Rogier van Bakel

Bayz Audio, Chord Electronics, Aurender, Shunyata Research
AXPONA 2024
Rogier van Bakel  |  May 05, 2024  |  0 comments
Going to an audio show is a bit like being a finalist in that old Monty Hall show where your prize is behind one of three identical doors. At AXPONA, there are more than 200 identical doors.
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Fine Sounds America, Rotel Michi, Sonus faber, Pro-Ject, and Cardas
AXPONA 2024
Rogier van Bakel  |  May 05, 2024  |  0 comments
My only regret about visiting the Fine Sounds America room was that I went there at 10 in the morning. Considering how excellent the system sounded, this set the bar for the rest of the day almost impossibly high, and I like to ease into things. Despite the fact that I hadn’t had my morning coffee yet, I was instantly awake.
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Paradigm, Anthem, and Saturday Audio Exchange
AXPONA 2024
Rogier van Bakel  |  May 04, 2024  |  0 comments
A $20,000 system is probably no one’s idea of cheap, but it’s affordable-ish by AXPONA standards. And if the sound quality of such a setup is as good as it was in room 394, where Chicago dealer Saturday Audio Exchange had again partnered with Canadian marques Paradigm and Anthem, we’re getting into bargain territory.
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IFi's tiny Kensei DAC/amp produces big sound
AXPONA 2024
Rogier van Bakel  |  May 04, 2024  |  0 comments
During each AXPONA, the makers of head-fi products set up their booths in the ground-floor central ballroom of Schaumburg's enormous Renaissance hotel. The Ear Gear Experience, they call it. I always have a look and a listen, in part because the products there aren't crazy expensive: three and four figures, mostly.
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Philharmonic Audio and Audio by Van Alstine
AXPONA 2024
Rogier van Bakel  |  May 04, 2024  |  6 comments
An old Dutch saying holds that "good wine needs no wreath," meaning that real quality sells itself. That probably applies to Philharmonic Audio, too. The Maryland-based speaker manufacturer, led by veteran designer and viola maestro Dennis Murphy, has never put much stock in advertising and marketing.
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Groovin' with Stillpoints, Bricasti, Rockport Technologies, Viola Audio, Shunyata
AXPONA 2024
Rogier van Bakel  |  May 04, 2024  |  2 comments
Sometimes I wonder what the etiquette is at audio shows. I mean, nobody tells you anything. It’s fair to assume that playing windmill-style air guitar to songs by the Who is generally frowned upon, at least in public, but is it gauche to sway and groove in your chair when the music moves you?
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Cambridge Audio and Triangle
AXPONA 2024
Rogier van Bakel  |  May 02, 2024  |  0 comments
One question the Stereophile team asks in every AXPONA room we cover is, “Is any of the gear new?” The Cambridge Audio team wins a trophy this year—or would if there was a trophy. When I dropped in for a listen on the first day of the show, account manager Joseph Buechel told me that the Class AB CXA81 MkII integrated amplifier ($1199) was making its debut "today, right now."
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Yamaha, 70 Years Young, Blends Past and Present
AXPONA 2024
Rogier van Bakel  |  May 02, 2024  |  0 comments
At audio shows, we don’t look back much. AXPONA is mostly about what’s new, what’s hot, what’s happening. Yamaha proudly bucked the trend and delved into the past. In two adjoining rooms on the 14th floor, the Japanese brand celebrated its 70th anniversary as a hi-fi company.
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Luxman and Magico
AXPONA 2024
Rogier van Bakel  |  Apr 30, 2024  |  0 comments
To say that I had good memories of the Luxman-Magico room at an earlier AXPONA would be an understatement.
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Infigo and Alta Audio
AXPONA 2024
Rogier van Bakel  |  Apr 19, 2024  |  1 comments
Sinatra said it best: Regrets, I have a few.

On Sunday morning, the final day of the show, my main regret was that I hadn’t made it to the fourth-floor Infigo/Alta room a day or two earlier. If I had, I would have encouraged everyone to go listen.

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