AXPONA 2026

The Western Electric room at AXPONA 2026 (room 464) is one of those rooms that make you feel you have traveled in time the moment you see it.

Charles Whitener, tube expert and Western Electric CEO, was in the room, among the company's newest creations: the WE 203C CD player ($12,000), 91E preamplifier ($8000), 100E monoblock amplifiers ($150,000/pair), and A2 speakers ($140,000/pair). Absolutely stunning in construction, scale—and specifications!—were the new 100E monoblocks, said to deliver 160 watts each via a single-ended triode design. These amplifiers powered WE's new A2 speakers, a three-way on which both the midrange and the tweeter are radial air motion transformers, emitting sound with 180-degree dispersion. As for the big bass modules—well, just have a look at the photos and you'll get an idea. Not your average 12" woofer.

The power amplifier incorporates a balanced transformer input (600 ohm impedance, matching the preamp's 600 ohm balanced transformer outputs, yet another uncommon approach) followed by three tube stages: an ECC81 (equivalent to a 12AT7), a 300B intermediate stage, then the massive—13" high—308B output tubes, driven at a plate voltage of 1500 volts. The output transformer is a toroid that can be user-swapped to match the impedance of the speakers it’s powering. Just remove the top cover and switch out the transformers, almost as if they were tubes.

The A2 speakers are a sight to behold. The design is at once vintage and futuristic. The sound is full range and expansive. It is perhaps surprising that such large speakers, with such wide dispersion, worked as well as they did in a small, untreated room; Whitener said they're meant to play in a larger room. But to my ears, they sounded fantastic here. The soundstage was precise and tangible, and images had great presence from just about any spot in the room. Quite the system, and a must-visit if you’re at the show.