AXPONA Chicago April 10-12, 2026 - Who is going??

This year I attended Axpona just as spectator and see what’s new.First I noticed they added extra parking lot to accommodate all the attendees, we have to ride the shuttle bus to the venue.So they are more attendee this year obviously since Axpona was move to Schaumburg hotel. There are plenty of new speakers. More things to buy on the first floor . I listen to Andrew Jones listed 33k they sound good but they don’t look 33k.I think they overpriced them. The Altec Lansing room it sound the same as last year.The demo guy is super nice.So many good set up this year.I don’t know how much is the bigger Dutch and Dutch speaker on the lobby is sound good as well. I enjoyed axpona this year just spectator. I spend 2 days Friday and Saturday.

@manwhosoldtheworld Care to share with us the gems you found in the headphone room?  I spent three hours there myself.

The headphone room had a lot of good stuff.  I will just say what I like regardless of price point since that is different for all of us.  

My headphone highlights were (in no particular order) the Audeze LCD-X and MX4,, Dan Clark Audio Stealth and Noire X , Meze 109, ZMF Atrium Closed and the Fiio FT7, Fosi i5 PLanar Magnetic

Headphone amps that stood out: the Europa from Moon Audio (expensive but mind blowing)  also a preamp, Pass  HPA-1c, Auris Nirvana (really liked it), and the Prima Luna 100 (integrated), the iFi idsd phantom (amazing for the price), allnic asra.  Oh, yeah, Ampansound products were incredible. Competes the the best.  

Focal Room was too loud to really get an idea.

I don’t know how much is the bigger Dutch and Dutch speaker on the lobby is sound good as well

I heard someone say they retail at $100,000 ! Personally I liked their 8C better

williewonka and hilde45, thanks for the kind words. This was my first presentation, a "meet the author" session in which I tried to compact 20 years of testing and conclusions into 35 minutes of talk and 10 minutes of questions. I failed; a bit too much to cover.  ;) 

I am a relative unknown as regards the presentations, otherwise it may have been recorded. The content, if not the precise wording, is in the book, and extended discussion of the principles. 

It is more difficult to argue against my conclusions regarding cables, tweaks, and break in when I have conducted tests/comparisons in my room to reach my conclusions. The Audiophile Laws do not rest on conjecture or mere opinion but on demonstration. 

One of the most important aspects of the talk was the Law of Efficacy. It is used throughout the book as a means of weighing any change to a system. Applying that and the Imbalanced System test can save audiophiles many thousands of dollars and years of fairly undirected attempts to advance the system. 

The linked video in the post above regarding shows was tough to watch, distasteful imo. While I don’t care for the presentation, there is one point I concur; it is not possible to isolate the performance of individual elements of a show system. I discuss in my book what an audiophile is able to learn generally and specifically  from hearing systems at shows. 

FYI, I have a few reviews lined up from the show, but I typically do not discuss them prior to publication. I like the element of surprise with my reviews. These should be pleasing.