FERN & ROBY
AXPONA 2024 K. E. Heartsong AXPONA 2024 K. E. Heartsong

FERN & ROBY

Christoper Hildebrand’s beautifully designed Fern & Roby components—Montrose Heirloom TT, Amp No. 2 Integrated (25-watts), Raven III speakers (94dB, 8-Ohms), Fern & Roby equipment rack—and the Weiss Helios DAC was, decidedly, one of those most musical and most inviting systems.

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KUBALA-SOSNA
AXPONA 2024 K. E. Heartsong AXPONA 2024 K. E. Heartsong

KUBALA-SOSNA

It did not take long to discern of the Kubala-Sosna room that “There be magic in that room.” Having familiarity with Vivid Audio speakers, Grimm Audio, Mola Mola, and Kubala-Sosna, I know without a shadow of doubt, an iota of a doubt, for that matter, that these components were part of the powerful mix that made this small room so incredibly compelling!

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GTT AUDIO
AXPONA 2024 K. E. Heartsong AXPONA 2024 K. E. Heartsong

GTT AUDIO

There is one thing that you can always count on in a GTT Audio room and that is superb music. Suffice to say, that the tradition continued in GTT Audio’s big room which featured Top-of-the-Line components from Kronos, Audionet, Vivid, Mola Mola, and Grimm Audio to name a few.

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ARETAI
AXPONA 2024 K. E. Heartsong AXPONA 2024 K. E. Heartsong

ARETAI

Janis Irbe a consummate gentleman and kind was, as always, good to see again. I have always found the Aretai speakers beautifully designed, in a modern art aesthetic, that, I imagine, interior designers very much willing to work with…

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FIDELITY IMPORTS | SOUL NOTE
AXPONA 2024 K. E. Heartsong AXPONA 2024 K. E. Heartsong

FIDELITY IMPORTS | SOUL NOTE

It was good to see Steve Jain of Fidelity Imports. Suffice to say, that Fidelity Imports was putting on quite the show and while I am quite remiss that I was not able to spend time across all of their rooms—seven—given my time constraints, I’d certainly love to get to know more of their distributed products.

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GESHELLI LABS
AXPONA 2024 K. E. Heartsong AXPONA 2024 K. E. Heartsong

GESHELLI LABS

Though all of the members of the family behind Geshelli Labs were not there it was great to see Geno, Sherri, Rachel, and Rachel’s ‘Friend’. Did I mention the fact that they, as a family, are definitely the “salt of the earth”—good people!

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MACO AUDIO | VIA BLUE
AXPONA 2024 K. E. Heartsong AXPONA 2024 K. E. Heartsong

MACO AUDIO | VIA BLUE

It is always good to see Debbie and Armando of MACO AUDIO, a talented and creative couple always purposed to bring their best, which they consistently do. And this outing, like the very first where I’d met them in Toronto was truly beguiling.

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DEVORE FIDELITY
AXPONA 2024 K. E. Heartsong AXPONA 2024 K. E. Heartsong

DEVORE FIDELITY

John Devore went ‘Old School’ on us and in big way, as he spun vinyl records at 78rpm. And, if I might say, it was wonderful and memorable and truly engaging. There was also the added bonus that should the ‘Internet of Things’ go ‘KerPlunk’—cease to exist—you will, nonetheless, be able to spin 78s until the cows come home, wake up,

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AXISS AUDIO - AIR TIGHT | FRANCO SERBLIN
AXPONA 2024 K. E. Heartsong AXPONA 2024 K. E. Heartsong

AXISS AUDIO - AIR TIGHT | FRANCO SERBLIN

This first thing that came to mind as I entered this room was “Music is being played here.” And true to form Arturo was spinning vinyl disks on the Reed Muse 3C turntable with two Reed tonearms—5A Tangential Tracking tonearm and 2B Pivoted tone arms—and the AirTight Opus One moving coil cartridge.

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STILL POINTS
AXPONA 2024 K. E. Heartsong AXPONA 2024 K. E. Heartsong

STILL POINTS

This was a most interesting room. Still Points, the manufacturer of, well, isolation devices and racks, pulled a system together and placed that system upon their racks and isolation devices and took a shot at best of show. And while its cost would, no doubt, place it as a ‘big room,’ let me tell you how close their shot got to Best of Show. 

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BRICASTI | TIDAL
AXPONA 2024 K. E. Heartsong AXPONA 2024 K. E. Heartsong

BRICASTI | TIDAL

Damon and Brian were manning the Bricasti room and it was good to talk with them both and to gain more insight on Bricasti and its new M19 SACD player.

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WELL PLEASED AV
AXPONA 2024 K. E. Heartsong AXPONA 2024 K. E. Heartsong

WELL PLEASED AV

The small rooms with their few-piece systems were, for me, the rage of the show as many of them consistently put together systems that were incredibly enjoyable, musical, and brought all the technical information one could want or need to be drawn into the music.

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