Julie Mullins

AXPONA 2022

More MoFi Distribution: Falcon Acoustics, Manger, Dr. Feickert, Schick, EMT, HiFi Rose, Whest, IsoTek

Julie Mullins Apr 28, 2022

MoFi Distribution showed some classic hi-fi geartube amps and classic speakersin two of their four rooms, suites 330, which I cover here, and 346 (report to come). A few products debuted, including tubed amplification from Mastersound, an Italian company with a rather un-Italian name. MoFi Distribution's VP of Sales & Marketing Jon Derda told me that Mastersound winds their own transformers in-house. The brand is new to MoFi's rosterand new to me.

AXPONA 2022

Zesto Audio, Tannoy, Dr. Feickert, Tri-Planar, Ortofon, Benz Micro, Cardas, Stillpoints

Julie Mullins Apr 28, 2022

When I've visited the Zesto Audio room at different hi-fi shows in recent years, I've noticed that sometimes they've shown their tubed electronics driving modern loudspeakers from Lumen White, for instance. Other times, it's been vintage classics, such as Tannoys. At AXPONA, they chose very old-school Tannoy Kensington GR loudspeakers ($18,000/pair), which of course, showed quite different sound characteristics from, say, Lumen Whites.

AXPONA 2022

Malbork Audio with Moon Audio W-5 and Sonos Port (!)

Julie Mullins Apr 27, 2022

From a new company came a new loudspeaker design that was four years in the makingthanks in part to the pandemic. But COVID downtime gave Malbork Audio founder and designer Daniel Fajkis (above) one advantage: more time to refine his inaugural Malbork Warsaw loudspeaker design through more math and engineering and simulations, Fajkis told me.

AXPONA 2022

Vinnie Rossi Audio with QLN, Innuos, Merason, Gigawatt, and Swiss Cables

Julie Mullins Apr 27, 2022

Peace and quiet at a busy audio show is hard to come by. I especially wasn't expecting mellow respite on a Saturday show day. But I found some lovely-sounding music and a chilled-out vibe in Vinnie Rossi's demo room 488. Only a couple of listeners came and went during that time. Control of the iPadand Vinnie Rossi remote controlwere mine.

AXPONA 2022

High Water Sound: TW Acustic, Cessaro Horn Acoustics, Codia Acoustic Design, Stein Music

Julie Mullins Apr 26, 2022

As I scurried around Sunday trying to see and hear as much as possible on the show's last afternoon, Room 594 was one of several visits I was looking forward to. Based in Lower Manhattan, distributor/dealer Jeffrey Catalano's High Water Sound is always, uh, a high point at shows where I've heard his demo systems.

AXPONA 2022

Aretai 100S loudspeakers with Benchmark DAC3, LA4, and AHB2s

Julie Mullins Apr 25, 2022

Discovering new products from new companies is one of the best parts about audio shows. As much as we enjoy seeing familiar industry faces and brands, it's also great to meet new ones.

Aretai was founded in 2018 by Janis Irbe, the technical designer, and Edgars Zvirgzdiņ, the product designer, who hail from Latvia. At AXPONA Aretai presented the 100S entry model from their inaugural Contra collection of loudspeakers.

AXPONA 2022

MoFi Distribution, HiFi Rose, Piega, Cardas, IsoTek

Julie Mullins Apr 25, 2022

As MoFi Distribution is based in the Chicagoland area, it's no surprise they go all out at their hometown AXPONA. They packed the house with exhibits in four rooms featuring plenty of debuts, so I'll divvy my coverage into a couple of parts.

But first, some big news. Illustrious loudspeaker designer Andrew Jones, known for his work for Pioneer, ELAC, and other companies, has joined with MoFi Distribution. Word is, Andrew will be designing a speaker to round out MoFi's own system lineup.

AXPONA 2022

Wynn Audio with Thales, Kalista, Vimberg, Karan Acoustics: Stereo with Style

Julie Mullins Apr 23, 2022

It's showtime again! With a business and showroom in Toronto, Wynn Wong's Wynn Audio is a next-generation dealer and distributor for a number of luxe European high-design high-end brands, a few of which had new product introductions at AXPONA. Wynn's preferred equipment leans toward striking and colorful rather than gaudy or blingy.

Re-Tales

Re-Tales #19: Old-school vs Internet

Julie Mullins Mar 30, 2022

Selling hi-fi gear online is hardly new. If you count mail-order sales, which is much the same thing, it's been happening since before amazon.com was a discount bookstore. Long before.

CanJam NYC 2022

Last report from CanJam NYC 2022: HiFiMan

Julie Mullins Mar 10, 2022

HiFiMan presented a few noteworthy new products at CanJam NYC, including the EF400 DAC/headphone amplifier, the Edition XS planar-magnetic headphones, the HE-R9 closed-back dynamic headphones, and the HM800 mini-DAC.