (Audio Video Manufaktur) had a plethora of excellent gear in room 460 at @AXPONA 2026. Really nice engineering, build quality, design, and sound from these guys.

Sehr gut!

AXPONA 2026 - Room 476 - Dutch & Dutch Magic!

2026-05-09T11:42:00.000-07:00

Dutch & Dutch brought their full lineup to @AXPONA 2026, including the new 6c, shown here in room 476. There is some audio magic going on with these right-sized standmount speakers.

Cheers..!

AXPONA 2026 - Room 484 - Aequo Audio Awesomeness!

2026-05-08T20:26:00.000-07:00

Room 484 at @AXPONA 2026, hosted by 2WA Group, was another room featuring gear that was new to me. The Aequo Audio speakers were visually and sonically fetching, paired with Trilogy Audio pre and mono amps. Grimm Audio, Ideon, and Wireworld cables were all in the mix.

This room was niiice!

AXPONA 2026 - Room 490 - O Audio Oh My!

2026-05-06T19:43:00.000-07:00

Another speaker brand I had never heard before was O Audio, holding court in room 490 at @AXPONA 2026. Powered by electronics from DCS and Musical Fidelity, the Frigg 02 (best model name?) was sounding great when the streaming was working. Like too many rooms over the weekend, WiFi streaming was... challenging. Nevertheless, this was a fine introduction to this brand from Norway.

Cheers..!

AXPONA 2026 - Room 494 - Antal Audio Group

2026-05-04T19:22:00.000-07:00

Antal Audio Group invaded the fourth floor at @AXPONA 2026 in room 494 with a fine setup featuring Norway's Electrocompaniet electronics. Borresen standmount speakers, Soulines turntables, and some fine Scotch also looked to be present. Nice sound!

Cheers!

AXPONA 2026 - Room 542 - Auer Acoustics pt.2

2026-05-03T16:11:00.000-07:00

Room 542 at @AXPONA 2026 was home to static displays from Germany's Auer Acoustics. A veritable tankwood and multicolor extravaganza! The finishing on these speakers was superb.

Cheers!

AXPONA 2026 - Room 540 - Auer Acoustics pt.1

2026-05-03T15:29:00.000-07:00

Room 540 at @AXPONA 2026 was hosted by the folks from Germany's Auer Acoustics. Robert Auer and his team were demoing their Versura V2 floorstander in a room that looked like it was flown in from Europe and dropped in the middle of the show! This made a strong impression - Wow!

Cheers!