I'm an unabashed Audio Note fanboy. You got a problem with that? Audio Note lives deep in not only my sonic soul (an Audio Note M2 Pre was my first serious hi-fi purchase), but those of colleagues Herbert Reichert and Michael Trei, Audio Note distributors back in the 1990s, when tubes were cheap and the only thing Upscale Audio's Kevin Deal sold! Audio Note returned to AXPONA with nothing to new to spring on the hungry (really) crowds, only the same consistency of sound major domo Peter Qvortrup has offered for decades.
Jay Rein (right) and Chad Stelly (left) of Bluebird Music Limited presented multiple debuts and US firsts at AXPONA, including a chance to meet SME CEO Stuart McNeilis (center), on hand for the first American spin of his newish SME Model 60 turntable ($71,900, below; Stereophile review by Michael Trei forthcoming). It's always fun to meet gentlemen you've only known through emails, and with McNeilis, frankly, a true thrill and honor, turntable fiend that I am. McNeilis is walking analog history.
AXPONA (Audio Expo North America), the largest audio show in North America, will get underway April 1416 in the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center in the Chicago suburbs. As exhibitors begin the often challenging task of assembling their gear, Jim Austin, Ken Micallef, Michael Trei, Rogier van Bakel, et moi prepare ourselves for the discoveries that lie ahead.
Every product listed here has been reviewed in Stereophile. Everything on the list, regardless of rating, is genuinely recommendable. Within each category, products are listed by class; within each class, they're in alphabetical order, followed by their price, a review synopsis, and a note indicating the issues in which the review, and any subsequent follow-up reports, appeared. "Vol.45 No.6" indicates our June 2022 issue, for example. "WWW" means the review is also posted online.